Friends in Spite of Differences

Have you ever seen two people who looked really odd together? Perhaps it was due to an age difference or a cultural difference, perhaps it was because of a difference in ability whether mental or physical. But after you watched the pair for a bit you noticed how happy and in sync they were together. How the friendship or relationship worked for them despite their disparity.

The second book I read for the Support your Local Library Challenge tells of such a friendship in the animal world. It's the true story of Tarra & Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends by Carol Buckley. Tarra was the first resident of an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. As additional elephants came, they paired off with a buddy. All of them except for Tarra. She never found a best friend. Then she met Bella one of the many dogs on the property. Normally the dogs and elephants keep their distance from each other. But these two bonded. They spent all their time together. If the other elephants wanted to socialize with Tarra, they had to accept her friendship with Bella and include him.

One day Bella is injured and unable to move. Tarra stands guard nearby until a sanctuary worker finds the injured dog and takes her to receive medical help. When Bella does not return after two days, Tarra goes to find her. Meanwhile, Bella is convalescing upstairs in an elephant barn with a large picture window. When she sees Tarra outside, she is happy. Tarra makes a commotion until the workers carry Bella down to see her. Tarra returns every day for a visit until Bella has healed and can return with her to the sanctuary grounds.

Here's a video of Tarra & Bella. [For my deaf readers: there are no captions to this video because there is no human dialog. There are animal sounds and soothing background music has been added.]

If you enjoyed this video, you can see additional ones on the Elephant Sanctuary's YouTube channel. You can learn more about the sanctuary at their website.

Regarding the Support Your Local Library Challenge, please remember that any book checked out from a library counts. Even children's books.

How to Spend a Cold Afternoon in January

I spent Saturday afternoon watching dog sled
demonstrations! Earlier in the week all our snow had
disappeared. But fortunately it snowed yesterday and a bit
more overnight giving us a light layer of snow on the ground.

This is Kiowa, a 7 month old husky.
She was the star attraction in the warmup tent.

This husky chilled out while Kiowa handled
the meet and greet duties.

Husky toys were on sale in the warmup tent for those
who wanted to take a husky home with them! Sample
dog treats were given out to all pet owners who attended.

Outside again, this husky looked ready to run!

Before the dog sled runs began, there was a talk.

This photo shows a typical sled a team will
pull. The musher stands behind it where he
can operate the foot brake when needed
and shout directions to the dogs.

This view shows the dog's harness.

Here's a short captioned video I made of two of the dog sled teams in action.

I enjoyed my dog day afternoon. Bye, bye!

Ok, Everybody, Let's Lighten Up this Year

This video just cracks me up. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Here's hoping we all can find some silly joy this year to equal the delight of this laughing child!

[Note for my deaf friends: there is no dialog to this video other than the uproarious laughter of the baby interacting with the playful pup.]

Praying Dog Video (Captioned)

This is a very sweet video with special appeal to Christian dog lovers. I wonder if Rusty could learn to do this...

Photo Fun for Friday: Butterfly Garden

In this photo you can see the blur of this
butterfly's wings in motion. Butterflies

are tricky subjects to photograph.

Watch your step!

I visited this butterfly garden with the specific purpose of obtaining the answer to the question, "Are butterflies deaf?" I have seen websites online that say they are and some that say they aren't, but I haven't gotten a definitive word from my web research. Unfortunately, I was unable to get the answer from the staff at the butterfly exhibit either. I was promised my question would be referred to an expert but I never received any reply to my query even after I sent followup emails. At any rate with your indulgence, I'd like to share my own "butterfly logic".

If butterflies are deaf and butterflies are beautiful, then deaf can be beautiful!

Got Flu?

I'm out sick from work. My son got sick first and now it's my turn. I've got a fever, sore throat, and cough. I really don't know whether or not the swine flu is to blame, but I couldn't resist posting this cute pig photo a friend sent me!

Don't worry, I am drinking lots of fluids and getting plenty of rest as a precautionary measure. And reading my blog does not expose you to any risk of contagion.

Stay well. I'll be better soon.

Dog Walk for a Good Cause

Portrait of Sarah and Rusty taken by Sarah's son.

Rusty enjoys meeting and greeting the other dogs
who have gathered for the dog walk.

The dog walk was organized to raise money
for a search and rescue dog (pictured below).

This bloodhound can help recover children lost
in the woods, locate elderly people who wander
away from nursing homes, and even track criminals.


It was a perfect autumn day for a walk in the
woods with our canine companions.

Have a great week, everybody!

Photo Fun for Friday: Zoo Animals

Macaw: Much too cool to look at you.

Flamingo: Now how do I get back up again?

Prairie Dog: Who are you looking at?

Cattle: Oh, my aching head!

Camels: Oh, our aching backs!

Tiger: Blehk! The zoo food tastes awful.

No Kittens Were Harmed in the Writing of this Blog Post

Sadly, however kittens were harmed in the driving of my neighbor's vehicle. :(

When my husband and I walked our dog this evening, I noticed my neighbor in his garage tinkering on a car. I told my husband I want to ask about the kittens. He wondered why as he'd already gotten the end of the story. "I just do" I insisted, not owning up to him I'd blogged about it.

As it turned out my neighbor had a different end to the story than the one my husband had heard. He said there were two kittens under the hood of his car and he had "lost them on the highway". One was alive but the other one wasn't. Apparently he didn't retrieve the one still alive. He made no mention of pulling over to the side of the road.

I explained to him that I was a bit put off yesterday because I'm deaf. (It seemed easier to say that than hard of hearing.) He said, "Oh, you would have heard these ones alright." Then he proceeded to make loud cat noises. My husband tried to explain my hearing loss but my neighbor wasn't interested. Even though I was obviously lipreading him, he turned his face away several times during the rest of our conversation with him.

I'm sorry about the kittens. I wish they had been rescued. And I wish my neighbor understood why I couldn't hear the kittens. He probably thinks I'm crazy.

Kitten Story Update

Kitten's Bad Day
Originally uploaded by asmodeus

Due to reader response to my last blog post, I picked up the phone and called my husband. He had just talked to the neighbor lady and she said no kittens were found.

She explained to him that there are lots of stray cats where her husband works and one must have crawled into the car to keep warm while delivering her babies. Looking the car over in their driveway however, there was no sign of kittens. They must have snuck out of the car....

Uh-huh.

This Time I'm No Help At All

Fancy Car with the Hood Up
Originally uploaded by Sean_H

When I was driving home from work on Monday, I saw my neighbor stopped at a stop sign on our street with the hood of his car up. I pulled alongside and asked him if he was having car trouble. No. Did he need a ride? No. He came over to my window and said, "Don't think I'm crazy, but I'm hearing kitten noises." I must have given him a strange look because he repeated, "Don't think I'm crazy."

I watched as he lifted his air filter out to see if there were any small creatures hidden below it. He checked for my reaction. "I'm glad you didn't find any in there!" I responded. He continued checking his back seat and under the car. I didn't see any way I could help him so I drove on home.

Later on while walking my dog across the street from his house, he called out loudly, "Don't think I'm crazy!" This time he had his wife beside him confirming there were indeed kitten noises. I didn't want to create any additional problems by bringing my large dog next to the car so I continued my walk.

I don't know if my neighbor's aware of my hearing loss or not. He didn't seem to understand that I wasn't going to be able to confirm the kitten noises for him. He just thinks I think he's crazy.

I'll send my husband over soon to find out if there really were kittens hiding in the car or not. I tend to avoid crazy people.