Hurry Home
by Ogee
So much power in such a tiny thing – use it to heal and get home soon. You are loved and needed more than you’ll ever know. We’ll watch over “the garden” until your return.
Categories: Friendship • Tags: Friendship, Healing
Seventy Eight Days
by Ogee
The world feels small. Not so much to the tiny creatures that inhabit it; they are oblivious to our reality. It is hard enough for them to live in the reality we have created for them – like the unprecedented heat wave that grips the west right now. But for humans; our world has diminished. As the pandemic expanded, we all became more isolated. Our view narrowed, our differences widened, and our resilience has been tested. Some of us are […]
The Gardener’s Shadow
by Ogee
We are sizzling this week. I have been giving the garden an extra evening drink when possible, and I am lucky to have a garden buddy to watch over things when I cannot be there. Rob is our primary dog photographer at the rescue, the author of Rob & Dog, and a recognized dog whisperer. He reintroduced me to photography years ago when I began working in the garden. I studied photography in art school but adopted the snobby bias […]
Categories: Gardening, Homeward Bound Memorial Garden, Nature Photography • Tags: Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Memorial Garden
Angel At The Bridge
by Ogee
There is a saying: “Wait for them at the bridge.” It is usually refers to a dog waiting for its faithful human companion(s) at the Rainbow Bridge, where dogs go—just this side of heaven—to run free and play, restored, until they can cross the bridge together with their human again. In this case, it was reversed. Cannela is the orphaned girl dog of an orphaned man. Homeless, they lived under a bridge in Mexico – a home that offered some […]
Categories: Dog Rescue, Dogs, Golden Retreiver Rescue, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, Rescue • Tags: Humanity, Rescue Dogs
Life Lives in the Gray
by Ogee
I have not written lately; I have not been able to find my words. I simultaneously feel like I have an obligation – and no right at all – to speak. I feel ignorant and naïve about the depth of the pain that has swirled around me. And I feel lost; I barely recognize my world anymore. The endless drone of falsehood and hate; the path designed to wear us down. Each day obliterating another norm of decency and democracy. […]
Categories: Humanity, Thought • Tags: Life lives in the gray
Look Up
by Ogee
My preference for a packed garden has led to some thuggery. I spent the day cutting back prized but overgrown California fuschias, cerinthe major (honeywort), and even California poppies to allow the verbascum, sea holly, and blazing star see the light of day. It’s a happy garden that grows so vigorously that it needs to be edited in May! Sometimes, gardeners get tunnel vision; all we see are the weeds and work. The same with rescue; the sad stories and […]
Categories: Dog Fostering, Dog Rescue, Dogs, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, Pets, Puppies, Rescue • Tags: Dog Fostering, dog rescue, Foster puppies, gardening, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, Look Up
Among the Flowers
by Ogee
A virus lurked among the flowers. Not of the pandemic kind. Or even the botanical kind. But of the completely preventable kind that ravages young puppies. They arrived from a breeder that had been hospitalized. Seven puppies of selling age: Heather, Iris, Lilac, Pansy, Poppy, Tulip and Rose. And two mama dogs. Clover and Dahlia. Beautiful, fragile flowers. How fragile, we would quickly discover. At four or five years of age (no one actually tracked her age), Dahlia’s body was […]
Categories: Dog Loss, Dog Rescue, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, Puppies, Rescue, Responsible breeders • Tags: dog rescue, Parvovirus, Puppies
Just Set Him Loose
by Ogee
Just set him loose. That’s what a local shelter told a woman who was trying to surrender a stray, six-month puppy after failing to find tags, a microchip, or its home after posting for over a week. In the time of COVID-19, if a dog is dangerous, obviously sick, or injured, the shelter will accept – and euthanize it. If it is healthy and safe, and the person is unable to keep it, they (unbelievably) advise setting it loose. In […]
Categories: Dog Rescue, Dogs, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, Puppies, Rescue • Tags: dog rescue, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, Shelters COVID-19
Perspective
by Ogee
A carrier pigeon arrived in the garden in late February. It spent the better part of the day just watching. It was not carrying a written message on its banded leg, but perhaps it foretold what was about to unfold. The ducks and geese mock us now. Public use areas have been closed due to COVID during the remainder of hunting season. The birds have found plenty of places to feast and fly – unmolested. We envy their togetherness. The […]
Categories: Dog Fostering, Dog Rescue, Dogs, Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, Humanity, Nature • Tags: COVID VIrus, Solitude
