REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Miranda's New Name is Mollie

It has been five days since I've posted here and that is due largely to all the hoopla of Christmas -- and a preoccupation with Mollie, the former Miranda. We have been together nearly two weeks now and it has been a "getting to know you, getting to know all about you" time. 

Tomorrow afternoon James is coming from Rover Rescue and bringing the paperwork to make her officially my dog. Here she is with my neighbor Jane who is usually afraid of dogs, but she is in love with Mollie. She also loved Cookie who had a pretty fierce bark. 

Look at those big corgi feet and head, but it's her sweetness that has given me such pleasure in the past two weeks. The name Mollie was a general consensus of the family when we gathered for Christmas day. Eleven for dinner and she was excited to be with everyone and couldn't get enough petting. She even watched patiently when the kitchen sink clogged up right after dinner and the guys tried to clear it. A plumber had to be called the following day. Par for the course as I can remember other major holidays when this happened.

This isn't a very good photo but it does show four of my grandkids: Anthony, 21; Whitney, 22, Fritz, 5 on the bottom and Henry, 6, with his ship. And there's Fran and Mollie, too. I must admit, I am so over Christmas. The little tree went in the trash on Monday and I'll leave the new artificial tree up for a few more days. 

I got three wonderful art journaling books from my Amazon wish list--and I got Carl Jung's Red Book. I can hardly wait to tackle the latter. 

Cry of a Tiny Babe - Bruce Cockburn

At tonight's Christmas service at church, one of our musicians, Kenny, brought the house down singing Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter's Bruce Cockburn's Cry of a Tiny Babe. I had never even heard of Cockburn before and I bet Lorna at Lorna in Wonderland will be amazed as he's such a well-known Canadian. But, this Cry of a Tiny Babe moved me deeply. For the life of me I can't find a video of this particular song, but here are the lyrics. If anyone can find a video or even him singing it, please let me know. All I know is that I'm going to buy some CDs soon of Bruce Cockburn. Merry Christmas to all.

Bruce Cockburn

Cry of a Tiny Babe

by Bruce Cockburn

Mary grows a child without the help of a man

Joseph get upset because he doesn't understand
Angel comes to Joseph in a powerful dream
Says "God did this and you're part of his scheme"
Joseph comes to Mary with his hat in his hand
Says "forgive me I thought you'd been with some other man"
She says "what if I had been - but I wasn't anyway and guess what
I felt the baby kick today"

Like a stone on the surface of a still river
Driving the ripples on forever
Redemption rips through the surface of time
In the cry of a tiny babe

The child is born in the fullness of time
Three wise astrologers take note of the signs
Come to pay their respects to the fragile little king
Get pretty close to wrecking everything
'Cause the governing body of the whole [Holy] land
Is that of Herod, a paranoid man
Who when he hears there's a baby born King of the Jews
Sends death squads to kill all male children under two
But that same bright angel warns the parents in a dream
And they head out for the border and get away clean

Like a stone on the surface of a still river
Driving the ripples on forever
Redemption rips through the surface of time
In the cry of a tiny babe

There are others who know about this miracle birth
The humblest of people catch a glimpse of their worth
For it isn't to the palace that the Christ child comes
But to shepherds and street people, hookers and bums
And the message is clear if you've got [you have] ears to hear
That forgiveness is given for your guilt and your fear
It's a Christmas gift [that] you don't have to buy
There's a future shining in a baby's eyes

Like a stone on the surface of a still river
Driving the ripples on forever
Redemption rips through the surface of time
In the cry of a tiny babe

Miranda Needs a New Name

James at Rover Rescue called today to touch bases and I was happy to report that Miranda is doing very, very well--and so am I. I can officially adopt her if I wish and hopefully that will be Saturday or sometime early next week. I'm in dog heaven! 

