Tony Benn wisdom

(Image from here)

And here's the Wiki on him.

What do you know?

Natural Beauty - a slightly different image

(Image and text from here)

Jennifer Foster of Florence, AZ was visiting Times Square with her husband Nov. 14 when they saw a shoeless man asking for change. She writes, “Right when I was about to approach, one of your officers came up behind him.  

The officer said, 'I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let’s put them on and take care of you.’ The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man. 

The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching*. 

I have been in law enforcement for 17 years. I was never so impressed in my life. I did not get the officer’s name. It is important, I think, for all of us to remember the real reason we are in this line of work. The reminder this officer gave to our profession in his presentation of human kindness has not been lost on myself or any of the Arizona law enforcement officials with whom this story has been shared.”

 

Our thanks to the Fosters for their attention and appreciation, and especially to this officer, who remains anonymous.

*image cropped from the distance at which it was taken

The NYT has a story about this act of kindness, which you can read here. 

Don't judge too quickly...

Today's Animal in Need

Woodbridge Animal Shelter - Pets for Adoption 

CUTENESS OVERLOAD.... Bonnie and Clyde are available for adoption. These little peanuts were found stray with their mom when they were just newborns. They are now old enough for adoption and so is mommy. Bonnie and Clyde are very social, playful and attached to each but do not have to be adopted together. They are vaccinated, dewormed and tested neg for fiv/felv. Spay/neuter is included in their adoption fee of $50 each with your approved application.

About

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION HERE:

http://members.petfinder.org/~NJ254/Images/AdoptionApplication.pdf

Mission

Looking for loving homes!

Description

Adult cat and dog adoption fees are $65, and puppies/kittens are $50. Our animals come up-to-date with vaccines, and are tested for heartworm/lymes (dogs) and FIV/Felv (cats). Most of our animals are spayed/neutered prior to adoption.

General Information

Woodbridge Animal Shelter has many wonderful animals for adoption. Please use this site to view and inquire about our pets for adoption. Feel free to share this site with your friends!

You can find items our shelter pets need on our Amazon Wishlist...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1G1OZZ9OTE0CZ

For outside cat help in Woodbridge, please contact Whiskers Rescue for help or to donate to their cause...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whiskers-Rescue-Inc/198944823449300


Our Wish List: Cat/kitten food (dry & canned), Dry dog food, Paper Towels, Bleach, New or use blankets-towels-sheets, New or used collars & leashes, Kong Toys or Nylabones, Petsmart Gift Cards.

Woodbridge Animal Shelter is located in Sewaren, NJ.

Friday Haiku

(Image from here)

Black and white streaks by ~

Border Collie herding sheep.

Inner wolf stalks prey.

(Image from here)

Rebecca is hosting Haiku My Heart Friday, where you can read some really fabulous haikus.

Click here to be transported.

Haiku by blogger

This disturbs me...

(Image and text from here)

Why not just boycott the parent company brands? Those of us who support organics rarely buy products like Diet Pepsi or Kellogg’s Genetically-Modified-Sugar-Coated Frosted Flakes. The only way to pressure Big Food is to boycott the brands w

e actually buy. Brands like Kashi, Naked Juice, Horizon, Silk, Honest Tea and yes, even Ben & Jerry’s.

Let’s be clear. These Big Food companies are gobbling up organic brands to make money and to greenwash the fact that industrial agriculture, factory farms, and their so-called "conventional" brands are undermining public health and destroying the environment and climate stability. They recognize the huge profit potential in the fast-growing organic and natural markets. They want our business. If we stop buying their organic and so-called "natural" brands, they know there’s a good chance we’ll find alternative brands. We might never look back.

Read more about the boycott here, where you can "Take Action" with a prepared letter to the parent companies.

Furoshiki gift wrapping

I love to wrap packages and was delighted to find this and other clever ways to wrap them on the Care2 site.

Here are some of the ways I've wrapped gifts:

One of my favorite wrappers is a brown paper bag, turned inside out if it has a supermarket design on it and then embellished with anything - from fresh herbs to dried flowers to sea shells to feathers to raw wool.  I use stamp pads to provide color and individual stamps for more design.  I glue on handmade paper and have used African fabric and African buttons in the past.  I use interesting post cards, things from newspapers or magazines, funny sayings, etc.  The wrapping paper becomes a collage of sorts - primitive, childlike, but totally me.

All of my wrappings are 3 dimensional - flat designs are not my style as I don't actually understand 2 dimensional space.  

Wrapping gifts is very meditative and I'm always surprised at the final result.

I also love it because it's very ecological.

How do you wrap gifts?

Natural Beauty

(Image from here - click image to embiggen)

Today's Animal in Need

Herding Dogs in Eastern USA Shelters

 

WHITEVILLE NC URGENT! KENNEL 14 AUSSIE/CHOC LAB MIX PUP FEMALE STRAY AVAILABLE DECEMBER 3RD AT 4:00. URGENT - SHE HAS AN ABSCESS ON HER BELLY THAT NEEDS VETTING AND MUST LEAVE THE SHELTER ASAP!!

