FOR MONDAY: A LAUNDRY TALE; SOME CATS, DOGS & PEOPLE; & A BLUE TENT TEST

EDITION OF MONDAY, DEC. 28, 2020 [PetPowellPress] Because I am a romantic, I'll open this  bit of the last part of 2020 with a laundry story.
It's a Dear Santa thing. Dear Santa, I wrote, please bring me a hand-held, battery powered vacuum cleaner. OK, now and then I need to vacuum up treat particles and paper particles because some dogs and cats like a snack and also like to tear up my worthless Lotto Texas tickets.
Anyway, sing along, because on Christmas morning, "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, the hand-held DEEvice was there for me...."
[LARRY ASIDE: About the cat photos. That eerie picture is of The Senator about 3 a.m. Saturday morning because I had Yulesomnia and the only movie on I felt like watching was Office Space -- he watched it on my Kindle with me -- explains the lighting -- all the way to the end. Then he went off somewhere to sleep and I watched the news from overseas and finally nodded off. The other photo happened as I tried to sit in a comfy chair and do some reading on Saturday -- Martha's former front-porch feral kitten Esme decided to sit in my lap and demand more attention than anything I was trying to read. She's kind of special -- we both had to earn her affection. Martha did it with charm; I did it with treats.]
So on Sunday, before the miraculous Dallas Cowboys game started, I was at work on a "clean-out-the-garage project."
That's when I decided I'd do some laundry -- I carry some blankets in my car in case I need a comfy place for a rescued dog or cat -- also have a cat carrier, too. You know the drill if you've spent half-a-minute with a dog or cat who was thumbin' a ride on the side of the road. Crate the cat and give the dog a place to flop down before he decides to crawl over the back of the seat and join you behind the wheel. [Every dog will tell you "I'm licensed."]
Anyway, I also have a pillow in the back -- for smaller animals. It use to be my pillow but it became leaky and I'd wake up each morning with a handful of buckwheat hulls in my hair and beard. So, I did what every unsupervised husband would do, I put a second pillowcase on it and knotted both pillowcases shut. Not one buckwheat hull has spilled in my Ford Edge's cargo area in the pillow's 6-year ride.
So, I (the bipedal intellectual in the photo) decided, "Time to wash the pillow." I threw it into the washer with two blankets. And about 45 minutes later, I opened the lid on the washer and discovered a tub full of uncontrolled buckwheat hulls -- and two blankets absolutely coated with hulls.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyway, Santa's hand-held vacuum cleaner was the laundry-room star of the day! The dryer knocked all the hulls off the blankets. The HHVC cleaned up the washer and the dryer and Martha smiled, knowing, of course, that Dec. 28, 2020, would be the last time I'd ever try to wash an old pillow full of buckwheat hulls.

For 2021, "Dear Santa, I'd really like to get a new pillow filled with buckwheat hulls -- wrap 'em in sturdy fabric, like you'd use to make a bag for carryin' toys."
 As you may suspect, Dear Readers, there is no one in America who is happier about getting a hand-held vacuum cleaner -- without it, I'd have spent days picking up those hulls by hand while Martha practiced her threatening glare!
WHAT ABOUT ADDY?
IS NO ONE INTERESTED?
This note comes from Amy Poskey, our tipster on items from Denton. She wrote, "Sweet, beautiful Addy was confiscated as a cruelty case and now she needs our help!  She is a special girl and this is a special case.  Addy is a very sweet pooch but she does not do well with other dogs so she has been deemed 'dangerous' which is just so sad cuz it seems she was never the problem and was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.  
"So, now Addy has to pay the price and has been labeled for something that was not her fault.
"The shelter staff said she is super sweet and you can just see the sweetness written all over face! 
"If she is tagged by a Texas rescue she will need to follow the guidelines for 'dangerous dog' (shelter staff can explain, if needed); however, if an out-of-state rescue tags her she might have a better chance at a fresh start.
"
She's a 59-pound, healthy, 2- to 4-year-old, not-yet-spayed German Shepherd." She's got her vaccinations. Her ID is 90938.
Call the shelter at 940-349-7594. The Linda McNatt Animal Care and Adoption Center is at 3717 N. Elm St. in Denton.[LARRY ASIDE: I'm listing all these sheltr contadts because I don't know how many might be taking Monday off after that Dallas Cowboys victory Sunday. Contacts are: gayla.nelsen@cityofdenton.com, Randi.Weinberg@cityofdenton.com,  julien.peralta@cityofdenton.com, Ethel.Strother@cityofdenton.com, roxanna.burson@cityofdenton.com, Dorcas.Johnson@cityofdenton.com, Martinez.Erica@cityofdenton.com and Nicole.Heyer@cityofdenton.com.
LOST IN BENBROOK,
A FORMER FERAL...
This info came from Ginger Leach, our longtime tipster for Fort Worth stories. it's a tough story for a dog who faced great odds. The note reads, "Lost dog in Benbrook --adopters only had her a day so she is totally unfamiliar with the area. She was also feral when first found but was tamed. She had turned into a sweetie but I am sure she is terrified.
Lost at 532 Inwood but ran into the wooded area near Skyline Ranch
"She was seen Sunday morning but not since. She has purple harness and black leash." The contact is Melissa Greer at 816-600-4310, Ginger says.
CONTEMPLATIONS
COMPUTER LINKS; STATE FAIR COOKIES & THE BLUE TENT!
Another example of how important the computer has been to the animal rescue community and especially to the animals! This showed up in a weekend Fort Worth neighborhood post with this photo. The text read, "FOUND DOG!!!! This dog wondered into my living room without a collar..." A subsequent note read "SUCCESS!!! JUST RETURNED HER TO HER OWNER!" And, then, later, someone wrote, "Awesome Networking. Kudos to All Involved!" Anybody else remember when the telephone was the only electronic element in the rescuer's toolkit -- the other big tool was "sheer luck."...

My funspouse Martha was going through her camera's photo files Sunday and suddenly, as December 2020 was moving toward the end of the year, she ran across some of the cookies we'd judged for the State Fair of Texas Creative Arts Department in 2019.  Here's the box of cookies with, figuratively, Texas-flavored items. Honest! Those ARE COOKIES!!!  The great State Fair of Texas was called off in 2020, but the people at the Fair figured out ways to keep the spirit alive. Some Fair contests were staged, some Fair food was sold (and people had to wait in line to get it -- just like the real Fair was going on only they were in their cars doing a "roll-through" and the Fair gave money to non-profits in the neighborhood. Can't wait until 2021 Fair -- Sept. 24-Oct. 17! ....
I was listening to the Cowboys beat Philadelphia 37-17 when I heard 105.3 FM radio team sideline reporter Kristi Scales use a phrase that applies to football players, but, frankly, because of the pandemic, the election campaign, the election and shopping challenges, I'm convinced that a lot of us need to embrace the "cognitive evaluation in the blue tent." Dear Santa, for 2021 I'd also like an official NFL blue tent and a new helmet or a nicer year.
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