A COUPLE OF GREAT PYR PUPS WAITING, AS ARE ALL KINDS OF DOGS AND CATS IN THE METROSPRAWL & A HAPPY STATE FAIR NOTE

EDITION OF MONDAY, OCT. 23, 2023 [PetPowellPress] For this Monday edition, I'd like to begin with a reference to the joys of autumn. Please take a moment and consider what you may love about autumn -- without mentioning sports.
Yeah, there’s the challenge. 

Some of you may have endured the weekend and returned to your favorite place to crash. That, for example, is the formerly starving but rescued in time dog Porche Noel on a dog bed in the living room. She reads all she wants after lights-out. And she sleeps how she wants to -- she earned the right to safe comfort!
So you can see her beautiful face, that’s a photo of her on the living room couch. She’s got bad hips and bad legs thanks to the jerk who had her before I knew she existed. But she’s a game dog — she’ll try to climb up anything, even when her back legs cross and she has to drag her hind-end until I realize it — I pick up her backside, she straightens her legs and romps as if nothing happened. [LARRY ASIDE: If I ever find the jerk who hurt my dog before I got her, I’ll throw a time-traveling punch that’ll make him exclusively a soup-eater for the rest of his miserable life. OK. I know better. I’m a peaceful fellow but even a peacenik can dream. Yeah, I’d sure give him a good talkin’-to — might even spit by accident if I should get enthusiastic.]
Now, let's talk animals, the year-round joys of our existences! Porche Noel, found on our porch at Christmas in 2009, may be snoozing, but when she wakes, she's full of joy. Porche Noel, once an abused, injured, terrified dog, now wakes to know that she'll get petting, hugging, treats, regular meals and all the cable TV she can stand. 
Among the reasons readlarrypowell.com has existed through its decades is to encourage rescuers and animal advocates to keep doing good and to encourage others who might read this prose to step up and save animals that, believe it or not, have no humans to adore them and no humans to adore. Seem like a noble causes that benefit animals and humans. This is an attitude shared by rescuers, non-profit shelters and people who respect the lives of animals -- all kinds. 
SPCA GREAT PYR PUP
ANGIE WAITS FOR A HOME
This girl is Angie, a 2-month-old, 14-pound Great Pyrenees mix who is currently available, the SPCA says, at its Russell E. Dealey Animal Shelter.  She's #54507989.
[LARRY ASIDE: Is she not cute? And doesn't cute look good in your home?]
Her SPCA bio HERE describes her as a "very sweet and shy Great Pyrenees… looking for … [her] my forever home.” The bio also says she has a “big heart filled with love” and that she is “a little bit on the timid side.” That means, the SPCA says, she’ll need “a family that can take it slow…and show [her] that the world is not so scary.”
The bio also reads, “Kids? Sure! Dogs?” and she’d apparently be happy to live with another dog, too.
Ask about Angie (#54507989) by calling the SPCA at 214-742-SPCA (SPCA is 7722) to set up an appointment to meet Angie.
WHAT? ANOTHER GREAT PYR
IS AVAIL AROUND HERE?
Yes, indeed. And this one is at the Mesquite Animal Services Shelter -- Alba (#54614104) is a dog whose bio is provided by volunteer dog-writer Judi Brown.  
She describes this guy Alba as a 6-month-old, 33-pound "cutie pie/sweetie" who is a Great Pyrenees mix and "a handsome boy with black flecks on his face and one blue eye and one brown eye." And she says, "He also has extremely soft fur."
Alba came into the shelter on Oct. 17. Judi writes, "At first he was timid and unsure of the shelter environment but once in the yard he began to relax. Even though he is handsome he would look even more so, and be more comfortable, with a good grooming. He’s a happy tail-wagging dog. ... He prances around the yard. He doesn’t appear to know the sit command, but will jump up and do a little dance. He’s highly motivated by treats.  ... He needed some coaxing to get out to the yard on the leash. He did better going back."
Alba is #54614104 --- use that ID when you call the shelter at (972) 216-6283 or email [email protected].
You can see more Mesquite animals --dogs and cats, young and adult -- at the SHELTER LINK HERE. 
That little nameless boy cat is #54640517 — just over a month old. His coat is “white with orange,” the shelter says. And he’s listed as that rarest of canine breeds in a bustling North American city: a Domestic Shorthair Mix. [LARRY NOTE: Again, we’re checking on the validity of the “rare” status of Domestic Shorthair mixes. Ours —we’ve had 4 (at least) through the years, have all been gray with dark stripes.]
This guy arrived on Oct 21, is a small fellow and is, at this point in his young life, a “rescue only” who is currently in “staff foster.” But get in touch with the shelter and see if they'll put you on Mr. Handsome's waiting list!
CONTEMPLATIONS
IDLE BRAIN-STIRRING THOUGHTS
"Thoughts" may be too fine a word to describe what happens in this section. But "brain-stirring thoughts" sounds like you've had someone shove a ladle into your earhole and waggle it around to see what it can stir up in your brainpan. … For example, is “brainpan” a medical term? I found a website that had 58 synonyms for “brainpan” and not all of them were complimentary. Having used up my medical brainpower in this segment, we’ll move on. Oh, 3 synonyms for brainpan during informal conversation: Coconut, crown and “conk” — I decided to use “Conk” in honor of one of my elementary school flag-football coaches, Conk Kennedy, who years later became a policeman who worked dispatch and, when I became a reporter, he still spoke to me, though I’m almost sure he always expected me to jump offsides. …
Kind of nice to spend a Sunday afternoon knowing that the Dallas Cowboys weren’t going to lose a game. ….
And, there’s this: The State Fair of Texas ended it’s 2023 run on Sunday. It made news with an odd shooting, but it also made news with donations to young people seeking educations and in many other ways the State Fair positively touched Texans. 
My FairFanFunSpouse Martha — yeah, she’s a Dallas girl — and I were proud to be able to help the great folks with the Creative Arts Department at the State Fair of Texas. We got to judge pies. (That's a photo of some of the pies before all of them had arrived. How many? Here's a hint: Specifically, I lived out a childhood dream of having all the chocolate pies I could eat. We tasted more than two dozen— maybe closer to three dozen — and ever one of them was different. Sweet, tasty and some contestant's favorite recipe! Hook me up to a lie detector: I’ve NEVER had a bad bite of pie at the State Fair of Texas. I get kind of emotional when the Fair closes. I've included my poorly snapped photos of prize-wnners -- the beautiful cat, the kid wearing a cat-face and this Cactus Jelly prize winner. There are so many more entries in these creative contests -- "Well, heck, ya had tuh be thare tu see hit awl." -- that was me slipping into my native Northeast Texan. Heck, yeah, Bowie County -- this fair is for all 254 counties. And Fair Park is such a grand piece of history with its buildings and the State Fair People and their hard work and all the eye-catching Texana! 
Here's a state-wide fact: The Lone Star State is loaded with creative people — and I’m not just talking about those creative people in the Texas Legislature. Relax, that’s a gag. People in the Lege can take a joke. I know that because I'm a former newspaper columnist and sportswriter and editor and, thus, required to know just about everything. I might be exaggerating.
Well, "Howdy!" As the 2023 State Fair makes room for early work on the 2024 State Fair, we offer this wish for all of the future and its State Fairs of Texas: May Big Tex long wave.
—- Offer ideas or hope by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected] and put ‘PUT ON SOME PIE-POUNDS, DIDJA LARRY?’ in the subject line. Hah. ——