Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue – Page 23

Our Joy

The garden served up its usual beauty this weekend. Fall is beginning its advance and the flowers and their friends are grateful for the more moderate temperatures and cool nights.

Their appreciation is clearly on display.

But the most beautiful moments of the weekend did not involve flowers. First, new bricks were installed in the Memorial pathway.

I donated this one for one of my very first blogger friends, Deborah at Romancing the Bee and her beloved companion recently departed – the Noble Bayard.

The garden hosted the usual parade of pups. Hank took up residence on Steve’s lap –

Fozzie Bear, who just recently arrived, made his first trip to the garden –

beautiful Sting relaxed in the shade, exhausted from playing in the sprinklers –

while Lilly practiced her table manners.

In between, two great tales unfolded. First, Sydney – a special needs Golden who has pretty significant separation anxiety, found her perfect match in a family that did not see that as a special need at all.

She went home with her new beautiful brother, Gunner.

The two of them will have perpetual human company serving by day as greeters in their family’s store – Material Goods in (get this) – Carmel. Yup. Carmel By The Sea. I was hoping that they would adopt me as well, but some dogs just have all the luck! You can visit them there.

And that was just the start.

The story is told in full on the Homeward Bound blog (click here to read), but I’ll summarize here. A wonderful family with three beautiful children – adopted themselves – with incredibly giving hearts. On Thursday, they met Ollie, one our longer term guests.

Deaf, with skin issues, and a golden heart – he had been passed over too many times. On Sunday, they met Mariposa. A tiny, malnourished and scared little girl who had not been treated well in her first year on earth.

Two extraordinary dogs with special needs – who have found a very special home – with a beautiful family and a new brother named Sailor.

People ask about the often bittersweet work of rescue: “how can you do it”? With weekends like this, how can you not?

The joy is ours.

Time to Appreciate

There’s one major drawback to an all-volunteer organization: when you want to have a Volunteer Appreciation Picnic, everyone has to work harder so we can appreciate ourselves.

The annual event was held Sunday at Homeward Bound, which meant days of primping, weeding, cooking, and fussing to make the rescue look perfect and create a Thanksgiving-worthy feast. It was also the official Memorial Garden Dedication,

and the garden was dressed for the occasion.

Gina and Sarah did the flower arranging (with Hank’s help);

a bouquet for each table from each bed of the garden (some out-of-season Tulip and Iris representatives did sneak their way in).

The pups played nicely in the large park under the watchful eye of Pack Leader Laurie and a few other volunteers while their humans enjoyed a feast and some music.

In the garden, some critters were doing a little feasting of their own. These red and black beetles on the milkweed multiplied ten-fold while I was on vacation so they were dispensed with,

and Maria angered the wasps by spraying their very large nest at exactly the wrong time of day. They sought refuge at the base of St. Francis’ skirt, climbing over their poor comrades’ fallen bodies.

The lizard and crawdad were allowed to stay, however – much to Lilly’s delight!

Despite unseasonably warm temps, it was a wonderful day and a great way to show our appreciation for each other. Canines and humans alike.

Wordless Wednesday: Angels Among Us

Today is a Gift

“The flower that you hold in your hands was born today and already it is as old as you are.” ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwi

I don’t know where the summer went; the time passed so quickly. We leave soon for our annual Labor Day camping trip – a week on the ocean and river where the salmon run. It seems like summer arrived just yesterday and it’s gone in the blink of an eye – or the life of a flower.

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.”~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

We paid our dues early this year. Having survived two straight weeks of 110 degrees in June, we have been treated to much milder temps all through August. The garden is showing its gratitude now.

And so are the pups. This is Lukey.

Handsome Shane.

Sweet blind boy Brutus.

And hug-a-boo Mickey.

With a light breeze blowing, our golden oldies were treated to a group play date in the large park. So many beautiful sugar faces.

Little beasties, meanwhile, were having their own party in the Butterfly Garden.

Ocean camping is heaven, but its hard to compete with this bliss.

“For there you have been and there you will long to return.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

A Few Words on Wednesday

Need a smile? I try not to make you all work too hard, but for the dog lovers among us, may I suggest you take a little journey across the blogosphere to the official Homeward Bound blog? Check it out here…I think you’ll enjoy. 🙂

Wordless Wednesday: Gone to the Dogs

Garden Ballet

Monarch Butterflies are doing dances all through the butterfly bed in the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden. We have created a haven for them with Butterfly Bush, Milkweed, Lantana, Verbena and a host of others.

As long as they stay still, I can pretty much capture them.

In flight – not so much.

I was able to capture the dance of this rare specimen, however. Quite the ballet – don’t you think?

Take a bow, Dee Dee! Such a cutie.

Healing hearts

“The human heart has a way of making itself large again even after it’s been broken into a million pieces.” ― Robert James Waller, The Bridges of Madison County

There is no right or wrong way to heal from loss.
Some people need time and retreat. Others find comfort among others.
Sometimes, the best thing for heartache is to open your heart to another.

Human loss and canine loss may not be the same thing, but canines have a way of healing a human heart. And when the canine is also in need of healing – the bond is more special still.

Fancy came to Homeward Bound from another rescue because the cancer inside her was malignant and they knew we could and would help at Homeward Bound. It was removed, but it will return. When? We don’t know. And to Chuck, it doesn’t matter.

Some flowers are perennial –

they come back season after season.