The name Miranda doesn't suit her; I like one or two syllables. She does not respond to it, but I found out she was spayed at the pound last Thursday and was released to the vet where I met her and took her home on Friday. She only had the name Miranda for purposes of identification. Friends have suggested Shadow, Domino, Domina and Mirren. I tried Noel out tonight and she immediately perked up. 

Getting a shot of Miranda in the house is hard because she is so black, but here she is with her "baby." I'm pretty sure she had either had a litter or was pregnant when she was spayed as her nipples are large. When I gave her this fuzzy pink rabbit a few nights ago, which recites "Now I lay me down to sleep," she picked it up gently and now carries it everywhere she goes. When she's laying down, she makes sure her head is touching it. 

Oh how I wish I knew her story. I guess I'll have to make one up. Characteristics that might help with a name? Playful, friendly, licks me constantly, wants to sleep almost on top of me, responds to some Spanish commands which leads me to believe she may have come from a Spanish-speaking household, and she has what James calls a "gay" tail. That means it curls up over her back sometimes, but a lot of the time it is straight down. She is a herding dog so when it's down, she's balancing and ready to work. 

I Don't Want to Bore You With Miranda, But--

Miranda and I have begun to settle in and get to know one another today, although she did spend four hours at the pet store on display with Rover Rescue. I took the time to do a bunch of errands. Lots of people took an interest in her but no one put in an application. They did have two dogs adopted today, however. We took three long walks today, which was good for both of us and I'm learning her bathroom habits. Here she is looking at a squirrel in a palm tree. Cookie was also mesmerized with the squirrels. For all of you folks being inundated with snow and bad weather, it was 80 degrees here today. 

She has begun to make herself at home and my grandkids came by to see her. She was loving but a little standoffish. She sure fell in love with my daughter-in-law Gretchen, however. 

One thing that delights me is that she jumped up on my bed to take a nap with me today. Cookie had always done that, too. Then she became disinterested when I switched from a king to standard size bed about three years ago. This past year she couldn't jump up there anymore because she was weak. 

Again, we will have to see how all this works out. We definitely have bonded and what will be will be. In the meantime, she's a good, good foster dog and I can see that I have the patience to be a foster mom.

And I promise that I'll TRY not to obsess about her here, but right now I'm in the honeymoon period, I guess. Thanks for your patience.

Dog or No Dog? Well, One Is Here, At Least For Now

I did meet Miranda at the vet today along with one of Rover Rescue's volunteers and she was released to me to foster. Imagine my surprise. I didn't think anything would happen that fast. Here's a photo of her right before bedtime tonight.

I've learned some things about her very quickly. She is friendly and loving and follows me everywhere. She is not house trained but we're working on it. She's probably a corgi and some kind of Aussie mix. She weighs about 25 pounds and is low to the ground with a tail a lot like Cookie's was. Her paws are really large compared to her body. They thought she was two but she's between a year and two years. She was spayed yesterday.

I had a 90th birthday party to attend tonight and told James I was apprehensive about leaving her so soon. I have a portable dog pen and he said to put the pen up right next to where she will ultimately sleep--next to my bed.

She did marvelously well, I gather. She is a mellow dog, especially compared to Cookie, and I have yet to hear her bark. We took a several block walk when I got home tonight and she pooped. Hooray! She is my shadow, laying right here beneath my computer table.

Tomorrow she has a big outing. She will be on display at Centinela Pet and Feed along with the other adoptable dogs, so I'll drive her there in the morning. The agency is very, very careful who their rescues go to, so I'm sure she will be here at least for a while--if not forever.

Here's hoping our first night together goes well. I'm so nervous; like I felt when I had each of my new babies.

To Dog or Not to Dog: That is the Question

To Dog or Not to Dog, That is the Question. The saga of when, where and who continues to preoccupy my Christmas mind. I cannot believe the huge void in my life now that Cookie is gone. Dualistically, I can pick up and go for long periods without worrying about a pet at home. Am I ready to adopt? I am still seriously considering fostering a dog for one of the rescue organizations until it finds a home, but what if I fall in love with it? 

