A FLUFFY TAIL; A THROWN-OUT PUPPY; CONTEMPLATING A TIME IN AMERICA

EDITION OF TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2022 [PetPowellPress] We’re a little off-our-concentration as this is written. My adorable kitten, Hastings Streetboy, is at the vet’s for his “boy surgery.”
That’s our boy. Big fluffy tail, you know. And, the older he’s gotten, the more obvious his gender has become. If he played catcher, he’d need a supportive protective cup.
We wanted him to have full confidence and a strong self-image after the surgery, so I sterilized a pair of big marbles to replace his original equipment and keep his confidence up. I’m kidding. But, as you probably know, there is a commercial product that can be implanted in the place of the, uh, equipment. Sell ‘em in pairs, I think.

This isn’t our first testicle rodeo. Spay and neuter is the rule in our rescues. 

When we got Dudley the Angel, comfortable on the couch, we were living in a Dallas Zip Code notorious for NOT spaying or neutering in a city overloaded with puppies, kittens and roaming animals. We called this already-neutered boy, “The Miracle Dog of Tarryall Drive.” Someone dumped him in the neighborhood and, fortunately, we had room. We’re not the only people who got a dumped dog in Dallas.

CALLING HIM JACK FOR NOW;
HE LANDED IN A DALLAS YARD
I got the tip on this story from Vicki Young of The Young Company, the enduring marketing and public relations agency in the Metrosprawl. Vicki’s a rock-solid animal fan, too! So this story got to her immediately.
It comes from Jessica Cobos Gilley, a teacher who also is a big-time animal fan.
The bottom line is she’s trying to find a home for this young dog. And, she says, “I’m being picky because I don’t want him to have to go through anything like this again.”
What did he go through? Jessica posted on Monday, “Sadly, someone pulled up to our house today and threw out a puppy.” 
That’s right. Threw out a puppy. Right there in one of the neighborhood along Northwest Highway and Midway Road in North Dallas.
Jessica writes, “He is super young (maybe a couple of months) malnourished and definitely needs to see a vet, has something wrong with his eye. However, he is the absolute sweetest and so cute!”
And she also says that it is “very obvious he has just been either in a backyard or always crated. So heartbreaking.”
Jessica and her hubby already have dogs — so this guy “Jack” needs a home with room. 
Why did Jessica give him that name? “I’m calling him ‘Jack’,” she said, “Because I just feel he’s going to hit the jackpot!” 
If you’ve got a safe and loving place for Jack to go — family or rescue group or foster home — email [email protected] 

[LARRY ASIDE: And if you are the person who threw the dog out in a North Dallas neighborhood, call the cops and turn yourself in so you can plead guilty to violating Texas cruelty laws. That earthly guilty plea may be the something positive you need on your record when the “roll is called up yonder.”]
CONTEMPLATIONS
IDLE THOUGHTS IN AN IDLE MIND
OK, so, as suggested in the opening paragraph, I’m on Kitten Watch today as Hastings is in recovery and revitalization after his surgery. He’s the little fellow I found blind, starving and ringwormy in the middle of Hastings Street in Duncanville on Oct. 4. (That coffee cup comparison was taken on Oct.5.) Might have been 4 or 5 weeks old at the time. Bless those loving, skilled staffers at Pet Center of Duncanville taking threatened kitten “Streetboy” in on an emergency basis — and he was in their care until he was rock-solid healthy. He’s been living in our home since October. We’ve watched him grow from tiny kitten to big, fluffy-tailed 8-month-old teenager still figuring out life. (Until Tuesday, he probably thought getting a dropper full of medicine might be the toughest medical procedure he'd endure. He's always been a good patient.) Before he got the idea that there’d me more “figuring” that would prove to be challenging, on Tuesday morning I carried him to our usual vet office near our home. They’ve seen him before, but, having been living with Hastings Streetboy and quick-to-reach boxes of Band-Aids for all these months, I cautioned the staffer “He can get a little bitey.” And she laughed and replied, “Thank you for telling us that. Sometimes people just hand ‘em over and say ‘Good luck.’” …
Moving along, ask yourself, “If I were not on a diet monitored by four doctors, what treat would I have on an afternoon when the temp pushes the comfort level to “dis” -- i.e., disgusting, discomforting. Probably drink a bottle of bubbly — sparkling water, I mean. Peach flavored. No calories, no carbs. Bubbly? I’d never drink champagne as a cure for the Texas heat….
This morning, while getting prepared for a day involving household AC freon testing and dieting and other things adults have to deal with, I flipped the TV on and there, like “sent from above,” was a presentation of American Graffiti.  That's a scene with Hall of Fame broadcaster Wolfman Jack from the motion picture. The 1973 film is set in 1962 — close enough to my teenage years and drive-in rootbeer stands (A&W in Texarkana) to set my brain off on a trip down memory lane — at a legal speed in our 1959 green Plymouth Savoy sedan (no air-conditioning, three-on-the-tree transmission). In honor of the feelings in that movie and Wolfman Jack and all the kids in the Class of ’66 and rockin’ classes before and after, here’s a song — it closes the movie but only those of us in the audience can hear that 1964 song. Click here and do some time-traveling. Some of us have done a lot of traveling since American Graffiti.
— Gently offer a thought by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected] and put “PEACE NOW, EVERYBODY” in the subject line. —-