Forever Foxy

We called her our "alien dog". She came into our lives during a visit to the Colorado Humane Society and all they knew about her was that she came from Roswell, New Mexico. Although the purpose of our visit to the shelter that day was only to take a look at the facility (I was thinking about putting together a charitable event to benefit the organization), Foxy's adorable "look" and sweet demeanor earned her a place in the Kyle zoo. The above picture doesn't do her justice; unfortunately, it was taken late in her life - when cataracts had robbed her of sight. Foxy was a diminutive creature, barely weighing ten pounds in the end, but had a beautiful, thick coat that included a big patch of brown on her back end, which earned her another nickname of "brown-bottomed fox".

Foxy was truly an odd dog. Even though she always displayed the wonderful canine traits of loyalty and companionship, and was always ready with a "smile" and a wagging tail, it was only late in her life that she learned to "play". I suppose she learned it from watching our other "rescue dogs", Bandit and Lucy, toss and tumble. What a pleasant surprise it was to witness her occasional frolicsome nature in the last few years. Sometimes it seemed that all four feet would leave the ground at once as she displayed excitement about "doggie food time".

Our "alien dog" also thought she was "alpha dog" and would readily reprimand Lucy if she thought she was out of line. The "reprimand" took the form of Foxy putting one of her front legs on Lucy's neck, as if to say "settle down, that's enough". It was sad to see, in the last few years, Lucy vying for the alpha role - muscling her way in to be first for affection, stealing food, etc...weighing almost three times as much and, perhaps, almost six years Foxy's junior - it was a clear picture of survival of the fittest.

Perhaps one of our favorite memories of Foxy's life happened at our ranch, aptly named "Rocky Top", in Aguilar, Colorado. One afternoon, my sons and I set off to explore other property. We walked down our "personal mountain", equipped with walkie talkies and accompanied by Foxy, who loved the ranch. Rick, my husband, had decided to stay behind to do some work. (Looking back, this was a brave - if not foolish - expedition as I was not equipped with a firearm, had two young sons, and this area was known for bear and mountain lions.) Probably about 30 minutes into exploring rough terrain Foxy was nowhere to be seen. After no response to our frantically calling out here name, we further panicked, fearing that she had become a "snack" for a hungry predator. Near hysterics, I ordered the boys to follow me back down the mountain "on the double". As we made our way down, I was hyper aware of our surroundings, afraid there might be a mountain lion with a whetted appetite lurking in the shadows. As soon as we were in range, I contacted Rick to let him know we had "lost" Foxy...only to be told that she was right there by his side...on Rocky Top. You see, Foxy was truly "Rick's dog" - his "heartbeat at his feet" in the earlier years...and, apparently, not seeing the need for any prolonged separation, she had fearlessly found her way back to her person.

Foxy left our world last night. She died in our arms, hopefully feeling our love and appreciation for having shared her life with us. I like to imagine that she can see and hear again, that she was greeted by the souls of those we loved and lost before her. I'm glad we got to say our goodbyes. So is my son Keegan, who raced to the vet's office for that purpose. Foxy's heart had already stopped beating, but, oddly, it started again after Keegan touched her. Through his tears, his last words to her were "go back to Rocky Top Foxy...I love you."

Rider the Spider

As if I didn't already have enough pets...but I just couldn't resist this little guy. He remained a fixture on the hood of my Mercedes all the way from Walmart in Oakwood to my driveway in Flowery Branch. A good 15 miles...I figured he was just hanging on for dear life or recognized a luxury ride when he saw one. It was actually hard to keep my eyes on the road all the way home...half expecting (and dreading) seeing the little guy blow away into oblivion. I admired his tenacity and strength...and promised myself that if he should hang tight to our destination I would take him into the fold.

As soon as the car was parked, I congratulated him on his perseverence and ran into the house to find something with which to contain him. By the time I got back outside he was rediscovering his legs (all eight of them). I had no doubt he was in recovery mode from the stress of the last twenty minutes. Then, he JUMPED from the hood to the side-view mirror...quite a talent, I must say. I began to think that catching this creature might be trickier than expected, but with a little coaxing he jumped right into my Tupperware trap. Then, it was straight to the internet...how does one maintain and feed a quarter inch long arachnid...surely it wouldn't be as easy as, let's say, maintaining the hermit crabs, the betta fish or the African Dwarf frog? I began to worry about having to catch live prey for this little spidey...something that he could inject his poisonous venom into and then suck the life-sustaining juices out of. I even started eyeing the fruit flies that have been plaguing our kitchen (thanks to the backyard apple tree). Regardless, I hurried about the house gathering up a small plastic aquarium, mixing potting soil and sand for a comfortable substrate, and then carefully and artfully arranging twigs, driftwood and a sports drink lid filled with water to create his new digs.

