August 20, 2011

White Dog and YoYoMa trotted out of the door past Puff, who lay forlornly in the middle of the floor. Quinn and Nuka were already in post-breakfast napmode. We were heading off to Wolfstock to check out the event to raise money to build an animal shelter; we were also going to distribute fliers for the 2MillionDog Puppy Up Walk to end Canine Cancer .

The Event was well attended by pups of all sizes and colors and their humans. WD and YAWD were perfect representatives for our cause--attracting interest because of their handsome white fluffy looks and then sitting patiently as we talked about canine cancer and how it must be stopped. Not a single person refused a flier and many pups woofed that they would be there for sure. YoYoMa amazed many as he pranced around the booths; they could not believe he was blind. He humbly said, "I hope others get the help I have had to get this far." White Dog made an elderly woman in an oxygen mask clap in happiness as WD performed "Polar Bear," and "Diva Fainting" for her. It was a great morning among dogs and dog lovers.

We returned home and it was Nuka's turn to go with Steve as he delivered Puppy Up New Mexico posters to the posh dog boutique who is one of our sponsors. The store is small and low-key so Nuka has no problems with sensory overload. (She DID like the idea of the baby stroller, though, Sally Ann)! AWD wiggy-wagged as Steve and the owner decided on just the right spot to hang the poster in Dawg Gone Good's window.

Once they returned home we ran some necessary errands as Puff waited patiently for HER turn in the spotlight. The late afternoon came and SAWD was ready to go; she waited silently at the door but was not letting anyone pass without her this time! Quinn, on the other hand, was not so willing. He was having a "bad" day with his arthritis and walking seemed less than comfortable.

Steve took him aside and they talked. "TOWD is feeling achy," Steve reported back. "He doesn't think he can walk well enough to want to be jostled and surrounded by lots of other pups." We gave our boy an herbal "aspirin" and our blessing to stay home and rest comfortably. Nuka was more than happy to be his nurse and she settled in close by to watch over him.

Suddenly, Puff was not alone at the door. Both White Dog and YoYoMa waited with her. "We are ready to fill in the gap," they said. "We'll go on the American Cancer Society Bark for Life Walk in Quinn's place!" "Are you sure," I asked. "You had a pretty busy and social morning." WD and YAWD sat stubbornly next to AWD. At that, Michael came upstairs and added his voice, "Can I go, too?"

The White Dog Army was beautifully represented again by three amazing White Ones who turned heads and stopped pups long enough that we could once again pass out fliers and talk about the connection between human and canine cancers. We convinced more than a few that our causes were the same and that Cancer.Touches.Everyone. Puff, our shy girl, walked proudly and endured the meet-and-greet ritual stoically. She was being social!!!

And then they walked around the perimeter of the Park, a symbol of the journey to gather our numbers, increase awareness, build an army strong (and smart) enough to defeat the evil c. The course was not handicapped friendly so White Dog and I waited at the finish line to cheer the Walkers (two- and four-legged) and to howl our approval to these fellow warriors against the monster. 70 dogs and humans marching determinedly backed by the sun setting on the mesa is a sight to fill one with hope. We were exhausted by the time we got to go eat celebratory cheeseburgers.

I promised to post our adventure first thing on Sunday and had everything set up to go. The photo card was in the slot waiting for downloading (yes, we had photos) and we all stumbled off to bed. A short time later, we were shaken out of our sleep and tossed into what seemed like the world's end taking place right inside our house. The lightning knifed through the windows shattering the darkness into glaring white. The thunder roared so loud we feared we had been swallowed by a lion. And the rain lashed us with fury and wrath we did not deserve.

All of the pups were frightened. White Dog was on our bed trying to crawl under Steve; and he held her shaking body close. Puff ran for the security of her crate and curled at the far back. YoYoMa (who hates even regular storms) spun and twirled in terror bolting to hide under my office desk pressed tightly against Quinn (yes!) and later crawling into the crate with Puff. The only White Dog unaffected by the tempest was Nuka, our deaf girl who slept soundly on the floor of the closet oblivious to the sounds and lights. We lost power for several hours. The rage subsided after about 50 minutes and everyone fell into a restless slumber. We stretched and got a bit more comfortable when right before dawn the fans came back on to move the still heavy air.

And this morning when I sat down with White Dog to share our social Saturday, we discovered that the images on the memory card which was left in the computer had somehow become corrupted and would not open or opened to only little tiny compressed bands of the image. White Dog fled the room at my groan of frustration...