HAVE A REALLY GREAT THANKSGIVING 2020! -- REMEMBER, IT'S PERSONAL, NOT BUSINESS.

THE EDITION OF THANKSGIVING, 2020 [PetPowellPress] We have many reasons to be thankful and not enough room to list them all. But we have faith that You Know Who knows our hearts and will forgive what’s in them while also seeing the good things we do and think. Also, speaking on behalf of the humans in our house, we are thankful we were born in the Lone Star State and its United States. So, what we have in this edition is a holiday collection of notes linked by the fact that the Lapsed Baptist Boy and the Pentecostal Preacher’s Daughter are united in thanks-giving and critter-adoring. 
TIME-OUT: Just learned this fact Wednesday. Remember that song “Over The River and Through the Wood” — did you know it’s original title is “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day” — it’s a poem published in 1844 by Lydia Maria Child. Early versions went to “Grandfather’s house” rather than “Grandmother’s House.” That book cover looks like the Thanksgivings of my childhood in Texarkana, Texas, except for the snow, the horse, the sleigh, the warmly-dressed passengers and a mountain in the background. TIME-IN.

EXPLAINING THE CAT: There is no explaining this cat. He's our youngest foundling — Stevie Ray. You saw him in a recent edition standing in my office window and watching a Mockingbird that he thought was a Turkey — the young, inexperienced cat had never seen an actual bird in person before (that I know of though I did pluck his yowling little self out of a tree).
On Wednesday I was in my luxurious home office typing madly on some project that I hope to sell to the movies for 80 million bucks — I’m kidding. I think I was typing a fortune cookie that read "YOU WILL ENJOY THIS COOKIE BUT SOON EAT TOO MUCH ON A NOVEMBER THURSDAY...AND FRIDAY."  Martha was away on an errand. And I was the only human that I knew of in the house.
Suddenly, like in a Twilight Zone episode, I heard one eerie musical note drifting elegantly through the house. Because it was only one note, I figured a cat had walked across our radio with the on/off switch on top and turned it on, then off, with one footstep. 
But then I heard at least six very musical notes in a row gently traveling calmly, sweetly through the house. And I recognized the tone but not the song. So I walked into Martha’s Harp Room and, there, in proper position for plucking with one extended toe and nail, was Stevie Ray. He saw me, rose and walked out before I could convince him to play Greensleeves for the video cam.
TIME-OUT: Martha and I are united on her Preacher/Mom Violet Muse’s chocolate pie recipe at Thanksgiving though we go through different serving lines when it comes to the main dish — I like mine to be what’s now referred to as “plant-based.” Some people are “traditional” with a holiday fork. [FYI: As I’m typing this, I am also sharing a rice cake with peanut butter to my darling companion Wendy, aka Wednesday Louise Wagstaff Arden. It helps us both think. I hope the photo demonstrates the affection we have for each other and peanut butter.] TIME-IN
A THANKSGIVING NOTE
FOR SWEET CLYDE
Spotted this on Facebook Wednesday. Got a soft spot for Border Collies. So while we have no place for “Sweet Clyde,” maybe someone reading this on a calm, quiet Thanksgiving will have a spot. According to the League of Animal Protectors Rescue (www.laprescue.org) Clyde was rescued from a Dallas hoarding situation earlier this year. He has been living with a trainer and is a gentle, quiet guy who, the trainer says “never barks even during doggie playtime.” LAP Rescue says Clyde’s shy, but once he likes you, it’s a lock!
The handsome guy is in command of his household manners. The LAP note reads, “We would love to place him in a foster-to-adopt home to help with this transition and opportunities to work with our trainer to make this process as seamless as possible.” Click HERE for the adoption application.
[LARRY ASIDE: As a kid, we had a Border Collie named Queenie, perhaps the greatest dog who ever lived. Herded the three brothers like we were renegade goats. My rescuespouse Martha and I now have a Border Collie/Chocolate Lab mix named Dudley The Angel after Cary Grant’s character in The Bishop’s Wife. Dudley lives up to the Angel designation.]
TIME-OUT: On Thanksgiving, I usually watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC — it’s a tradition I started way back in elementary school when the TV hosts might have been Today Show stars Dave Garroway and a chimp named J. Fred Muggs. Or maybe the hosts were Hugh Downs, Jack Lescoulie and Barbara Walters. I can’t remember. 
I just know that Santa is always on the final float. 
The system was I’d browbeat my brothers into watching Captain Kangaroo until the parade started and then we’d switch to NBC where the parade was presented “In Living Color,” though we wouldn’t know that until around 1965 when Mom and Pop got a color TV. We happily, ignorantly watched “In Living Monochrome.” That’s the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes high-kicking in 1958 — got the photo from NBC Today’s online collection HERE.  If I remember correctly, in this photo, I am the third from the left (near the curb) and fourth from the left is our Eastern Seaboard Bureau Chief Andy Fisher who was a writer for NBC and the Today Show before he became The Critter Whisperer of Indian Lake in Denville, N.J. Happy Thanksgiving, of course, to him and Annie, son Ian, and the rescues: dog Maxie and cat Chloe. Heck, Happy Thanksgiving to the entire Eastern Seaboard.
TIME OUT ADDENDUM: Of course, I’ve never high-kicked with the Rockettes though it remains a dream. I have, however, edited the written word and written words that needed editing. So, this Thanksgiving, I am very, very thankful to teachers who constantly work at making sure their students know that words matter, phrases should be clearly understood and the phrase “you know what I mean” should only be used in fiction and, then, only sparingly. I’m still puzzled by Joe Namath’s use of the phrase “one of the only days” in a Medicare commercial — an “only day” is the “one,” not “one of.” Also, I was listening to a storm report Wednesday morning on a respected local AM radio station and heard a news anchor say some people in Tuesday night’s storm had suffered “minor wounds.” I believe “minor injuries” is the proper usage unless the tornado was shooting at these people. Bullet wounds, knife wounds. Tornadoes, car wrecks, dangling participles -- all injuries, not wounds. Of course, the fact that I am a stickler for proper contextual usage means I may suffer an emotional wound from those who are, when it come to communicating, as slack as a deflated exclamation point. Know what I mean? [THAT BOOK? Published in 2014. I like the title. Never read it. Title reminds me of some of my editing shifts in newsrooms. I kid my former colleagues as a Thanksgiving gift! The author, Thomas Erikson, has written sequels: Surrounded by Psychopaths (reminded me of meetings with newspaper management) and Surrounded by Bad Bosses (I'm sure it has a "Fiction" label as there is not such thing as a bad boss, right?)]  TIME IN