Rider spent all of 24 hours in his new abode. This evening I put my strongest spectacles on and couldn't find a trace of him. Quite obviously he has escaped and I - his brief captor - half expect that he is planning his revenge...to sneak up and bite me on the you-know-what. I only wish he knew that my heart was in the right place...that I was only wanting to reward his determination with the safety, serenity, and opportunity to become spoiled-rotten that I offer all of the other creatures that inhabit my home. Hopefully Rider will find his way out of this house and into the wild before our next pest control visit...that I won't have to revisit him as a carcass swept up by my dusting cloth on a good cleaning day. Now, as the sound track to "Born Free" plays in my brain, I have to admit: Rider the Spider should have remained an Outsider.

The Gloves Are OFF!

I should have known it would get this nasty. Twisted truths, absolute lies, ridiculous analogies, and dirty laundry flying all around. Apparently fear and desperation on the part of the Democrats - possibly in response to the surge in popularity of the Republican ticket - is breeding maliciousness. Here is just a sampling of the outrageous commentary put out there by the left-wing media and its mindless sheep in the last few days:

1. Just today, Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post was unforgivably allowed to post an article with a completely untrue headline: "Palin Links Iraq to 9/11, A View Discarded by Bush". Now, this "journalist" and her employer both know for a FACT that Palin was absolutely NOT linking IRAQ with 9/11 when she spoke to the brigade of soldiers that included her own son yesterday. When she told them that they were about to embark on a mission in Iraq to "defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans" she was, in fact, referring to the al-Qaeda that has taken up roots IN Iraq. This is quite obvious, I would hope, to anyone with firing neurons. But since the Post allowed this ridiculous headline to go up, that certain percentage of the population that is either brain-dead or too lazy to think anything but what they are fed by the extreme left is having a hey dey with this lie. My blood pressure goes up just reading the on-line commentary that follows Kornblut's article. (Rest assured I left a post that made clear my disgust...and went a step further and emailed the writer personally.)

2. On Wednesday, South Carolina Democratic chairwoman Carol Fowler made the absurd statement that Sarah Palin's "primary qualification seems to be that she hasn't had an abortion." (Fowler's husband, the former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also put HIS foot in his mouth a week or so ago. Seems he was caught on video laughing and saying that the fact that Hurricane Gustav was going to hit New Orleans at the same time that the Republican National Convention was to start "just demonstrates God is on our side.) Both husband and wife were forced to issue apologies but, as far as I am concerned, Carol Fowler shouldn't be able to dig herself out of that one. I say "FOUL on the Fowlers. Shame on them both!"

3. As if it couldn't get more ludicrous - a Democratic Congressman from the State of Tennessee by the name of Steve Cohen decided to use his time on the House floor likening Obama to Jesus and Sarah Palin to Pontius Pilate. This one doesn't really deserve comment. (By the way, if you want to see the ultimate example of a "bad hair day", you should watch the YouTube video of this guy...it kind of boggles the mind and makes Donald Trumps hair look fairly normal in comparison.)

4. Apparently, left wing nut and actress Susan Sarandon thought that what Steve Cohen said was pure genious worth plagiarizing; I saw her on television last night saying: "Jesus was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor; that's all I have to say." Let's hope that's all you have to say Ms. Sarandon because I'm SICK and TIRED of hearing your asinine statments and I sincerely hope that you keep your promise that you will leave the United States and move to Canada - or even better yet - Italy if McCain gets elected. Arrivederci! (Can I pack your bags for you?)

5. The worst "journalism" of all came from outside of the United States - Canada to be exact - and it came in the form of a column written by Heather Mallick for the CBC. In her piece titled "A Mighty Wind blows through Republican Convention" she likens Sarah Palin to "white trash" and writes that she has a "toned-down version of the porn actress look". Mallick doesn't stop there...she goes on to insult Palin's husband by saying he looks like a "roughneck" and most unpardonable is her assertion that daughter Bristol looks like a "pramface" (My research of this term led me to this definition: "a derogatory term that implies a young woman looks like they are destined to achieve nothing more in life than pushing a buggy"). After reading the vitriol of Heather Mallick, I decided to email her a bit of my own...aside from telling her she was a disgrace to journalism and to her country, I thanked her for revealing who the real pig in lipstick was this week.

