March 19, 2012

White Dog hopped up next to me and asked, "Momma, what do lambs like to eat?" ""I don't know, Baby Girl, oats, clover, fresh grass. Thinking of trying to raise your own lamb shanks?"

"Actually, I was thinking that it we left some treats the March lamb would come a little sooner," she said. The winds died into sleet and freezing temperatures last night and today the streets are confettied in the pretty white and pink petals that were, until the storm, on flowering trees all over town. Our flowering plum, protected in the nook of the courtyard, survived pretty well so we can still enjoy a small breath of Spring; the emerging tulips were beaten into the ground. Some homes are still without power as the they work to repair downed lines and toppled street lights.

Even White Dog Ranch was not spared as the Army and Steve inspected the premises this morning. The shade cloth that covers our deck is torn and will need replacing. The agility A-frame and cat-walk are uprooted. Even the ladder to the roof was blown down; Steve put it back in place and climbed up to make sure the solar panels were all OK (they are).

And as if the weather's wildness was not lion-ish enough, we have had to practically leash YoYoMa (who is fixed) to keep him away from poor retired breeder Puff who is now in heat. At 14 years old and with the pulmonary/heart issues caused by her previous heartworm, the vet has recommended that we leave her intact. YAWD, neutered when he joined the WDA last year, is still a randy boy. He is drving poor SAWD to distraction unless she hides in her crate of clings to Steve, who tells Yo, "This is MY girl!"

Perhaps, too, the Lamb will bring a sense of calm gentleness and peaceability. Ironically, returning to school with classmates from press conference our Mayor gave which proclaimed March 19th "Spread the Word to End the R Word Day," Michael and his developmentally challenged classmates were taunted and a soda was thrown from a passing car at them. The special day was meant to call for an end to bullying and to stop the exclusion of the intellectually and developmentally disabled. Apparently not all beasts have shaggy manes and roar.

And if we can ask the Lamb one more favor as this month ends, we ask for peace and strength to those brave Warriors fighting the c monster, alongside loved ones and in their own bodies. The White Dog Army joins with all of the energy of the Universe on this special day to focus on ending the monster's reign of terror that has taken too many too soon and broken too many hearts. Our prayer: Bring us closer to the day when cancer.touches.no one. Walk beside us and help in every way you can to make a cancer-free world a reality.

With the help of the WDA, WD and I left a symbolic treat of honey and oatmeal cookies for March's lamb on our doorstep in hopes that it hurries to town.