LUIS' TRIUMPH; OTHER DOGS AND CATS WAITING; A PEGASUS THEATRE 'DO OVER' & WHAT'S IN THE CLOUDS?

EDITION OF MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2023 [PetPowellPress] Research shows that spring arrives in Texas at 4:24 p.m. Central Daylight Time on this very day, the Monday on which I began typing this.
And that brings us to weather and show biz. The person who said, “The show must go on” never lived through a tornado-spawning/rain-drenching/street-flooding/TV weather-report-monopolizing late winter storm in Texas.
For example, last Thursday, the show did not go on for the Pegasus Theatre people — ah, but the special event IS going curtains-up in spite of the weather this week., The “Pay What You Want” production has moved to Thursday the 23rd. We’ll have the how-to-get-tickets and more on that in CONTEMPLATIONS. First, we address the continuing drama of animals on this never-closing Metroplexitheatre in North Texas.
SOMETIMES THINGS WORK OUT
FOR A DOG WHO IS STARVING
Maybe you remember this guy from a story we got back on January 12 courtesy of the great Karen Lee (more on her in Contemplations) and the Trinity GAP Club Rescue folks.
This is one of the photos we had of Luis thanks to the GAP Rescue. The story was he’d been intentionally starved by the human who had him.
And the most recent report (Karen tipped us to the glorious updated post on the Trinity GAP Rescue Facebook page HERE.
It began, “Look at Luis! He has gained almost 30 pounds! What a difference two months with good food and a great foster can do! Thank you Christine for all of your hard work with Luis.
Luis is now looking for his forever home. Please contact steffenie- [email protected].
 [LARRY ASIDE: You may recall that Euless Trinity GAP Rescue evolved from a Euless Trinity High School Girls Awareness Program project years ago. Luis is among the latest beneficiaries of this teacher-led evolution. Along the way, GAP Rescue has gathered many supporters including our pal Karen Lee, who with her husband Dennis, founded barkleyworld.com in 2013 to help people whose animals need help. More on this and Karen in CONTEMPLATIONS.]
MEANWHILE IN MESQUITE:
A BIG RETURN; A SMALL BART
We’ve got a couple of dogs and a cat from Mesquite for this edition. Remember, Mesquite, like any other large shelter operation in North Texas, has “more plenty” animals waiting for homes. Fortunately, this shelter also has a pretty swell volunteer program. That’s how we can post the Mesquite adorable adoptables and link you to the many we can’t post. [LARRY ASIDE: Bless those volunteers not only in Mesquite, but in Fort Worth, Dallas and any other shelter that’s mindful of the mission of “sheltering.”]
We got the story on Lena from volunteer Judi Brown. She writes, “Look at her sweet face and into Lena’s imploring eyes and you will see not only a beautiful dog but a wonderful dog! 
“Lena is a 4-year-old Mastiff that originally arrived at the Mesquite Animal Shelter on 10/26 as a stray. Shortly after that she was adopted by an older woman with some health issues. The lady really loved Lena but because of her health issues was not able to walk her. She killed her with kindness by feeding her until she went from 78 pounds to 100 pounds! 

“When it became obvious that she was no longer healthy enough to care for Lena she reached out to me and others trying to find her a loving home. When she wasn’t successful in this endeavor she reluctantly surrendered Lena to the Mesquite Animal Shelter on 3/14. That was five months after she had adopted Lena. Lena is spayed. She now needs another loving home. ”
Lena, Judi says, “is what we call a gentle giant! She’s sweet, loving, well mannered in that she doesn’t jump on you’ she’s friendly, alert, and attentive. She sits for treats and takes them gently. She used to chase balls but I’m thinking her weight is holding her back this time. She could definitely benefit from some walks and playful activity to get her weight down! A healthy diet would be helpful also. She stays close looking up at you with adoring eyes. She wants to please. She wags her tail and gives gentle kisses … Lena is at the shelter through no fault of her own. She’s had one loving home and now needs another.”

Lena is #45970731 — use that as the identifier when you call the shelter at 972-216-6283 or email [email protected].