So, know you know why my gloves have come off...them's fightin' words!

The Politics of Pigs in Lipstick

Much media attention has been given today to Barack Obama's recent poor choice of words. Too bad he didn't read his fortune cookie yesterday: "Put lipstick on pig, put foot in mouth." Seems that the McCain camp is having a bit of fun and probable folly in responding to this gaffe by posting a strategically edited and misleading "attack" ad which suggests that the Democratic Presidential Candidate was referring to Republican darling Sarah Palin when he said, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." Now, seriously, I believe - and Obama has made clear - that he was absolutely NOT referring to Governor Palin...that he was merely using a common expression in his criticism of McCain's economic policies. (One has only to google the phrase to see that it's been around a long time. ) For this reason, and most likely this is one of the few times you'll hear me say this, I have to side with the Obama camp on this one. I do think, however, that Senator Obama should have seen this coming. I mean, how many hundreds of times in the past week have we heard Saracuda's quote from her VP candidate acceptance speech - you know the one about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull being lipstick? You'd think Barack would have thought twice before even using the "L" word. If he had, he might have realized he was risking the wrath of the Maverick, the Barracuda and millions of their supporters who jumped to silly conclusions as soon as the headlines hit.

Now, I'm pretty sure that McCain and Palin themselves knew darn well that their political nemesis wasn't making reference to the Governor and that their campaign managers saw this as an opportunity to widen the lead that they are currently enjoying. At any rate, I do agree with Barack Obama saying "Enough!" in response to this madness. Senator Obama was also correct in labeling this a "phony controversy". The American people deserve to hear straight forward talk about the critical issues that our country is facing. The candidates need to devote their time to clearly communicating their proposed solutions to REAL problems and not waste time on diversionary fiction.

To be honest, I'm baffled and embarassed that the McCain campaign allowed this to happen. I thought we were bigger and better than this. I guess they, too, should have read their fortune cookie which said "He who hears comment about makeup best not make up lies". Consequently, my next writing project of the day will be directed to my Presidential hopeful...for what it's worth - coming from me, that is - I will share with him not only my disappointment, but also my hope that he will take this piece of fiction off of his website and issue an apology for allowing it to get there in the first place.

I'M A BELIEVER!

Sarah Palin delivered last night! She singlehandedly erased ANY qualms I had about voting for McCain this November. In fact, I'm pretty fired up now about the possibilities that await us should we get this dynamic team of reformers elected. The Maverick and the Barracuda could really shake things up in Washington and bring the kind of changes this country really needs.

The RNC rocked last night with just the right mix of humor, heroism, hope and straight talk. My man Huckabee offered support for his "second choice" for President (his first preference, of course, being himself) and it was great to hear him wax eloquent again. Rudy Guiliani's speech was pure ear candy injected with the good medicine of laughter...the former Mayor of NYC - a hero in his own right - did a great job comparing Obama's inexperience and weaknesses with the accomplishments and strengths of McCain and Palin. The evening ended with the much-anticipated and history-making "debut" of the woman everyone has been talking about...the one that the liberal left-wing media has been having a hey-dey with. The Governor of Alaska took the stage with ease and confidence and proceeded to "wow" us all with her effective and personable delivery of a well-penned headlining speech. It was not ALL straight from the teleprompter however; Sarah interjected a little spontaneous humor for the benefit of the hockey moms in attendance by pointing out that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is the lipstick! (Palin T-Shirts sporting this one-liner are already for sale on the internet!) Sarah Palin's speech was revealing...one who listened was left with a good sense of where she comes from, who she is, what she believes, who she believes in and what she will do for our country if given the opportunity.

John McCain's choice for Vice President - Sarah Palin - might very well have been a stroke of genius. For certain, it has energized the Republican party - something I feel was needed desperately. Quite possibly his decision is causing women, in particular, on all sides of the political spectrum to take a second look. Since McCain and Palin's message is that of "country first" I am hopeful that ALL Americans are taking the time to look and listen - to soul search and pray. November is just around the corner and our very future is on the line. What we do in the voting booths will reveal whether or not McCain's pick for a running mate will bring about a checkmate...for our sake and the sake of our children, let's hope it's so!

