I do love my country

 My son asked me a day or so ago if I had ever been politically correct. PC as many call it today. My answer was the same as always. NO! I do not say things or do things to make me look correct in the eyes of the people I am around. 

With the political climate today, that proves hard to do because you never know when someone might pull a gun or some other such BS because you disagree with something they said or did. People in many instances won't even place a political sign in their yards for fear of retribution in some way. I say bring it on but I am in the minority and unfortunately, the other side seems to just bully people in to being quiet.

But yesterday as I was cruising through my social media accounts, I saw several posts, some positive and some negative about the display of flags everywhere. I tend to not notice because like anything else, I have other things to think about but these people were so angry and vitriolic about Americans who do not display a flag in their yard or on their vehicle or hanging off their head or any number of photos I saw yesterday. Everyone who does not celebrate that way was invited to leave the country because obviously, we are not good Americans. 

The flag at the top of the page is the only one I own. It is the flag that draped my father's casket at his funeral. I was brought up being proud of being an American. I have never, ever, not been proud of being an American but I don't hang a flag outside my house. I don't have mini flags plastered all over my car and I don't stand every time a flag passes by because I would then spend all my time standing and not accomplishing much during the course of my day. I believe there are many who hide behind a flag and not our Constitution in thinking that makes them a patriot. My father took an oath to
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." His oath was to the Constitution, not the flag. 

So to all you flag waving, Bible thumping people who believe that I do not love my country, am going to hell because of my beliefs, and should go elsewhere simply because I do not display American flags all over my yard, please refer back to the Constitution, where that right is guaranteed. That was what my father fought for and what I, as an American am still fighting for and will continue to fight for until my last breath. 

I am not quite sure how we got to this point in this country but I sure wish people would stop and think about it. We could actually have a conversation. Ooops, sorry. You don't know how to debate or have educated discourse. I keep forgetting. 

For those who would question what I am saying, educate yourselves and check out our Constitution, especially i: 

4 U.S. Code § 8 - Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.

(a)

The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

(b)

The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.

(c)

The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.

(d)

The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.

(e)

The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.

(f)

The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.

(g)

The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

(h)

The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.

(i)

The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.

(j)

No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.

(k)

The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

Florida memories

 

Saddle Creek, Lakeland

As I watch the continual destruction of nature for business in the name of progress, I think about all I have read in the past several weeks from people who think they know Florida, but they really don't. 

I was lucky enough to grow up in Florida before the advent of all the people who came down here because they fell in love with it and wanted to escape the winters up north. The problem with that is they also do not like the heat or humidity, rain or storms that we are known for. 

Last week we got a lot of rain. We needed it and although the inches were high, my yard, and I live 5 miles from the beach, was so dry that it all soaked up pretty quickly. Plants and things that were looking a little brown, are now blooming like crazy and everything looks green once again. After the drought last summer which brought very little summer rain, I appreciate all rain, even 8 inches. We are at or below sea level in many areas of the coast so to complain when your property floods elicits no sympathy from me. For 25 years I lived on Anna Maria Island and when it rained, you could canoe down some streets. Now people just complain. 

The photo above is an old one of Saddle Creek in Lakeland. Saddle Creek is a collection of old phosphate pits left behind before mining companies were made to reclaim the land. The creek does flow in to these pits which are the coldest water around in the summer. When I was a teenager, my friend Pat and I used to rent a canoe and spend all day soaking up the sun, tipping the canoe to get wet, tipping it back over to climb back in and then have great conversation about our lives when we grew up. We never thought about the alligators because we knew certain things: don't feed them, don't mess with any babies because there is a momma gator around somewhere, they are more scared of you than you are of them. We were not reckless but it was also not something we worried about. There were wild hogs and raccoons and there could have been a bear or two but we never saw one. We did not think about the pits being bottomless limestone and I don't think we ever had a life preserver on the canoe. We were not reckless, just teenagers having fun. 

We swam in most lakes in Lakeland and Winter Haven. We spent most of our time outdoors in the summer in cutoffs and bikini tops. It was hot and humid, just like today, but we didn't think anything of it. Everyone's house was not freezing cold with air conditioning, and most cars did not have it. We could go the the mall which did have air conditioning and walk around, but we didn't have money, so most of the time we did not hang out there. 

