There has been a copious amount of political news that I should have been writing about over the last 30 days, but I have been pretty busy with a few other things. In case you don't already know, my wife and I rescue cats and dogs. About 6 weeks ago a liter of puppies was left by a dumpster at my wife's work. We acquired one of those puppies and his name is Zander. (pic below). About 4 weeks ago we acquired a puppy that was thrown out of a vehicle, her name is Grace. (pic below). Grace was emaciated and probably with 24hrs. of death, she required many trips to the vet, and needed to be watched closely. It turns out that she had Canine Parvo virus which is deadly to puppies. Even after bleaching everything in the house, and washing every blanket and piece of clothing, Zander the younger puppy also became very sick and was diagnosed with this virus. This virus attacks their intestines and they die within a few days. They will NOT eat or drink anything. I stayed up for 72 hrs straight to be with Zander and tried to give him droplets of water every hour. Finally, at one point, he was basically un-responsive and had to go to the vet to get an IV and stay the night. We were told he was in kidney failure and the outlook was not good. That night I told our youngest daughter (who was VERY attached to this puppy) that he probably would not live through the night. But like during many other bad times in our lives, we turned to prayer. My daughter and I prayed for hours that night and did the rosary many times, we left this situation in God's hands. And like a miracle, that very next morning Zander was eating and drinking and back to his hyper self. Grace and Zander are very happy healthy pup's now.
I have also had issues with my riding lawn mower and getting our 2 1/2 acres mowed. This time of year the yard must be mowed about twice a week and my mower was not working properly. Then finally one evening the whole bottom of the transmission just plopped right on the ground. So then I spent many evenings looking for a replacement riding lawn mower. That required driving many miles looking at used mowers, and trying to find something that I thought would last. So I did eventually get a 1978 John Deere 316 from a very nice couple in Solon, IA.
During this same period of time, I also had a 12yr. old dog that was dying from cancer. I didn't want to have to put her to sleep until I knew for sure that
she was unhappy or uncomfortable. So this also required much of time, checking on her almost every hour to make sure that she wasn't in any pain. This did come to an end one morning, and I did have to take her to the vet to get euthanized. Then I had to dig a grave and give her a proper burial. She was the fourth dog that I've buried in the last 5 years.
Some may say that we are crazy, and wonder why we do so much for our animals and other animals in need. I say that animals have even more to offer us. They will love unconditionally, and forgive immediately. They sense when we are happy, sad, or mad. They are obedient and provide continuous companionship, and entertainment.
