EDITION OF FRIDAY, AUG. 23, 2024 [PetPowellPress] I’m blaming the heat for draining my desire to keep typing until my fingers sweat off. But, the doesn’t mean I can’t cite animals in need of homes or poetry that features such things as cows and termites. Yes, blame the heat. Now, moving along:
LITERARY-MINDED? NEED
A GOOD PAL TO READ WITH?
DEAR READERS: At our house we practice the highest levels of civilization by always having these four things: Plenty of dogs, plenty of cats, plenty of calories and plenty of books.
Thus, please allow me to introduce you to what I’ve found on the SPCA of Texas website's adoption lists.
PAUSE PLEASE: Speaking of books. Before readlarrypowell.com was even in elementary school, I had books — gifts from my parents and my Aunt Noni (“Noh-knee -- how the cousins and neighbors all pronounced “Nora” in those days).
Among the books I proudly possessed were the Mark Twain books Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. My dad and mom would help me understand what I was reading.
Having explained that my connection to Mark Twain is “early childhood literary circles,” I’ll now explain that my appreciation of Mark Twain’s name is what drew me to this dog on the adoptable dogs list at the SPCA of Texas’ website spca.org. Yep, Bark Twain caught my eye. [If we had room, I’d be applying for him!] He’s a 2-years-and-10-months-old mixed breed who weighs 56 pounds and is currently available, according to his “page,” for a $25 fee at the SPCA of Texas, His bio says “Kids under 12 Okay. Other dogs okay.” Here’s the Link to Bark Twain.
I also found photos of other wonderful adoptables and picked this quartet to highlight. Same website — spca.org, You also can click to adorable/adoptable cats. These are 8of them. [LARRY ASIDE: I can’t recall ever having met a cat named Strudel or having ever encountered a feline named “Tommy The Cat.” (He's an older fellow in need of a really good home.)]
Old cats, young cats. Old dogs, young dogs. Old writer, formerly young writer, relates to all ages of dogs and cats -- not available for re-homing.
[LARRY ASIDE: Special admiration for and appreciation to the enduring SPCA of Texas for continuing the mission of protecting animals and finding good homes for them. FYI: At spca.org you can also see how you can help by donating or, importantly in the EoCS (Era of Crowded Shelters), fostering animals. If you told somebody “I’m fostering Strudel,” (the little top-right kitten) would they look at you with a bit of curiosity?]
MEANWHILE, CHECKING IN
ON LAST WEEKEND’S TOTALS….
During the week we went hunting online to see how things went with what was labeled last weekend as the “Clear The Shelters Mega Adoption Event.” We spotted the response online at the NBCDFW website — makes since because the local NBC TV station (Channel 5) launched the event a decade ago. Click on THIS NBCDFW LINK and you’ll find a headline that reads:
“705 animals find forever homes in Clear the Shelters MEGA Adoption Event.”
[LARRY ASIDE: Anybody know where the public can find statistics showing how many animals were adopted from local taxpayer-financed city shelters during the 10th annual Clear the Shelters Mega Adoption? Also be pretty interesting to see if we could find out how many dogs and cats were dumped at shelters during the same celebratory adoption period. Not that people have a lack of comprehension of what their actions mean to animals.]
CONTEMPLATIONS
THE FUTURE? IS THERE RHYME OR RAISIN?
OK, one raisin joke per century. That word play was left over from the 1900s. Found a word kit in an old notebook. Let’s move on .
In the email Thursday morning I got a note about “The Cordless Ultrasonic Rodent Repeller. For $50."… Before I opened the email and read it, I thought this was something you set outside your door to discourage visiting politicians in an election year.
Relax. I’m just kidding people running for national office. Everybody in a small town knows a broom or a wet mop works just as well. (I’m kidding. I hope you knew that already.)
Speaking of favorite TV shows. I was watching Monk on recent morning and the detective’s line was a description about his beloved wife Trudy. “She could recite a hundred poems by heart,” he said. And I thought, “Holy lazy iambic pentameter! I’m way, way behind on memorizing poems.”
I can’t even name 100 poems or even claim confidently that I’ve read 100 poems. So, I’ll just offer one that I learned something about while appearing in a play with The Great Pretenders in Carrollton decades go — one of my fellow actors in the murder mystery Laura was far more literate than I. (He played the villain and I played the cop.)
I’d always lazily thought the Purple Cow poem was the work of the magnificently clever Ogden Nash. But, no, clever though it is, it is not by Mr. Nash. It is a poem first published in 1895 by Gelett Burgess (1-30-1966/9-18-1951), a poet, artist, art critic, author and humorist, my research reveals haphazardly.
Here’s the Burgess Purple Cow poem:
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one,
But I can tell you, anyhow.
I’d rather see than be one.
Now, in honor of Ogden Nash (8-19-1902/5-19-1971), a 20th Century poet and humorist, we’ll site this 4-line poem, “The Termite,” by Mr. Nash. He wrote:
“Some primal termite knocked on wood
And tasted it, and found it good!
And that is why your Cousin May
Fell through the parlor floor today.”
[LARRY POETIC NOTION:
The purple cow inspired
Wondrin if the termite might be hued
Or simply nibbled through the floor
While happily gnawing nude.
[A TIP FROM LARRY: The “termite/might” combination is intentional. Still, never let an iffy termite poem bug you! Let it inspire you! You may find yourself with the heart to rhyme “hued” and “nude” without blanching.]
— Offer solid ideas by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected] and put nothing insectly poetic in the note. —-