I continue to look at rescue sites and at the suggestion of Cathy at Rover Rescue, I went to the Carson Animal Shelter last night to take a look at this guy:

Rover Rescue is debating about rescuing him. He could be a foster dog until he was adopted. The shelter personnel have nick-named him Captain and he is about six years old, a stray male. He was in a kennel run with two other animals about his size (12 pounds?), but Captain was aloof with me, but certainly not with his volunteer Evelyn. 

I spent 1 1/2 hours in the shelter and there were many, many other people there, too--some to adopt, some searching for lost pets, or reporting lost pets. Periodically it seemed like all the dogs began to bark and howl simultaneously--perhaps 75 or more of them? I actually adopted a Shep/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix there many years ago. My eldest son kept her when he moved as she was more than I could handle.  She lived to 14. 

Another rescue, Duchess, a shep mix, turned out to be a fence jumper and I was forever bailing her out of the Hawthorne pound. She lived to about 10.

If you have never visited a shelter or pound, try it sometime. If only they could talk; there are endless stories there of abandonment, abuse, running away, viciousness, economic disasters or death of former owners. It pulls at your heart strings. There are an inordinate amount of chihuahuas and pit bulls, more than any other breeds.

I fell in love with a little spaniel mix female named Amie and actually put my name on a list to possibly rescue her, but I knew almost immediately that I had been too impulsive. (No photo) When I talked to Cathy this morning about Captain, she said they have been keeping an eye on Amie but I guess she has some serious emotional issues. They are very careful who they rescue. 

She did tell me about another dog named Miranda, a Corgi mix, whose photo is up at Rover Rescue's site. Here she is in a thumbnail shot. She weighs 26 pounds. They did rescue her already from the pound and she is apparently being evaluated at a local vet and is available for fostering and/or adoption. She looks a little like Cookie, doesn't she? I'll go to Redondo Beach's Centinela Pet and Feed on Saturday where she will be on display. If she isn't adopted, I may be able to foster her. 

My mind is all over the place. I miss having a dog so much, but I also know having a dog is a huge responsibility which I take very, very seriously. The freedom to travel and just wander for long hours is limited, although Cookie did travel with me sometimes. 

I can hear my late sponsor saying, "The Universe is in divine order," as I try to "push" what is going to happen regarding a dog. I know I have to simply wait and see what transpires. They speak so much these days about setting intention and then letting the Universe do its thing--letting go and letting God. My problem is that I'm sending mixed messages. Ideally I want a female, smallish, around 2-3 years who is friendly, good with kids, and relatively healthy. 

So, I am praying for discernment. Miranda, Captain, Amie--and how many other dogs are out there hoping a person will choose them? Countless, I know. Has it always been like this, or is this a sign of our times? 

Pure, Laugh-Out-Loud Joy From Washington Grandsons

This is my grandson Zachary visiting Santa Claus in Port Angeles, WA. Thank heavens for digital cameras and photo sharing sites, and sometimes video conferencing. That way I'm not as far as away as I sometimes feel.  Zach is 3 1/2 now. 

This is Arlo, about 18 months, and his mom Laura, my daughter-in-law. Joe, Laura, Zach and Arlo are coming to visit for a week in late February. We are all so excited so see them.  

Maya Chamberlin, Age 4, Needs a Bone Marrow Transplant

The Chamberlin family, whose 4-year-old daughter Maya has a rare blood disease called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), are members of Christ Episcopal Church, the church I attend. In September Maya was diagnosed with HLH and only a bone marrow transplant can ultimately save her life.

On December 6 the Los Angeles Times ran a comprehensive article about Maya, her parents and brother and the need for people around the world who require bone marrow matches. Maya is in Cincinnati in treatment now and articles have been written about her across the country. The bone marrow match will be hard to find because of Maya's mixed racial heritage as you will discover when you read the article above.