Now Saddle Creek is a park, with houses and a golf course and all the accoutrements you see with the continual building going on. I am not sure if you can swim in any of the lakes any longer. Maybe Lake Hollingsworth but most people are so afraid of what might be in the water, they don't. 

Most of what you see now is on social media in some form whether it is a photo or an article. I read a very good one about humidity that was shared by a friend that was  in the New York Times. It made sense to me. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/magazine/florida-heat-sweat.html

I am glad I grew up here when I did. I am grateful for the parents I had at a time when kids were allowed to be kids and not joined at their parents' hips. My memories keep me going when ignorant people begin trying to explain things they really have no clue about. 

Post pandemic rescue observations

Across the country, the coronavirus has forced many animal shelters into crisis mode. Above, a dogs at the Humane Society of Harlingen, Texas which has since found a home.

Sara Cano/Humane Society of Harlingen, Texas

During the pandemic, many, many people who had never participated in animal rescue or adoption began to evaluate what a pet might bring in to their lives while they were unable to leave their homes to go to school or work. Shelters took advantage of this, and promoted fostering or adopting because people were not visiting shelters due to the lockdown. I observed many local shelters become less crowded so staff were able to continue to care for the animals who had not been placed in a home. Fast forward to a little over four years later, and we find the reverse to be true.
Many people are now dumping animals back on the shelters due to the same reasons they were dumping animals at the shelters before the pandemic, only in higher numbers. The same old tired excuses are being used if they use any excuse at all: we are moving, we are allergic, we cannot afford a vet, we don't want to leave them alone for 4 or 8 or 12 hours a day. They deserve better. You think up an excuse and it has been used before. Unfortunately, they don't seem to understand, or perhaps they do and simply do not care, that in a kennel, despite the fact there are people around, they are still alone.
I have reached the age where I cannot handle two dogs. I knew when my last pair died, I would become a one dog household and have had one dog continually for the past 18 months, both shelter dogs, both with issues, both had a piece of my heart. Gideon died after only 5 months but he was the big headed lug, who simply adored me and I gave him the best life I could for the 5 months he lived here. He died loved and cherished and not on a cold cement floor at the shelter, which is where many animals end up, through no fault of their own. It seems, especially in the past year, the shelters have had revolving doors and despite the fact that people are adopting, many others are dumping, adopting and returning, allowing litters after litters to be born because they say they cannot afford to spay or neuter. The list is endless.
We rescuers are getting older, many of us in our 60s and 70s and simply cannot continue to pull the load we have been pulling for the last few years. We need younger, more energetic animal lovers to step up and fill our shoes. It is hard to get people to listen to you. It is hard to get animals adjusted to a home when your energy level is half what it is for a 30 year old. Florida is in crisis mode. All shelters are begging for volunteers. If you don't want to walk dogs, play with the kitties. Give them some love. Do laundry; there is always a ton a any shelter. Give 2 hours a week or 10, it is all appreciated. Please contact your local shelter or rescue and see how you can help. If we pulled together during the pandemic, we shouldn't let that progress disintegrate now.

Preaching to the Choir

 

Quinn in the backyard.

When I adopted Quinn, I met several senior dogs at Manatee County Animal Services after looking online for a couple of weeks and felt adopting from the county shelter would be more to my speed. A lot of people will not adopt from county shelters because they are "kill" shelters, which means they euthanize which I never have understood. Why wouldn't you adopt from a shelter where you know animals might lose their lives than a "no kill" where the dogs can live for a very long time? But...I digress. 

In the past year I have watched the animals which need homes increase tremendously at all the animal shelters. All types and breeds seem to be flooding shelters in rural spots and cities and towns. They are all begging for fosters and adopters to try and alleviate the overcrowding in their shelter. Although people are adopting, they don't seem to be adopting at the same rate as they were during Covid-19. I think the general public believe that now that America is back to work, they can just bring their pets back to the shelters they adopted from because they have completed their purpose. How very wrong they are. It makes me so sad to watch these poor animals being turned in once again because the owners "don't have time" for them. Or to be "fair to them they need to be rehomed." 

Bullshit, pardon my cursing but this tired old excuse is just that, an excuse. You are discarding your responsibility to an animal you promised to take care of. An animal that is totally dependent on you for life. An animal which has no idea how much money you do or do not have and simply loves you unconditionally. An animal YOU depended on for whatever reason: loneliness, companionship, mental health, or whatever.

