Considerations for Tuesday

Ah, on Tuesday we consider the happy side of the world.

My funspouse Martha’s visit to her physician yielded this report: Not the flu, neither seasonal nor swine, but a sinus infection.

We all breathed a sigh of relief – because we could.

And, as we reach Tuesday morning, you should know that I’m not home writing this morning, I am elsewhere, but will be writing this afternoon.

In the meantime, we will offer some contemplations to start the day:

--My ironyspouse Martha mentioned that she found it interesting that the NFL would not allow Rush Limbaugh to participate but would allow a dog-killing thug to suit up and play for Philadelphia. She is not the only anti-Michael Vick person I encountered this week. One of our dear tipsters, just before kickoff of the Sunday night Cowboys game, wondered if it was OK to wish that someone would  break the aforementioned Vick’s neck during the game.

-- Has there ever been a worse year around here for cruelty investigations? Hundreds of confiscated animals have flooded an already overwhelmed shelter/adoption system.

-- We get a zillion notices per week – maybe a kabillion notices – about city shelters and county shelters having too many animals. Does someone have a plan for a system that’ll remind just plain folks to go to the shelters and save some lives? What will touch the hearts? Or will it forever be easier for taxpayers just to pay someone else to kill the animals and keep the problem out of their yards?

-- Favorite animal story? Can’t pick Old Yeller because of the ending.  Not Call of The Wild because of the mean parts, though I do adore Beautiful Joe, the story of a dog forced to fight who prevails and finds love. Do Snoopy cartoon collections count? How about some of Beverly Cleary’s tales of Henry Huggins and Freckles?

-- Saw a story on the KTVT Channel 11 site HERE about someone in the Keller ISD trying to take Christmas out of the song “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and making it “I’ll Be Home For Winter.” Good grief. Taking the Christmas out of Christmas? This really looks like one of those situations where some kid-prone-to-hijinx got hold of the district typewriter and wrote a trick memo. Surely a clear-thinking adult wouldn’t try to pull off that idiocy. Not everybody embraces Christmas, but, seriously, the way to “inclusion” is not “exclusion.” Embrace the world, don’t redact it, though near as I can tell the only lawyer involved was the guy who noted that the district would be in violation of copyright laws if it changed the song.

--Now, help me down off this soapbox before it caves in and I find myself singing "I'll be home for winter..." or "It's beginning to look a lot like winter" or "Up on the rooftop, reindeer pause, out jumps good ol' stranger in a red suit." And if Grandma can't get run over by a reindeer coming home from our house Christmas Eve, then that just takes all the poignancy out of the tale. Ah, but  (and apologies to Little Miss Dynamite Brenda Lee) we might get away with "Rockheads Around The Christmas Tree (at the Keller winter hop)..."

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Comments

[Maria]

You words while standing on the soapbox are true and enjoyable to read. I agree with Martha and the tipster! It must be difficult to read then write about these tragedies. Your blog has found many homes for the animals.

[Roxanne Wingo]

Favorite animal story? Where can I begin? Lassie, Come Home. Lad, a Dog. National Velvet. 101 Dalmations. Old TV series "Fury." The Black Stallion. Anything else by Walter Farley. The Incredible Journey. That Quail, Robert. The Three Lives of Thomasina. Black Beauty (the book, as none of the movie versions have done justice.) etc., etc., etc.