Yesterday Christ Church hosted a bone marrow match clinic with but at 72 years old, I am beyond the age limit (18-60). But more than 75 people came between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to fill our questionnaires and have the swab test which is sent to an international bone marrow registry. At Rector Bob Cornner's blog you can read more about Maya and what she looked like prior to becoming ill. It is unlikely any of these people will be a match for Maya, but they may be a match for someone else. You may be a match for her someone else yourself. Check out Be The Match International Bone Marrow Registry.

You can follow Maya's progress at her parents Caring Bridge blog. In the find a blog location, just type in "concentrate" and you can follow her day by day.

Here are a few photos of the people volunteering yesterday at Christ Church's marrow match event. If you double click, the photos will show more detail.

This is what people saw when they first approached the church.

Next the potential donors received a questionnaire to fill out. The lady on the right was our parishoner who arranged the event.

Inside the church, more volunteers registered people and the next table passed out the swab kits. Doesn't the sanctuary look beautiful? Our hall partially burned down more than 18 months ago and the insurance company hasn't settled. We do a lot of things inside the church that we used to do in the hall.

And here's the painless swab test done by a parish couple so their results can go to the marrow registry.

 

 

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Yesterday was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but I didn't remember until late last night so I didn't go to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Hermosa Beach for mass. I had made this art journal page last month, though, in preparation for the feast.  

My son Tony, several years ago, gave me a beautiful wood carving of Our Lady of Guadalupe which hung in my patio. Then Jose, a man who often does tile laying and handiwork for me, fell in love with her. One of his sons was shot in a drive by in Wilmington and is paralyzed from the waist down. They are from Mexico he and his family had a special affinity for Our Lady of Guadalupe. After getting Tony's permission, I gave Jose my wood carving and he set up an altar in his garage for her. 

 A few summers ago I got a smaller ceramic version which hangs in my garden now. She is very lovely. 

When I was in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels a few years ago for a concert, the photo below was part of a Guadalupe display hanging at the time. 

 

This was quite magnificent to view. 

This was a much smaller piece, but equally as beautiful. Those of us who live in the U.S. where there are large populations of Mexican and Latino people, like in Southern California, have many opportunities to be blessed with Our Lady's image and story again and again. 

Orma Hammond Featured at Yule Parlor Parade

You may have noticed that I periodically post about my friend, and very fine local artist, Orma Hammond. I keep teasing her that someday I'll be able to say that "I knew her when." 

Last Saturday Orma, Kathy and I went to the Neighborhood Church of Palos Verdes' annual Yule Parlor Parade. Four beautiful homes were open for tour and there was a tea, entertainment and boutique at the church.  The church and its gardens are beautifully decorated for Christmas. 

Several of Orma's paintings were on display in one of the homes decorated in French Country style by Fowler and Moore Interiors of Redondo Beach. (There are some gorgeous examples of French Country at this website.) Susie Moore's parents and my family lived on the same block when the kids were all growing up. Several of Orma's paintings are also hanging in their store, and Orma's paintings are often shown in various shows throughout the South Bay. Here she is with one of her paintings displayed last weekend. 

Unfortunately, no photography was allowed on the tour this year, but the owner let my friend Kathy take this photo inside her hallway where several of Orma's paintings were displayed. 

This is Orma and Kathy in the sanctuary of the Neighborhood Church which was originally an estate house from the 1920s. If you are ever in the area, this church is wonderful to visit. I often go there to photograph. Right now it is spectacularly decorated for Christmas. 

This is one of several fireplaces inside the Neighborhood Church. By the way, Fowler and Moore is also decorated for Christmas. If you are in Redondo Beach, they are at  1721 S. Catalina, about 15 blocks from where I live. All the stores in Redondo's Riviera Village are a delight to visit. 

As I was driving around in the rain the past few days I was so aware of how much I love living in Los Angeles. There is always something going on and now that I'm growing older, my own South Bay area has dozens of activities and great places to visit. If I should relocate at some point, one of my "must haves" would be a college. If you have a college in the area, there is always something going on. What are some of your favorite places to visit in your own communities?