I know when I write one of these columns, only my friends read it. I know it is not reaching the people I wish it would reach and change someone's mind. I keep trying because talking to Quinn during the  summer when I am not in school, has not resulted in changing anyone's mind. Quinn enjoys it and follows me everywhere but no minds are changed. 

Please do three things for me: have your pets spayed and neutered to prevent all the unwanted puppies coming in to shelters, stop buying backyard breeder puppies or pet store puppies, stop turning your animals in to shelters or, God forbid, setting them loose, because your life got a littler harder. No one said it was easy but it will be worth it. 

Recent happenings in my world

 

This is Quinn. He is almost 10.

I lost my precious Gideon about 6 weeks ago. We think it was some kind of blood cancer. He had pneumonia and a collapsed lung and even though he was treated for over a month with antibiotics and various combinations thereof, he was going downhill so fast. He was refusing to eat or drink and I could not get his meds down him any longer so I had to make that very tough decision to let him go. The house became so quiet and lonely and although Gideon was not a noisy dog, the silence when he was gone was deafening. 

A week ago I went back to the shelter to look at senior dogs. Although I had thought about a more middle aged one, the seniors hold my heart, especially those who have been in the shelter for a while. Enter this black lab/pit bull (I think) mix who was black, white areas on his chest and feet and sprinkled with gray. This was his second trip to the shelter which meant at least two homes and he would have had his year's anniversary in June. H'mm? Black dog, senior, sheltered almost a year and a double return? Just my kind of dog. 

I thought he would be easy but black labs don't slow down until they die. He is so full of energy, I get tired just watching him run. We walk every morning and I have had to purchase an Easy Walk harness because he is so curious and high energy, he would pull me off my feet if I wasn't careful. We all know where that might lead. 

In typical lab fashion, he loves food; any food; any time of day or night; but he doesn't get in your face and beg. He sits back a respectable distance and begs. He doesn't like water. (I know, a Labrador that doesn't like water) He is not scared of thunder or loud noises but he doesn't like small critters, think rabbits and squirrels, or children, or other dogs. Luckily, I have none of those. He does love people and wags his tail all the time. 

Now I have bragged on my new companion, this is the rest of the story: I have FINALLY found a surgeon to remove the Parotid tumor on my face. It has been almost 3 years since it was first diagnosed and thanks to Dr. Vosler, at First Physicians, I have a date for outpatient surgery. How surprised was I when I went for my initial appointment this week. The most professional medical office I have been in for several years. Not that I think I will change my GP or anything but this office popped with efficiency. I was speechless and left there, even facing surgery, with a smile on my face. 

7 more weeks of school. Whew, this year has been really quick to pass. I still have my journalism conference in Orlando in a couple of weeks and a long weekend spent in the middle of nowhere with a friend to just sit on a front porch, watch the water and drink coffee in the morning. The only issue will be the drive up but I am hoping some of our visitors will be long gone back to where they are from. Fingers crossed. 

I was also accepted to study George Washington and the formation of our government at Mt. Vernon for a week so I am super excited about that. Surgery will be over; I will be healed and headed to Arlington, VA to absorb more history to bring back to my classroom for my final year. Yep, I did decide to do one more year and maybe more. Let's see how I feel next year.

Until the next time, stay safe, hug your pets, and keep pushing forward. 

Little things begin to be big things

Photo/Azisa

 In about six months, I will be 67 years young. I have noticed over the past couple of years that I am bothered by things that I used to let roll off my back. I thought it must be my age because I never remember being bothered by these things when I was younger. 

It began two years ago when I lost the best doctor I have ever had, Krista Toomre. It was right after Covid-19 and she was moving home to Colorado. She had been my GP for 20 years. She was so down to earth and I am sure saved me and my insurance company lots of money by treating me for common ailments instead of sending me to a specialist. I like her replacement okay, but she is not the same. If Dr. Toomre needed to send me to a specialist, she would send me to who she considered the best, even if they were outside the group. My new doctor has not been here long enough to know the best docs in Sarasota. 

Then, my gastroenterologist, Dr. Martin left. She was also excellent. My new doc is a good doc, but with no personality so to speak of. I do like his physician's assistant, and I see her more than I do him. 

