Friday, June 21, 2013

My handsome boy!

Meet Martha, my handsome black cat. "Handsome?" Yes, Martha is a male cat. He didn't receive the name cruelly. Nay, I thought he was a female--until! I took him to the vet. She asked why I had chosen a female name for a male. Well, I hadn't.

I took him home and began searching for a new, more appropriate name: Marty, Marthon, Marvel, Marthie, but I did not like any of them. So, Martha he was and Martha he is today. I simply tell him what a handsome boy he is--and I'm pretty sure he's happy with that. Besides, he likes his name. "Martha, you are such a handsome boy!"

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Blackberries at Shuqulak Farm

Can you see all the blackberries on this vine? Every vine is hanging with fruit. You could almost fill one bucket  at one vine--well, maybe, two or three, but my point is how loaded the vines are at Shuqulak Farms near Frierson, LA.

I picked two buckets of blackberries. On this trip I didn't even look at the blueberries. That's for another trip.

Please check google or bing for more information and map quest for your particular directions.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Man's inhumanity to his most loyal creature

 This is not a happy story. In fact, it is downright horrible. I sit here crying every time I think about this dog (who, I am sure, is long gone from this world).

It happened this way. I was on my way to an appointment when I stepped out into the carport. There, sniffing around for food, was this pitiful dog. Good grief, I have never ever seen such a starved, decimated animal before. A local television station did a story on starving horses abandoned on a farm. They looked pretty much like this dog. It is no telling when the last time he ate. He could barely stand up and actually fell several times.

 I got my neighbor to help me. He has dogs and retrieved dog food and water (I had given him cat food--that's all I had on hand). I had already called Animal Control, not thinking ahead. I waited and waited for them to show up. After two hours I called a local television station, hoping they would do a story on the dog and someone would volunteer to rescue him and give him a better life than he had lived. In fact, I felt sick thinking I was giving him up to sure death.

A reporter came by and was as appalled as I was by the looks of the dog. The dog looked part pit bull and you know what happens to pit bulls if they are picked up. I canceled Animal Control because the reporter thought he could get another animal service to pick him up, this one not committed to the destruction of an animal. But, alas, that was not to be. He did, in fact, call Animal Control which did come out at five o'clock.

Meanwhile, I called a local vet to ask for aid. I had to talk to three people before anyone would give me an answer. The office manager wanted to know who would pay for services. That was her bottom line.  I literally don't have the money to pay for such treatment. If I had, I would have plopped it down for that dog. I admit I did not thank her for her time and went on my way.

The Animal Control person, a woman, was so rude to me. "You know we don't have to come back after you cancel a pick-up," she told me in a stern, angry voice. I started sobbing and told her I was just trying to do whatever I could to save the dog. She immediately became kind and finished her job with understanding and did not hurt the dog.



                                                 I read a book, A Dog's Life, by Ann M. Martin , a book
about a stray dog who lives a miserable life and is finally adopted by an older woman who gives that dog wonderful last years. A stray dog at least has a chance at finding food. The dog who showed up at my house lived under the control of a monster who deliberately did not feed the dog, thus starving it and abusing it. Such cruelty is beyond my ability to understand, nor do I want to.

 I wanted the station to run the story so people would see it, then calls and offers of monetary help would happen,  love would pour in and this poor dog would have a happy ending.This story did not end happily. But for one day two people fed you, gave you water, petted you, and talked to you in kind voices. It's not nearly enough and words cannot convey how sorry I am.

A favorite souvenir

A favorite souvenir
These are my two girls from Ireland!

Judy's shared items

Books on my very ambitious TBR list (*denotes read)

  • *Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox
  • The Odd Women by George Gissing
  • The Zen of Fish by Trevor Corson
  • How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esme Raji Codell
  • The Cod Tale by Mark Kurlansky
  • In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
  • *Joan of Arc by Mark Twain
  • Dag Hammarskjold by Elizabeth Rider Montgomery
  • The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet by Rabbi Michael L. Munk
  • Children of Strangers by Lyle Saxon
  • Spiritual Writings by Flannery O'Connor
  • Nightmares and Visions: Flannery O'Connor and the Catholic Grotesque by Gilbert H. Muller
  • The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor
  • Flannery O'Connor's South by Robert Coles
  • Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
  • Sylvanus Now by Donna Morrissey
  • *Vincent de Paul by Margaret Ann Hubbard
  • Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
  • A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking
  • The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
  • Readicide by Kelly Gallagher
  • *Ruined by Paula Morris
  • Say You're Not One of Them by Uwem Akpan
  • Wandering Star by J.M.G. Le Clezio
  • Silence by Shusaku Endo
  • *The Assault by Harry Mulisch
  • Kari's Saga by Robert Jansson
  • *The German Mujahid by Boualem Sansal
  • Western Skies by Joseph Conrad
  • *The Giver by Lois Lowery
  • *Imperium by Ryszard Kapuscinski

School Library Journal - NeverEndingSearch

Imperium

Imperium
A semester course in one book about the Soviet Union. Click on image for my review.