 

RESCUE PROCESS:

 

TO RESCUE OR ADOPT THIS OR ANY OF OUR ANIMALS, YOU MUST:

 

1. SEND AN EMAIL WITH YOUR NAME, ADDRESS AND VET REFERENCE TO SAVINGCOLUMBUSCOUNTYANIMALS@GMAIL.COM

 

2. PAYPAL THE PULL FEE ($10 FOR

 501 RESCUES, $25 FOR ALL OTHERS) AND KENNEL NUMBER TO JULIEZDOGS@GMAIL.COM.

 

3. IF YOU CANNOT PICK UP THE ANIMAL YOURSELF, CALL SOUTH ROBESON VET AT 910-628-7178 TO HAVE THE ANIMAL PICKED UP, VETTED AND BOARDED TO RECEIVE A HEALTH CERTIFICATE.

 

4. ARRANGE FOR PROFESSIONAL TRANSPORT TO YOU.

 

These companions are at:

Columbus County Animal Shelter
288 Legion Dr Whiteville, NC 28472
Phone#910-641-3945.

Their hours are Mon-Thurs 10:30-5 and Fri 12-5.

UPDATE:  as of 11/29/12, RESCUE is pending!!  YAY!! 

World of Wonder - a calendar for 2013

The woman in this picture is my sister, Jacki.  Jacki happens to be a wonderful photographer and this is one of her photographs.  It is the one which she chose as the cover for her new 2013 calendar.

The calendar is entitled World of Wonder and it showcases the beauty of the natural world (we share a common love for that!).  This link will take you to her Cafe Press home page where you will find a 15% coupon off all orders over $50.

This is the direct link to Cafe Press for the calendar - be sure to show the starting date as January, 2013 as the default date is shown as November, 2012.

And finally, this is the link to her Flickr page which shows each picture of each month in a larger format.

The calendar price is $20 plus shipping.

I love calendars and think they make great gifts.  If you know anyone who loves images of our beautiful Earth, this might be a nice holiday gift for them.  

Shameless sisterly promotion, I know!

UPDATE:

Thank you for the blog feature, Kathy! I can offer a 20% off coupon for the calendar (CART1129) - good till 12/2. I will let you know if I can offer more coupons after that. I appreciate your support so much! 

I sing the body electric

(Image from here)

9

O my body! I dare not desert the likes of you in other men and women, nor the likes of the parts of you,

I believe the likes of you are to stand or fall with the likes of the soul, (and that they are the soul,)

I believe the likes of you shall stand or fall with my poems, and that they are my poems,

Man’s, woman’s, child’s, youth’s, wife’s, husband’s, mother’s, father’s, young man’s, young woman’s poems,

Head, neck, hair, ears, drop and tympan of the ears,

Eyes, eye-fringes, iris of the eye, eyebrows, and the waking or sleeping of the lids,

Mouth, tongue, lips, teeth, roof of the mouth, jaws, and the jaw-hinges,

Nose, nostrils of the nose, and the partition,

Cheeks, temples, forehead, chin, throat, back of the neck, neck-slue,

Strong shoulders, manly beard, scapula, hind-shoulders, and the ample side-round of the chest,

Upper-arm, armpit, elbow-socket, lower-arm, arm-sinews, arm-bones,

Wrist and wrist-joints, hand, palm, knuckles, thumb, forefinger, finger-joints, finger-nails,

Broad breast-front, curling hair of the breast, breast-bone, breast-side,

Ribs, belly, backbone, joints of the backbone,

Hips, hip-sockets, hip-strength, inward and outward round, man-balls, man-root,

Strong set of thighs, well carrying the trunk above,

Leg fibres, knee, knee-pan, upper-leg, under-leg,

Ankles, instep, foot-ball, toes, toe-joints, the heel;

All attitudes, all the shapeliness, all the belongings of my or your body or of any one’s body, male or female,

The lung-sponges, the stomach-sac, the bowels sweet and clean,

The brain in its folds inside the skull-frame,

Sympathies, heart-valves, palate-valves, sexuality, maternity,

Womanhood, and all that is a woman, and the man that comes from woman,

The womb, the teats, nipples, breast-milk, tears, laughter, weeping, love-looks, love-perturbations and risings,

The voice, articulation, language, whispering, shouting aloud,

Food, drink, pulse, digestion, sweat, sleep, walking, swimming,

Poise on the hips, leaping, reclining, embracing, arm-curving and tightening,

The continual changes of the flex of the mouth, and around the eyes,

The skin, the sunburnt shade, freckles, hair,

The curious sympathy one feels when feeling with the hand the naked meat of the body,

The circling rivers the breath, and breathing it in and out,

The beauty of the waist, and thence of the hips, and thence downward toward the knees,

The thin red jellies within you or within me, the bones and the marrow in the bones,

The exquisite realization of health;

O I say these are not the parts and poems of the body only, but of the soul,

O I say now these are the soul!

This is the last part of Whitman's poem; you can read the entire poem here.