The final straw was the retirement of my mechanic. I did not find out about that until I had a problem with my truck. This leads me to the last part of my story and when several little things became big things to me. 

I went out to go to work and tried to crank my truck. It would not catch. It did not sound like a battery problem or a starter problem, but with the new vehicles, you just never know. I came inside, called work, filled out the two forms we must fill out to call in, typed up some substitute plans for my classes, which never reached my classes and then called my insurance for a tow truck. Or tried. They had no companies in the area who could come to my house. 

Most tow companies opened at 8 a.m. What? Where are my 24 hour companies? I finally found one and called at 6 a.m. He said they could have a truck at my house by 8 a.m. $100 charge.

At 7:30, I phoned my mechanic, Chris at Jim Taylor. I got a strange answering machine which was unusual because Chris was always in early but I left a message with some strange guy on it. At 8, there was no tow truck so I called the mechanic back. Chris and his wife had retired and sold the business. Once again, I had been having my truck serviced there for 20 years. From their old shop behind Vengroff Williams to the new place on Washington Blvd., Chris and Elsa had taken care of me. I knew if Chris had my truck, he would get it diagnosed and fixed in short order. 

So I let the new guy know that a tow truck was coming with my truck and what was going on. They I called the tow company because they were still not at the house. Guess what? It was going to be another hour or two because they had been called to an emergency tow. So now I wait. 

I knew the later it was delivered to the mechanic, the less chance I had of getting it worked on that day. Sure enough, it was 11 a.m. when the tow truck picked up my truck and 11:30 by the time it arrived at the shop. Then another phone call. Why was my truck there? What was it doing? Ugh! So I explained for the 3rd time and he said they would see what they could do. 

I called at 3 and the truck had not been looked at so I called Enterprise Rental because they have a lot one business down from the mechanic. I had to Uber to the mechanic to get my keys and lanyard with my ID from my truck, walk to Enterprise to pick up my rental and then I should be good. 

All was fine and then Enterprise told me they had a $300 security deposit. $300 for a $60 rental. I was appalled. What on earth would people do if they didn't have a charge card or cash or whatever. I let the people there know I thought it disgusting what companies were doing to people in these situations and they were more worried I would write a negative review of them that my being upset. They told me they would still rent me a car. I wonder if they would have refused had I continued to ask them about that $300. They were very nice and I know the policy was not theirs but all the same, I was not happy. 

The next day when I finally got my truck back they could not tell me what was wrong. They did tell me they had cleaned a part and put it back on which cause my truck to start again over and over. They also charged me to do a complete diagnostic which showed my battery failed their test, as did my brakes, my struts, my windshield washer, my air filter etc. Given that I have that truck serviced every 3,000 and am not quite sure all those things need fixing, I may be looking for a new mechanic. I did get a new battery and was not pleased with the $299 charge for it which was one of the reasons I am disgruntled. 

When I was 40, things like these would have not been a big deal. Now, they  create stress in my world. I have a short vacation planned in November; a getaway for 3 days in Crystal River. I am looking forward to that. 

Another senior comes to stay

 

This is the newest member of my family. His name is Gideon. He is close to 10 years old, would have the cutest overbite if he had front teeth and looks intimidating enough to scare most people. Not that it was my intent to scare people, but I am not worried about people breaking in to my home. I honestly believe they would have to kill him if he didn't want you in the house. 

He is really a big mush face. I think American Bulldog mixed with something, probably hound but it doesn't really matter to me. It was a quick call after I had said I was going to wait awhile. I did not wait as long as I thought I would. The house was too lonely and quiet. 

He doesn't get on the furniture. I have no idea why. He is totally housebroken. He loves people food, especially anything with cheese on it. He always cleans his plate, regardless of what is on it. 

He likes his orthopedic beds and his tail thumps continually when you speak to him. He follows me everywhere and at first, would not go out in the yard by himself. I am not sure if he thought I was going to leave him back there or if he thought he was being dumped. 

I have found I must walk him when it is light outside because although I have no problem controlling him on the leash, if he see a rabbit or something in the dark and I miss it, I could go down. I don't want to go down so we changed our walking habits. 

I kept his name, Gideon, which means Great Warrior and I think that fits him. He will stay as long as he is in good health and not suffering but we already know he has hip dysplasia and probably hasn't had the easiest life. His life changed when he came in my house. Welcome home, Gideon.