CONTEMPLATIONS
YOU AND YOUR COMPANIONS
Our friend Dianne Cole has been a rescuer for a while and Readlarrypowell.com once tracked her adventure in trying to save a little bitty dog that was among several dumped near the southwest Dallas campus of Mountainview College where she works. She and hubby Mike have a history of saving dogs and giving them a happy home we all envy! 
The dog she was trying to save in this Mountainview adventure is named “Lil’ Bit.” That’s her reaching out toward the camera.
Diane summarized the story this way: “Lil' Bit is still going strong...well, not as strong as she used to, but she's like the Energizer Bunny...she keeps on going.  I can't imagine my life without her.  She's always close by and looks at me with adoration in her eyes daily.  I LOVE my girl.  She loves Mike, but she will always be a Mama's Girl and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Yes, people still remember my adventure trying to catch her...and what a catch she was!  Nine years later and I still have high school friends ask me how she's doing.  LOL!  She's a lucky little girl.”
Here's how Dianne explained the emotions in her post on Thanksgiving's Eve. Written in Lil' Bit's voice, it reads:
"My Mom and her friend rescued me after I was dumped as a 3 month old puppy... I’m now 9 years old. It took Mom and her friend almost 5 months to catch me, but I hit the jackpot when I let myself be caught.
My nickname is: Bits or Bitsy
My age: About 9
My weight: 20 pounds
My favorite human food is: My dog food since I don’t get people food
My biggest fear: being dumped again, but don’t think that will ever happen
My favorite thing to do: sitting in my Mom’s lap
My second favorite thing to do: looking out the window
My favorite toy: toys are beneath me
Do I love car rides: Only if I can sit in Mom’s lap
Do I snore: ALL the time & very loud for such a small girl
My job: keeping Mom & Dad safe from outside people & dogs
My breed is: Chihuahua mix
My favorite human: my Mom, of course, but I do love my Dad."
That’s not all from Dianne. She adds, “Jewels and Dice are lucky, too, and a big part of our lives.  I just wish I could have more dogs, but Mike tells me 3 is enough.  LOL!” That’s Jewels and Dice wrestling — good dogs, best pals, lots of fun. And proof, Dianne will tell you, that you can boost the happiness in your heart by adopting those Big Black Dogs that nobody wants. They're waiting in shelters for a Thankful Heart to stop by.
IN SUMMATION: For Thanksgiving 2020, my festivespouse Martha and I are so happily thankful that we have dogs and cats and friends such as all you Dear Readers. 
We have a lot to be thankful for in this country and after the 2020 political campaigns, some of us are thankful that we can still find quiet places to sit and contemplate. 
For example, that is The Senator, our politically experienced cat and my personal counselor, having a very quiet moment with an old operative acquaintance who is trying to reshape his resume in order to qualify for a cabinet position -- Secretary of Baby Boomer Influence. In the second photo, you see my shoe, Martha’s toes, Dudley snoozing and the incredibly wonderful face of Texas Earl the Cheeseman, the Rottie I recovered free in Dallas’ Kiest Park more than a decade ago — he was waiting for whoever dumped him to come back and get him. In keeping with this holiday, I am very, very thankful I said to him, “Jump in the pickup kid, I’ve got a place for you to spend the rest of your life making two people happy.” And that, Dear Readers, is a great step toward having a wonderful Thanksgiving each year. Oh, yeah, I need to mention the kids and the grandkids, too. That’s enough — they’ll understand. They have critters.
— Be thankful today and let us know why on ‘comments’ below or by emailing dallrp@aol.com. —-