Monday, September 17, 2012

Help save Toby! or, it must be Puppy Love...

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“The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man's”

~ Mark Twain
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A few weekends ago I received an email from an old friend (maybe I said that wrong, how about from a long time friend...) with "help needed" in the subject line. Now I knew this wasn't a job opening so what could it be?

Well, I was right and wrong... it wasn't about employment, more to do with deployment really.

This friend has a daughter and this daughter (whom I have known since she was 3) is stationed with the US Army in Afghanistan.

The soldiers in her company found a puppy, discarded in the locals' trash/burn pile. And needless to say, they rescued the pup. They nursed it back to health but now Toby's caretaker is leaving and my friend's soldier-daughter asked her to help rescue the dog back to the U.S.

That's where the "help needed" email to me comes in.

So I spent my Saturday reading about and researching Afghanistan dog rescue. Some of the stories had me all weepy-eyed... I love dogs. 99% more than I do people, generally speaking. Being an old Wildlife Rehabilitation guy I know how rough critters can have it out there. Owning dogs off and on throughout my life established an appreciation for our canine friends that is now grown to genuine love.

My work takes me in an out of people's homes. A lot of those people own dogs and I have to acquaint myself with their pets because I'm spending time working in their houses. Some of those dogs I've been seeing for years and they're always tail-wagging happy to see me when I return. Heart warming... truly heart warming.

Anyways... I tracked down the two orgs I would need - Guardians of Rescue and Novzad.

Guardians of Rescue is getting the dog back to the states where he will stay with them until daughter-soldier returns to the US and then Toby will be her and her 3 sons' dog.

But rescuing dogs from logistically challenged locations isn't free. We need to raise $3,000.

Do you love dogs? Do you love or support our soldiers? then think about donating to Toby's cause. We've come this far, Toby is in Kabul now, in a kennel. He's a big boy and in the world of shipping and receiving that means weight...

And consider... if you donate you'll be helping the kennel in Kabul -

Nowzad and the good folks at Guardians of Rescue who are handling transportation logistics, will house and train Toby until his soldier-friend comes home sometime this winter.

So please... help Toby, help our GIs with something that very much matters as something very important to the quality of their lives in the midst of war. Please donate what you can, whether it's $5, $10 or $500...

Save Toby!

Oh... and I mentioned Toby's a big boy? Take a peek at exactly how big this 6 month old is:





























Now if that's not a whole lotta puppy love...
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“A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.”

~ Robert Benchley

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Toby and his friends

Friday, September 14, 2012

So...

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The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance

~ Thomas Paine
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... it's been awhile. Hard to say really why the long absence. Stress and distress probably. Maybe the fact that I spend a lot of time studying up on my topics and putting a good blogpost together takes more time... and I don't get a cent back for my labors...

I know - waaah...

Another possible reason for me not posting in so long is that lordy lordy the whole world has really gone kinda whack and where do I start?

Problematic, of course. I could just start at the beginning. Duh...

... but which beginning? What start? Did the whistle blow? Did someone do a countdown? I don't like to start in a fog of confusion, I much prefer a cloud. Fog is however the perfect descriptor... when we're standing in the middle of it, it doesn't have a beginning, or an end. It's just kind of all around. Kinda like I've felt with the question to myself of where to start.

Of course there is also the point to be made that where I start is irrelevant. There is just sooo much to talk about that I could, literally, start anywhere I please. Which sounds pretty reasonable.

Well let's start off on a good note... photos! Yes... I still am shooting

These are from a quick overnight trip last year up to Davis Lake on the east side of the Cascades, pretty much due east of my place here.

(And remember, most of these images I post on the blog are all for sale over at my RedBubble gallery, as greeting cards, post cards, and matted or framed prints. The quality is outstanding and I'll vouch for it, I'm my own best customer.






How's that for a start? Easy on the eyes and the brain.

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And I'll be back... I mean it's an election year!