Close To You

Digging out from the Dec 9-10 snowstorm

For my friends not on Facebook, here are some very recent shots of Ginger and Dickens finding innovative ways to stay warm this winter. The innovation was mostly on the part of Ginger--it was up to Dickens to adapt. Your choices are somewhat limited when you only weigh 10 pounds.

Keep in mind that besides Dickens' little bed, which is right behind my chair (and currently holding its intended occupant) there are two extra large padded beds on either side of my chair that can easily accommodate a fully stretched out pit bull of, say, 65 pounds.

And one last note: My house is drafty, for sure, but it is not cold. The desert blood I acquired over the last 15 years keeps me from living in frosty conditions when indoors. (With the notable exception of the iced over windows, of course.)

Best choice, of course, is finding sun. And a headrest. Ginger did have her back feet on Dickens also, but Dickens moved when I turned on the camera, as usual.

Or, find yourself a cozy bed. Cozy, in this case, with the real estate meaning of "tiny."

I have no idea what possessed Ginger to do this. She has never attempted to hijack Dickens' bed before.

The next day, she did it WHILE Dickens was in it. Dickens showed no uncertain affront.



Eventually, however, he was forced to adapt. I guess he figured at least it was warm. I removed the water bowl next to him lest Ginger kick him into it, since he was not wearing a life vest.

One more picture after the jump, with Dickens making the most of his humans for warmth.

(I did eventually convince Ginger to move to one of her own beds. Dickens joined her shortly, curling up behind her with his little head propped on Ginger's whale of a back. No picture: Dickens moved. He can hear my camera from a mile away.)

Ideally, for maximum warmth, sandwich yourself between a big human and a small human, under a very soft blanket. No pit bulls allowed--this time.

Niece Jordan, Dickens and I on Thanksgiving

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Cree Indian Prophecy

Only after the last tree is cut down,
The last of the water poisoned,
The last animal destroyed...
Only then will you realize you cannot eat money
-- Cree Indian prophecy Read more!

Finding a way

I have to go back. I don't know how, I don't know when, and I don't know for how long, but I have to go back.

I cannot tolerate domesticity--shallow, commercial, First-World culture--another second. But I will have to if I want to get out--even for a little while.

Most people are depressed because they think there's something more out there. I am depressed--flat-out steamrollered for two years now--because I know there is something more. I have seen it up close but then, as now, I just can't figure out how to be a part of it.

There has to be more than drugging tender racehorses for a living. There is more. People are helping working horses and donkeys--and their impoverished owners--every day all over the Third World. The Brooke, and others, too.

There has to be a way.



Because this, this life, is not the way. Not for me. Read more!

Shameless Celebrity Worship

Baby Brad in Thelma and Louise, the start of it all...

I have a friend at work named April, who will remain nameless. She is very helpful, being a trainer, and is my Go To person when no one else knows how to fix something.

But she is smarter than that: She must be paid. Thankfully, I enjoy her bribes as much as she does (or almost as much) and the search for ever better versions of that-which-keeps-April-happy is always a delightful one.

Her payments? Pictures of Brad Pitt.

Today I ran a search (and my methods are top secret, so don't even ask) and found one so breath-taking that my computer actually locked up and shut down for 25 minutes. It simply could not take the hotness. I spent that time searching the Yellow Pages for a sculptor who might cast Brad's likeness in a bust for my home. Time well spent.

Anyway, I have decided to share the picture with you. I placed it AFTER the jump because I needed you to be PREPARED. I tried to prepare you for the kitten video and you all peed yourselves anyway, so let's try this again.

Breathe deeply, find your inner zen, and then, just maybe, you'll be ready for what follows.

All grown up.

Don't forget to wipe your chin before you go back into the living room. You look ridiculous.

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