EDITION OF FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2021 [PetPowellPress] The theme of this particular segment is “Do you believe?”
Yes, “Do you believe Ivory Billed Woodpeckers are still pecking wood in American forest?” Amen?
Outside of pro-animal legislation, we will rarely take a political stance at readlarrypowell.com but this decision is too important to leave up to the government.
We stand with William Powell and Stevie Ray in the matter of denying the “extinct” label to the Ivory Billed 
Woodpecker.
On the left, you see young Stevie Ray working his shift at our front window observation venue. The other photo shows Office Cat and Senior Observer William Powell after he took the second shift. Not sure either has ever seen any kind of woodpecker.
We believe that it is entirely possible, in our bird-happy area adjacent to the Tandy Hills Nature Center, that at some point we'll see an Ivory Billed 
Woodpecker landing in the Bald Cypress tree in our front yard. Who declared the Ivory Billed Woodpecker “extinct”? Nobody yet.
Why do we have such faith in the big woodpecker? See that photo of that car? It plays into our theory of lingering survival.
We’ll explain that — and the public commentary opportunities — in today’s WOODPECKER CONTEMPLATIONS. First, some more animal stories.
HERE COMES
OKLAHOMA’S WINTER…
Pretty sure Oklahoma gets winter before North Texas gets it (the Panhandle of Texas is too flat to slow the winds blowing east from New Mexico and Colorado). But here’s the deal. Our resilient tipster Terry Lynn Fisher of Burns Flat has been rescuing animals and protecting the shelter residents for a long time. She knows the ropes. And she knows the seasonal needs for a 20th century “pound” that has moved into the 21st century through her determination and supporters.
She writes, “As October approaches, so does the colder weather. Our pound is totally outdoors, as is the one south of us that we help with. Sadly, the extra places we have for the pound dogs are always full, so, often, there 
are many in the pound. I do everything I can to keep them safe and warm but being outdoors, it’s sometimes hard.” [LARRY WEATHER ASIDE: As you can see in that illustration from The Old Farmers’ Almanac, those weather experts concur with Terry Lynn. “Season of Shivers” is chilling, isn’t it!]
Terry Lynn also says, “I put tarps around the kennels to block the wind and we take warm blankets up several times a day.
So, it’s time to ask for donations to help keep these babies warm."
Here are “some of the needs.” Terry Lynn writes, “Blankets. (Many, for after so many washings with bleach, they get worn out).
“Heavy plastic water buckets; food bowls; large heavy duty tarps; heavy duty zip ties….
“ And always needed: Food, collars, leads and treats.”
She says, “We will soon need to replace the large igloo dog houses when able. And, we are working on another 
building to build more kennels in. But that’s expensive, even with my sons doing the work. But it’s always a goal.”
She ends her appeal with, “Thank you all for any help you can offer. Terry Lynn.”
To ask Terry Lynn how to deliver donations to her, contact her at remembering_oddball@yahoo.com. You can donate on PayPal at terrylynnfisher59@yahoo.com. And this is her mailing address:
TERRY LYNN FISHER/ PO BOX 578/ 206 Iroquois Trail/ Burns Flat, OK, 73624.
The name Burns Flat? Nothing to do with fire. Burns was a nearby post office. Flat is what the land is. Where is Burns Flat? It’s not far from Texas — only about an hour and 10 minutes if you take the interstate from Burns Flat west to the Texas Line. From Wichita Falls, it’s about 2 hours and 20 minutes almost due north. Yes, the roads are paved.
This area is ranching country — it’s where, when you turn off your car lights at night (and pull over, of course), you can look up, see a sky carpet of stars and see all the way to the edge of the universe.
‘LEAPING AND BOUNDING’ —
THAT’S BRINDLE BRINDI’S WAY!
How is it a dog like this isn’t a household star, an adored companion, a go-to pup for hugs and laughs? The Mesquite Shelter volunteer dog biographer Judi Brown says Brindi, a not-fixed, 55-pound, “true brindle beauty,” came in as a stray on September 18.
She’s been waiting that long “not because she’s not a very attractive, desirable dog,” Judi writes, “but because she didn’t know what to make of the shelter and needed time to 
decompress.”
She’s now ready to go through a “slow introduction” to “her new family,” Judi says. And she recalls, “When I first went into her kennel she had her tail tucked but when she got outside her tail started wagging and she started running back-and-forth. She actually was very joyful... leaping and bounding.”
She spent some time looking out of the exercise yard gate — not to escape, but because, Judi says, “She just was curious about what was going on on the other side. A volunteer came up to the gate to talk to her and she made a new friend! When I sat down. she tried to get on my lap. When she’s not running back-and-forth she’s very gentle.”
She appears to be house-trained, “walked well on the leash,” and didn’t show aggression toward other dogs.
And there’s this, Judi writes: “She should make a good family dog and would do well with a large yard. However, she would prefer to spend most of her time inside with her new family. In the short time we were out, she was getting overheated and wanted to go inside. If you’re looking for a loving dog that likes to be close to you and is energetic come and meet Brindi!” Brindi’s shelter ID is #48690213. Use it to help communications when you call the shelter at 972–216–6283 or email rescues@cityofmesquite.com.
SADDLE UP, IT’S A
A NATURAL FOR TEXAS
A few decades ago, before all the ranches and farms in Dallas County became developments and paved roads, one of 
the reporters at The Dallas Morning News did a story noting that Dallas County had more horses than any of the 253 other counties in the state. That’s all changed, but the need to help horses and the ability to learn from them has not.