Others, have but one season –

and some – just one day.

Their beauty fills us equally – maybe even more so when we know our time with them is short.

A flower no more knows how long it has to bloom that we do. Ignorance is bliss. But humans who purposefully open their hearts to animals knowing their seasons are short have a special place on this earth and beyond.

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” ~ Thomas Campbell

Chuck says that Fancy will be treated like a queen. A queen doing an angel’s work here on earth.

Forever is composed of nows

Gardening requires a leap of faith. You prepare the soil, plant the seed, tuber or bulb, protect and wait. There are no guarantees about weather, water or rabbits for that matter. Loss is inevitable; an accepted exchange for the joy and beauty we are blessed with.

“Happiness, not in another place but this place…not for another hour, but this hour.”
~ Walt Whitman

The Sunflowers and Dahlias are late and smaller this year;

the Campanula did not even show; the Salvia and Rudbeckia, on the other hand, are prolific.

There’s no point in worrying about what might be – we just enjoy what is.

I met a woman in the garden on Saturday. She was visiting with Ned and contemplating adoption.

Clearly in love, she saw huggable in pudgy; enthusiasm in wilfulness.

But she worried a little about his age of eight. We hear this a lot. People think they need a young dog despite bonding with an older dog because they believe a youngster comes with a guarantee of time.

Just like the garden – there are no guarantees.

Loving an older dog requires a certain leap of faith, I guess. But there is no promise that we have longer with a young one. Life happens. Fourteen years; four years. We don’t know. What we know is that the connection is right when we look in a dog’s eyes and understand what is in their heart.

“Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has yet to come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering”
~ Ida Scott Taylor

We work to make each season of the garden beautiful and memorable – no matter what mother nature hands us.

The woman was told that we opened at noon on Sunday if she wanted to return. She was there by nine. By noon, she and Ned were gone together.

“Forever is composed of nows.” ~ Emily Dickinson

Missing you

I’ve been scarce of late…way behind on my blog reading and writing. I hope absence really does make the heart grow fonder. My excuse…a brand new website for our rescue, Homeward Bound…done! You can see it here.

As part of the project, I started a dedicated blog for our rescue dedicated solely to the dogs. You can find it here.

While I’ll be splitting my time between blogs, I will still bring you my favorite dog stories and photos along with updates on the progress of the Memorial Garden. It will just be a little clearer that this is a personal blog about my own volunteering experiences with the organization.

The garden, this blog, and the community and friends that gather here are so special to me.

I have a long list of posts to get caught up on – beginning with reading yours. See you back here soon.

Wild and Beautiful

I ordered Rudbeckia for a drift with grasses, variegated iris, purple aster, and ‘Purple Emperor’ sedum.
It was supposed to be a deep gold with full petals and a deep black center.

As I watch it unfold, it looks more like a wild child –

all gawky and skinny and twitchy.

And then it settles into this. Not the perfect flower I envisioned – but beautiful in its own right.

So it is with Jack – a dog that has been with us a very long time.

I featured him on a post a year ago. In a place full of golden retrievers, Jack was definitely not one. He’s a bit of a wild child himself around other dogs and while he has benefited greatly from training and the dedication of everyone here, he’s still pretty gawky and skinny and twitchy.

What Jack lacks in classic looks and dog-to-dog skills, he makes up for in people charm. And this weekend, he was finally recognized for his own special beauty.

I can’t bring you the pictures because the parents have not given permission to share, but I can tell you the story…so get out the tissues.

A young boy, adopted himself, picked Jack from all the other dogs on the website. He and his parents – former adopters – came out together to meet him. Flaws in all, the boy fell in love. He had been working and saving for his dog and had a hard-earned $10 in his pocket for the adoption fee. Now, Jack is a senior dog in need of a very special home. He’s been with us for almost three years waiting for that right opportunity. We would, of course, waive the fee for his chance at a fur-ever home. But this young man has been instilled with great values. He and his parents insisted. So the fee was reduced to $1.00. And do you know what he did? He paid the $1.00 for Jack – and donated the other $9.00 in support of the waiting dogs.

Jack is finally home. The family sent pictures of him playing with his very own boy in his very own backyard. I wish I could show them to you here, but parents’ privacy concerns for their children have to be respected. Suffice to say, there was not a dry eye in the rescue.

It was a very good weekend. (Thanks to my friend Rob for his wonderful photos of Jack.)

Welcome Relief

9:09 PM. 94-degrees.

Today is supposed to mark the end of a seven-day stretch of 100+ temperatures in the Sacramento Valley. By some miracle, we are supposed to get to a high of only 95 tomorrow. Someone, please grab my parka!

The flowers in the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden are more than ready for some relief.

Pups too. This is Bailey. She’s hot.

This lucky dog has found his relief; not just a shady spot, but a long-awaited home.

Tom came all the way from Taiwan and has been with us awhile. He’s another dog with sight impairments,

but he has no problem following his ball, does he?

He is going home with Kevin next week. A former adopter, a veteran, a man with an obvious passion for this well-deserving dog.

Kevin says he knew the minute he saw Tom that he was the one. He has visited with him constantly while waiting for a family commitment to conclude before Tom can go home.

They both obviously look forward to that day. We look forward to a breeze,

and a much-needed break from this sweltering heat!

Here’s hoping for our promised 95-degrees and a 12 mph breeze. Wind chill of 92 anyone? We’ll take it!