The Sarah Surprise

Wow - who knew? One thing we can say about John McCain and his staff...they are good at keeping things under wraps. While all the recent veep buzz centered around Tim Pawlenty (yawn...) and Mr. Slick Mitt Romney (yuck...), all the while it was about to be Sarah Barracuda to the rescue!

I must admit that I knew nothing about this woman who may very well be the first female Vice President of the United States...but in the last two hours I've gazed at and googled her...and well, I'm pretty impressed!

This is "girl power" at its finest...Sarah Palin - the Governor of the Alaska, is a mother of five children. Her oldest son is serving in the U.S. Army - her youngest only born about four months ago. There are three young girls in the midst of them and I love their names - Bristol, Willow and Piper. Sarah married her high school sweetheart 20 years ago today. In fact, she said she had promised her husband a surprise anniversary gift...little did he know it would be the announcement of her being chosen as John McCain's running mate - the very FIRST woman ever put on a GOP ticket! Sarah has only been Governor for about 2 years and she says it all began with the PTA, which led to the city council, which led to Mayor, and it all snowballed from there. She has tremendous approval ratings in her home state and is known to be a reformer, not unlike McCain. Her high school nickname of "Barracuda" was earned as a result of her intensity on the basketball court. She not only hunts and fishes, but is also a former beauty queen and, in fact, posed for Vogue magazine late last year.

There will be those that say that she does not have enough experience to be put in such a position...one that could land her as the first woman President if something should happen to McCain. Something tells me not to worry. Anyway, the way I look at it, both the Democratic tickets and the Republican tickets now have one young and relatively green person on them...it's Barack vs. the Barracuda. (McCain and Biden add the elements of maturity, experience and crustiness.)

Palin said today in her speech that Hillary Clinton had left 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling hovering over our heads. Sarah Palin might just be the one who shatters it!

Twister Tuesday!

I could hardly believe my eyes as I looked to the sky. The scene through my windshield...was it what I thought it was? My fears were justified as I saw the car ahead of me and the school bus behind me pull over to the side of the highway. It was as if we were all saying, "No way am I going towards THAT!"

"THAT" was the first funnel cloud I have ever seen "up close and personal" - not on a television screen. And believe me - the effect that a twister-sighting has when it's seen in person is quite different than when it is seen on the Weather Channel. Let's just say that the effect it had on ME was not pretty.

I had been en route to my usual racquetball game. It was raining hard the remnants of tropical storm Fay. In fact, I had thought about cancelling my match just due to fears of driving in extreme wetness. Little did I know that something much more ominous lied ahead... I was driving up the entrance ramp to I-985 when I saw the black cloud swirling and reaching down where it had no business reaching. At that point, the twister was somewhere near the Wrigley's plant. I supposed a direct hit there would send packs of Juicy Fruit flying and Orbit orbitting...then, PANIC struck as I not only realized I didn't know which way this thing was headed but also that I was POWERLESS if its path included me. I wanted so badly to be back home, but I had no way of turning around unless I drove ahead to the next exit. So, instead of remaining a sitting duck (and in order to avoid becoming a dead duck), I made the decision to drive ahead. Both the rain and my heart pounded as I almost blindly moved forward...all the while screaming (incoherently, according to my husband) into my cell phone. As I said, it wasn't pretty. I would have liked to think that, as a Christian, I would have been praying incessantly during such a time...but, instead, I was an absolute basket case. Now, lest you think I'm a total heathen, I will say I did manage to squeak out one short prayer for protection. What can I say, I'm wired wrong - just like my mother. I am a bonafide screamer - just ask my kids.

By the way, my panic didn't revolve exclusively around my OWN survival . (Heaven forbid we add "self-centered" to my list of negative attributes.) After realizing that the tornadic monster appeared to be heading in the direction of my boys' schools, my hysteria centered on my sons. Those fears were exacerbated when I called my girlfriend only to find HER already in terror-induced tears. The schools were in lockdown and her husband had seen the culprit cloud making it's way toward them.

All's well that ends well though...I made it home without being sucked into a vortex...and so did the boys. The West Hall schools suffered no more than the springing of some new leaks. (More than I can say for a couple of other schools in the county which took a more direct hit.) For our family though, August 26th was a day to remember - a "pass over" of sorts - and a reminder of who is in control. For this reason and so many others, we thank Him for His mercy, His protection and His amazing grace!