And Judi’s colleague in dog-bio-writing, Debra Chisholm, sent us a note about this guy and he immediately got our attention because he has the same name as one of readlarrypowell.com's twins, Bart. [LARRY ASIDE: Bart, my little boy, is much older than Bart the dog, but he is equally well-behaved and adorable — and he is house-trained. In fact, both he and his brother, Bret, are house-trained. You have to appreciate that in twins, right? They’re only in their early 50s, you know. I hope they’ll laugh at this wisecracking.]
Back to Bart the Dog: Debra writes that Bart the Dog “is a cute, fun-loving, reddish gold Terrier mix that arrived at the Mesquite Animal Shelter on 3/13 as a stray. He’s a year old and weighs 23 pounds. He’s got a small frame. He is not neutered. When I first got him out of the kennel he jumped gently on me for a hug. That was so sweet!|
 And, when he was exploring the yard, Debra says he was “bounding around for joy. He spent some time looking out the outside gate indicating that he’s very alert and curious. He appears to love people! He loves attention and even will dance for it. When I sat down he came to me to have his ears scratched. He doesn’t appear to know the sit command but does take treats gently. He also was not interested in toys or balls. He’s active, energetic, sweet, friendly, loving and apparently happy. However, he will be a lot happier when he gets out of the shelter and into your loving home.”

Bart is #52230542 — use that when you contact the shelter at 972-216-6283 or email [email protected].
Remember, you can see many, many other dogs and cats — adoptable and rescueable — at the Mesquite shelter by clicking on THIS LINK.
This guy is #52246952 — he’s not the first kitten of spring, but he may be among the last of the winter kittens to arrive safely at Mesquite Animal Services. He and some other orangish kittens came in at 6 days old on March 15. They’re in kitten quarantine and “rescue only” right now. But, at some point, perhaps, he’ll grow to be a big ol’ orange #52246952 — maybe known as “Fitty-two-kitty” and loved for the rest of his long, long life. [LARRY ASIDE: I speak as a guy who, with my rescuespouse Martha, lived for years and years with Griffin Oliver Powell, a very large orange and white gentleman kitty who came to us as an unwanted tiny kitten. May you and this little bitty boy have a glorious cat-happy existence.]
CONTEMPLATIONS
IN HONOR OF SHOWBIZ & KAREN’S PHOTO WORK
Remember that awful storm last Thursday that monopolized all the TV and radio stations and kept threatening neighborhoods all over North Texas and beyond? That storm postponed last Thursday’s Bath House Cultural Center performance of Pegasus Theatre’s Mind Over Murder in RadioVizion. It was scheduled to be the “Pay What You Can” special admission. 
Ah, but show biz is flexible and in the Monday email I got a note with the subject line “Pay What You Can: Do_Over." Yes, Pegasus has re-skedded the special admission “Pay What you Can” for Thursday the 23rd’s production of the “simulated radio play” of the well-received “Living Black and White” stage-play Mind Over Murder! by Kurt Kleinmann. See how to set the price for your ticket to the Thursday performance by clicking HERE. 
NOW, ABOUT BARKLEYWORLD.COM. As regular readers know, Karen Lee and hubby Dennis created barkleyworld.com in 2013 to help people whose animals are "facing out-of-their-reach" medical problems. What a noble cause! Karen and Dennis also are supporters of Euless’ Trinity GAP Rescue. Karen tips us frequently about such challenging cases as that guy Luis in an earlier note in this edition. You can read about Barkley (the dog who inspired Barkleyworld) by going to the non-profits website at barkleyworld.com. And you can read about Trinity Gap Rescue (which supports the Euless Animal Shelter’s dogs and cats) by going to the trinitygaprescue.org website or to the GAP Facebook page. 
But, consider this: Karen is also a pretty darned good photographer. She knows how to capture a scene whether it is on earth or above. [We have a copy of her wonderful photo book Las Cruces Clouds, published last year.]
So, what’s the deal with this UFO picture?
Ah, it’s not a UFO, but it is a vivid photo of what she saw over Las Cruces, N.M., on March 7. Karen described it as “Crazy cloud hanging with the full moon tonight…” [LARRY ASIDE: Yes, I’m part of the conspiracy claiming that what we’re seeing is a cloud formation and the moon, though those of us from other planets know it is the glow from the exhaust of the cleverly disguised space ship that brought us to your planet. Cue the spooky music. You’ve seen the way people are behaving these days — you people can’t ALL be from Earth, can you?]
— Offer UFO info or tips on space dining by clicking on ‘comment’ or by emailing [email protected] and put ‘HEY SPACE CADET’ in the subject line. —-