Natural Beauty

(Image from here)

Ever wanted to run a Rescue?

URGENT! ALERT! Sanctuary For Sale! Located in McKinney, Texas 75071

 

It is with GREAT sadness that we are being forced to close our doors at Linens For Animals Dog and Cat Sanctuary. Our Sanctuary Manager wishes to move back home. Once she 

has left, we will have no one to attend to the animals so they MUST Go. We have 20 dogs and approximately 50 cats that need and deserve a home. All animals are completely vetted. These animals are urgent and need to be rehomed/rescued ASAP! 

 

We will donate $100 dollars per dog to any rescue group.

· We are selling the Sanctuary and it contains the following: 

· 5 acres with ZERO zoning and ZERO deed restrictions. 

· One Indoor/Outdoor dog kennel with nineteen 5x10 indoor runs which connect to 5x20 outdoor runs. You can add 8-9 more kennels if needed.

· Kennels include wash down area, sink, storage, and commercial electrical. 

· One 2 story lofted Leland building approximately 14x24

· 3 Bdrm/2 Bath mobile home for storage purposes only. Contains one working bathroom for volunteers.

· 3 Bdrm/2 Bath mobile home for living quarters.

· Comes with a 826 foot long all purpose Driveway, Extra Large septic system, Cub Cadet riding lawn mower, Fencing materials for wood and chain link fencing.

· Three outdoor play yards.

· The owners would consider a lease purchase or owner financing.

For any other questions, PLEASE Call Lori Birdsong at 310-721-3933. Serious inquires only please!

And again, this is considered urgent..so all animals MUST GO NOW!!!

Please spread the word or share. We need your help to get these animals into another rescue group or adopted. Time is of the essence. Thank you for your support!!

Contact Info

Phone	1-855-8LINENS (854-6367)
Email	lori@linensforanimals.org
Website	http://www.linensforanimals.org

Without these emotions....

"Joy and anger,
sorrow and happiness,
caution and remorse
Come upon us by turns,
with ever changing mood.

They come like music from hollows,
like wood when played by the wind,
or how mushrooms grow from the damp.

Daily and nightly they alternate within
but we cannot tell whence they spring.

Without these emotions I should not be.
Without me, they would have no instrument."

Chuang Tzu

Because I need a laugh...

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

More about her here.  

Google search for her is here.

Natural Beauty

(Image from here)

“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest

 in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfil themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured. And every young farmboy knows that the hardest and noblest wood has the narrowest rings, that high on the mountains and in continuing danger the most indestructible, the strongest, the ideal trees grow.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.

A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.

A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one's suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.

So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.”

― Hermann Hesse,
Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte

 

Today's Animal in Need

The Senior Dogs at Muttville are dreaming about that forever home with someone to snuggle up to. Since November is "Adopt a Senior Pet" Month, why not celebrate with Muttville Senior Dog Rescue? We've got events every weekend, in hopes of finding loving homes for our seniors for the holidays.

Meet your new snuggle partner at www.Muttville.org

About

Muttville is dedicated to rescuing dogs 7 years & older, and providing medical care and new homes...because it's never too late for a new beginning!

Mission

Muttville is a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the way the world thinks about and treats older dogs, aged seven years and older, and to creating better lives for them through rescue, foster, adoption, and hospice.

Company Overview

Muttville is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the lives of senior dogs. On a local level, Muttville rescues senior dogs and finds them new homes or gives them hospice. On a global level, Muttville provides information about caring for older dogs and support for people who do.

Through associations with shelters and other animal organizations, Muttville finds senior dogs that have been given up and are not likely to find adopted homes. Through outreach and networking, Muttville finds suitable new homes for these dogs. Ultimately, Muttville will have its own facility to house dogs that are not yet placed, or that are unlikely to be placed.

Description

Muttville Senior Dog Rescue....it's never too late for a new beginning! Find out more about adopting, fostering, or learning about senior Muttville dogs at http;//www.muttville.org

General Information

THINKING ABOUT ADOPTING A DOG?
Interested in adopting one of our wonderful senior mutts? Visit this link to find out how!
http://www.muttville.org/how_to_adopt

BE PART OF THE MUTTVILLE TEAM!

Not ready to adopt a dog, but want to be part of the Muttville family? There are so many ways you can help out! Read more about volunteer opportunities:
http://www.muttville.org/getinvolved

MEET OUR MUTTS...ONLINE!
We have dogs of all sizes and personalities! There's surely one perfect for you or a friend or family member. Read over 40 profiles here!
http://www.muttville.org/mutts/

MUTTVILLE COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU!
We've got fun events practically every weekend. Check out our calendar, come by and say hi!
http://www.muttville.org/news_and_events

MUTTVILLE IN THE NEWS
We are so proud to say that we have a wonderful collection of articles and news features about our work. Check out a few!
http://www.muttville.org/press

WE ♥ TO BLOG ABOUT MUTTVILLE!
Read our funny, heartwarming, sweet and informative scribbles from Sherri, volunteers, Muttville parents/fosters, and fans.
http://www.muttville.org/blog