Viewing entries in
"pets"

Patriot Rovers Serving Veterans in North Carolina

Golden retrievers and military service personnel. How can you resist?



Patriot Rovers is an amazing organization providing a unique and relevant service to many soldiers who have served.

Patriot Rovers is a North Carolina based 501( c)(3) that provides canine therapy using rescued and trained Psychiatric Service Dogs for military veterans who suffer from PTSD and/or Traumatic Brain Injury. The program is free for veterans.

 Patriot Rovers is committed to rescuing, housing, nurturing, rehabilitating, vaccinating, spaying, neutering, training and socializing rescued dogs in order to qualify them as Psychiatric Service Dogs that will perform medical alert and response in addition to specific tasks for combat Veterans.

The mission of the organization is simply to serve soldiers and honor heroes through the training and placement of therapeutic animals and highlighting the accomplishments of men and women who have served their country. You can get the full story on the Patriot Rovers website.


Make Local Artist Famous!!! Do It! - REPOST!!!

REPOST! 


Your Votes Could Catapult a Local Artist to National Fame



Shelter dogs have amazing life stories.  From the tragedies in their lives to the joy of finding a forever home.  Local artist and shelter pet advocate Scott Davis features the day-to-day antics of his favorite dog, Sherlock in a comic strip that cuts to the heart of the simple joys that pets bring to our lives.  Well, now that comic is representing NC in an international competition and needs your help to move forward and win.

The contest is sponsored in part by Creators Syndicate, the organization behind the most creative cartooning talent in the world and the prize is a contract with the company.  The website where voting takes place (www.thecartooniststudio.com) was formed by some fantastic talent, including the artists behind Beatle Bailey and Baby Blues.  Simply put, winning this contest would put Scott Davis’ work in publications all around the globe.

Helping is simple and easy.  All you need to do is register online and vote up to 4 times a day for the comic…yep, that’s it! 
STEP ONE—Go to:   http://bit.ly/hzS958  and click on the mini comic image to go to the voting page for Scott’s comic, SHERLOCK UNLEASHED.
STEP TWO—Click the “I Like It” button
STEP THREE—Log in (if you already have an account) or register (first time only and we promise no spam or annoying messages come your way)…write down your username and password in a safe place
STEP FOUR—Once your vote registers, you’ll see it mark the comic with a check mark and then it will tell you the time when you can cast another vote.  Remember to come back time and again and vote, vote, vote!

The strip receives up to 4 votes each day, from each voter, by people just like you.  And at the end of each week, the strips with the most votes move on to the next week of voting.  Think of it like Survivor or American Idol for a comic strip.  The contest runs for 10 weeks and at the end of 10 weeks a winner is crowned.  Pretty cool to think you could be part of such a neat prize for a local artist and our region, right?  So, what are you waiting for? 

If you love the joy that dogs and pets bring to our lives, take a few minutes to register and help the strip move ahead!  Every single vote counts and the race is close at the top.  Wouldn’t it be great to have a local artist showcased in newspapers around the globe?  Especially with a strip that features other local furry friends and gives even more attention to our fantastic region?

Hawk Medicine


The hawks are really out and vocal today. We get this every Spring, a few days when they seem to defy their reputation of being elusive. They soar, gliding from one roost to another. Screaming and taunting each other. It is wonderful to watch.

I remember, as a child, always longing to see birds of prey. We didn't see many. Occasionally when we would travel to the mountains, or more inland areas I would see a large bird soaring in to sky, Too often it was a vulture or raven. Then, sometimes, it wouldn't be. Sometimes it would be a hawk, or a Sea Hawk - gliding on the currents, mastering the skies - waiting to deal death to some unsuspecting prey.

Today, my wife is fond of calling any sighting of a hawk "Hawk Medicine." Her sense of respectful coexistence with birds of prey is almost reverent.

Birds of prey (raptors) are wonderful creatures and often misunderstood. Interactions of almost any kind with humans is perilous to raptors. They are best observed from afar. If you want to learn more about the life and precarious existence of these regal birds, click over here to a brief essay, compliments of Stanford.


A Musing Space

The water, hot and welcomed, pounds my shoulders and cascades around my neck, stripping away the dirt and sweat. Anchoring my hands on the shower wall, I let the water work its magic. I close my eyes, exhale strongly, and release my mind. The water envelops me, my senses, my mind...


Are there sounds that are only heard by the deaf? Are there things unseen to those with sight? Might the angst-ridden beauty of artistic accomplishment reveal itself more clearly to those burdened of twisted mind and unbridled emotion?


My life has been one of growing peace and routine more than artistic angst or spiritual distress. For awhile now, I had grown accustomed to percolating emotions, those feelings that lurk, coiled and ready to strike, manifesting malformed action and self-destructive choices. I have found solace regularly in the creative word. The twist of a poetic phrase or the presence of a story unfolding beneath the key stokes often releases much. Now, it seems that I am driven less and less to release my serpents of spiritual distress. This is different. Not good. Not bad. Just different.


I know the truth. I know that there lies deep within me an eternal presence, my creative magical essence that demands to be known - my familiar, my dragon, The lines of poetry, the tales woven in prose, the occasional burst of fire breathed from comments, are all glimpses of a piece of her being: scales of translucent blue, a sapphire eye blinking in the dusk, the sound of a gentle, rumbling breath, a brush of a powerful tail. She is my eternal muse. I miss her, these days. I sense she misses me.


Yet, here in this steam cloud, beneath the relentless waterfall, while all sound is blasted away, I hear her breath, steady and smooth. Through closed eyes, I see again, the cave where she dwells. It is in this moment I know that I could extend my arm and touch her. I can't help but smile, wondering what journeys await.


We live.

New Post Requested

Dang it Dena! I would have been more than able to create a new post, but NO you had to demand one. Now, I am at a total loss… well, when in doubt, REPOST!

Announcing the return of my first post from the New Year in 2005! I quote…

"A friend told me this today.


 "Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."

I just thought I would share."

Save The Critters

By way of Dena, I am supporting a simple contest that could raise $10,000 for a local animal shelter. Just vote here for the Rockingham County Animal Shelter.

It will only take a click and a few lines of text to vote. Go! Thanks.

Bye.