It's Wednesday and it's raining again on North Texas. One of my neighbors is trying to get his lawn mowed before the big storm rolls across our part of town. Oops! He nearly made it! Big drops just sent him and his mower scurrying for cover.
I happen to like tall, wet weeds in a front yard -- or, as we refer to them, "native grasses." Now, here are some triumphs and some opportunities:
UPDATE: Martha Hardwick Hofmeister reports some good news from a downtown Dallas law firm. "The sweet puppy found near Cedar Creek Lake featured [Tuesday] on your blog will have a new home tomorrow [Wednesday] with one of the office assistances in my law firm.. She lives with her parents and her young daughter. They had been looking for a Husky mix or something vaguely 'wolf-life,' so Wylie was perfect for them." And, she reports, that when the adoptor called the foster family, Wylie "was sleeping on his foster momma's tummy." Sweet pup.
STOP LOOKING FOR THIS DOG: This is Daphne. "I'm very lucky," Loren Bennett of Dallas told me about 10 a.m.. "I got her back last night." Daphne was staying at a friend's home in Fort Worth over the weekend, but on May 27 she slipped out of the backyard into unfamiliar territory and vanished.
Loren immediately began checking shelters and e-mailing "keep-your-eyes-open" bulletins to friends and assorted animal websites.
As it turns out, Daphne was still in the neighborhood, happily visiting anyone who'd take the time to visit with her. And Loren got her back last night.
So Daphne, the 8-year-old, liver-and-white cocker spaniel, is back at home and everyone is happy. What's the history on this dog who went missing in Fort Worth. Loren got her 7 years ago through DFW Cocker Spaniel Rescue -- those rescuers had found her in the Oak Cliff Animal Shelter and pulled her to safety. Now, the former Oak Cliff pound dog is a beloved member of the family.
MISSING IN TERRELL: One of our reliable tipsters, Amanda Erwin, recently helped rescue and place a dog found on the campus of Dallas Baptist University. Now, she has a challenge of her own. Her 5 year-old female Lab, Dove, has "gone missing."
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UPDATE: Amanda e-mailed about 3:30 p.m. today that her dog has been found. "I'm still not quite sure of the story but ... she's home safe and sound," she says. We'll try to find out where Dove had been romping.
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She bolted from the yard about 1 p.m. Tuesday with two other dogs. The other dogs were found, but Dove is still missing.
She was last seen in the Poinsettia Circle neighborhood of Terrell. Amanda spent hours driving around looking for her. "This is not like her at all," Amanda says, "so I am thinking someone must have picked her up."
So, if you've seen Dove or you know where she may be, contact Amanda at [email protected]. 
A CAT NEEDS A HOME: This is Abigail, a Cameo Persian, "in need of a quiet home to live out her remaining days in comfort," says our reliable tipster Colleen Ament who is currently caring for her.
She says Abigail is probably 2 to 4 years old and "has had a tough life." She arrived in rescue in pretty bad shape -- matted hair, underweight, etc. So she was shaved, fed, examined and tested. She's declawed, deaf and has two dislocated discs -- otherwise she's in good shape. The back surgery will be expensive, but for now she seems to be OK on pain meds.
Colleen says, "I would like to find someone with a big heart for Persians who will love her and know when pain meds are no longer the right thing for her."
One vet has recommended euthanizing the cat, but you never know if there's someone who has the money to repair the cat's back and give her a good and safe home. So, Colleen is spreading the word in hopes of finding someone who'll match up with Abigail. (To help out, e-mail [email protected].)
REPORT FROM BURNS FLAT: Terry Lynn Fisher, the rescuer who monitors things at the Burns Flat, Okla., animal shelter, reports that Bailey the Basset, mentioned here yesterday, has been taken in at OK Save A Dog in Prague, Okla. And Freckles, the freckled dog featured on Readlarrypowell.com last week, has been moved from death row at the pound to a foster home in Oklahoma City. There are other success stories. And there is this story -- it has potential for success:
We first heard of this Dalmatian when she turned up in the Burns Flat pound. Terry Lynn suspected she "had babies somewhere" and knocked on doors until she found the family and returned the dog. Now, she's back in the pound, surrendered by the owners. And, she has babies, but Terry says, "I have no idea what happened to the babies....This girl isn't crying to get out -- she is actually screaming. It breaks my heart to see her this way....She looked 'puppied' to death. She's very sweet and loving and when I go into her pen, she just leans against me."
So, Terry Lynn is (again) trying to save this dog. If you can help or know someone who can, call Terry Lynn Fisher at 580-660-1344.
"She has been here twice in a week," Terry Lynn says. "This time she isn't going 'home'."
FLUFFY DOG FINDS HOME: We reported just after Mothers Day that this fluffy white dog had been found near Webb Chapel and Royal Lane in North Dallas. Her finder, Marta, tried to find the dog's rightful folks, but has had no luck and "some dear friends" offered to foster MD (short for "Mothers Day Dog").
Now, Marta reports, "My friends are convinced that MD, now called Sandy, is a wonderful gift and they are very happy to make her a part of their family." Marta says she'd loved to have kept the pup, but that her dog Georgia is "insecure." "The next best thing in that regard is for my friends to adopt her so that I can keep in touch with this sweet pup, thus the story ends happily for all involved."
PAYCHECK-TO-PAYCHECK: Radio news reported this morning that one of the presidential candidates had announced that, if elected, he'd sign his presidential paycheck over to charity.
Seriously, maybe that's what's wrong with the presidency. Wouldn't you feel more comfortable if the person in the oval office NEEDED the job? If he knew that if he did a lousy job, he'd be out of work, his car would go back to the dealership, his home would be repossessed and he'd have to move in with the in-laws? Now, THAT would be presential pressure.