On Wednesday, the SPCA of Texas announced that it’s involved in a horse program. The news release reads that “The 4-H Homes for Horses program, in partnership with Texas A&M, the Humane Society of North Texas (in Fort Worth) and The Right Horse Initiative, pairs 4-H youth with horses from rescue organizations in order to provide the horses with ongoing care while teaching the students valuable skills.” Seventeen students were accepted in the initial round and were “paired off with their own rescue horse for a full year. The students will take the horse home with them, work on their skills as well as the horse’s skills.”
And in case you wondered, you can adopt horses at the SPCA of Texas. This 27-year-old mare Lyric is a Quarter Horse. Her adoption fee is $350. Based on the bio, she’s a well-mannered horse and there’s this key information for those of us who would only accidentally be involved with a horse. The bio reads “Catch in pasture: yes.” [LARRY NOTE: If you see me in a pasture trying to catch a horse, you can figure the horse is playing keep-away with my winning Lotto Texas ticket. That’s about the only reason I can think of for going over a pasture fence and trying to outsmart a horse. Oh, yeah, I might have to dig under the fence — I’m out of practice when it comes to fence-jumpin’. And, as a native Texan, I think the last time I rode a horse was in the 
‘60s or early ‘70s. Have owned two Ford Mustangs, however.]
Oh, and one more thing: Any of you city kids know what the 4 Hs stand for? Yeah, I had to look it up, too: Head, heart, hands and health. There were 3 until 1911 when “health” was added — I plowed quickly through some research and also found that 4-H has gone from a mostly agricultural organization to a modern world’s focus involving science, citizenship, technology and healthy living.
CONTEMPLATIONS
THE WOODPECKER; A STAR; TERLINGUA! AT 54?
Welcome to Woodpecker Contemplations. The Ivory Billed Woodpecker is not going to be officially extinct for a 
while. Research reveals that extinction can’t be federally official until after the “public commentary” period which ends Nov. 29. Click HERE to reach the Federal Register and commentary rules.
I’m not kidding. The government has to have a “public hearing” to declare the species “extinct.”
Oh, about that car — the last official sighting of a U.S. Ivory Billed Woodpecker was more than 80 years ago. So what? See that car? That’s a Rambler. Ramblers first appeared in the late 1800s. And research shows that the last Rambler was made in 1969. Yet, there, parked at a house not far from our’s is what I believe to be a fully operational 1960 Rambler.
If a 1960 Rambler can roll down a 2021 city street, it’s possible that an Ivory Billed Woodpecker colony can still be going un-noticed in a forest that no developer has yet bought and leveled.
PERSONAL WOODPECKER NOTE: I grew up in Northeast Texas and camped out in the woods as a Boy Scout — lived 
with confidence that if there was ever a remote-enough place with limb-to-limb pine trees that would draw the attention of a big woodpecker, I was living in it. Heck, the Red River and its wilderness bottoms run through that neck of the woods. And, in that part of the world, there are bugs so big that you could put ‘em on a foot-long metal skewer and roast 
‘em over an open fire and feed a family for two weeks.
Not that a woodpecker does that sort of thing. Nope. A woodpecker is a civilized bird — nothing like the sound of a woodpecker hammering into a tree trunk in the woods.
Oh, and if minor league baseball ever resumes, Woodpeckers will play baseball — in the Carolina League, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. No ivory bills. Also, not in the same league as the Coastal Plains League Savannah Bananas. Just a baseball FYI.
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I MAY WRITE MORE ABOUT TOMMY KIRK later. But for now, we’ll just note that, at age 79, an actor who was watched by many fans of Disney TV and films, Tommy Kirk, has died at 70. Many favorite roles, including his work in The Shaggy Dog and his portrayal of Joe Hardy (left in the photo) in The Hardy Boys with Tim Considine as Frank Hardy. That was a serial on The Mickey Mouse Club in 1956. For some of you, the mention of The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure will become a time-traveling earworm: “Gold doubloons and pieces of 8, handed down to Applegate….” Here’s a LINK TO THE THEME . And here’s a link to the obit of the actor who played the kid who had to shoot Old Yeller. …
The Texas Rangers baseball team is turning 50 in 2022 but the great international Terlingua Chili Cook-off has been around a lot longer than that! In fact, here’s this year’s poster.
It was sent to us by the great Kathleen Tolbert Ryan, daughter of the cook-off’s co-founder Frank X Tolbert, creator of the Tolbert’s restaurants and longtime columnist for The Dallas Morning News. This version of the poster showed up in our email Thursday with a note from Kathleen that read, “Getting ready for the Terlingua Chili Cook-Off!!! VIVA 54!!!” Details of the event are at this LINK: http://abowlofred.com. A Bowl of Red was the title of “Tolberto’s” (as he sometimes referred to himself in print) best-selling book, regarded by many as “The Bible of Chili.” Some things in Texas are comfortably long-lasting legends — Terlingua is one of those “Texas thangs.” Where is Terlingua? It’s in the Big Bend. Take I-20 to Monahans and turn left —if you start in Dallas you'll be there in about 600 miles. And ready for chili, the Texas State Dish since May 12, 1977.
— Offer chili recipes or antacid advice by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing dallrp@aol.com and put “NO BEANS, FAKE MEAT” in the subject line. —
