Waldo the therapy dog has retired to camp Charlotte after years of putting in his time traveling back and forth to Iowa Hospice.  Angela Parenza has spent years attempting to diffuse the anxiety of this damaged canine, but to no avail.   The only thing that would cool him was the back seat of a rolling car, highway miles preferred.  He began to get snarlie-toothed and foggy-eyed and car travel began to fatigue and overheat him, so he has been left at home more often, feeling useless and alone.

Finally, he was paired with a stray city dog, affectionately named after a stray city priest Fr. Richard.  Rikki is a slightly smaller terrier with a larger degree of fight.  Rikki was rescued from the east side and is living at large in the fenced back yard,  forever sniffing out a possible way back to Troost.  Waldo is so smitten by Rikki that he forgot he was retired.  He follows her around all day with gratitude for a new found life as a dog on a mission, hunting squirrels and managing falling leaves.

I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart.

I am.  I am.  I am.

 

Sylvia Plath

 …the books we need are the kind that act upon us like a misfortune, that make us suffer like the death of a person we love more than ourselves, that make us feel as though we were on the verge of suicide, or lost in a forest remote from all human habitation–a book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.

Franz Kafka

Why is it that the whole family is subjected to Viagra and Cialis commercials during football games? That guy trying to be johnny bravo with the chick that he just met drives me crazy. How is it that sexual propagation on commercials is okay now?

I consider myself to be a fairly open-minded person but is it necessary to market what is an inate human desire, like people really need to be encouraged to think about sexual intimacy. How stupid have we become. It’s not about being a prude, unfortunately it’s all about the money. Beyonce is so beautiful but really, please respect yourself enough to not have the whole entire country watch you in a way that invokes interest that allows many to see you only as an object of sexual desire. Is being wanted that seducive?

I guess it is like this for me. A guy taking Viagra should be able to seek the direction of his personal doctor. Please leave the rest of us, especially the kids, out of it. A man can talk to his personal doctor without airing it to those who need not or should not be exposed to the concern.

filling coolers, sweeping floors, waiting for maybe just one more or a few customers.  feelling motivated i washed the windows, hoping to see out,  feeling alone waiting for

another monday

Life is not what it’s supposed to be.  It’s what it is.  The way you cope with it is what makes all the difference.

virginia satir

The longer the trial to which God subjects you, the greater the goodness in comforting you during the trial and in the exaltation after the combat.

padre pio

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You are able to say to yourself, “I have lived through this horror.  I can take the next thing that comes along.” 

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

 eleanor roosevelt

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.  If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened.  But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. 

friedrich nietzsche

Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third.

marge pearcy