A Buddy for Buddy

I am writing this on Buddy's last day here.

I received a note that the SPCA has another 6 week old (which is probably Buddy's approximate age) pit bull mix puppy who was turned in, another singleton, and they have decided to put the two of them together for companionship and to test for "alpha personalities."

I had earlier written to Sharon that I felt strongly that Buddy should not be put in a family that has small children. He is sweet, but he can also be aggressive, and as he gets older this is going to have to be watched and trained out of him. I am not the person to do that. Too much of a wimp!

But having a sibling for a couple of weeks before they both go up for adoption will be great and will give time for observation of both of them to help find the right kind of home for each.

So tomorrow we will pack him up in the crate he came in and take him back to Petco. I know people think I'm going to cry when he goes because all the pictures have shown how much I've enjoyed loving him, but there comes a time when they all go. I could never work in a kill shelter because as each animal reached the end of his or her time, I would want to adopt them. It would be so easy to be a hoarder!

But long ago I had to come to peace with the fact that they all leave. If I were to keep all the ones I fell in love with, I would have less and less attention to give to them all. I might love them, but you have responsibility for the animals you choose to live with. As it is adopting Polly has meant less time for Sheila and Lizzie, especially as she is so incredibly demanding of my time. But I still think it was the best decision all around. As I watch her now running to greet Walt, her tail wagging a mile a minute, jumping up on him and demanding to be petted I am in amazement of the change that has taken place in that scared little girl who first showed up here. It has taken two years, though and she still doesn't like other people ... and there are still times I wish we hadn't adopted her, but who else would have taken her? When she cuddles up with me in the recliner, I'm glad she's ours.

The past few days have really been very nice, since I made the decision to give Buddy lots of body contact. For one thing, I have watched all but 3 of the Showtime Homeland which won the Golden Globe as Best TV Drama and won an award for Best Actress in a Drama for Claire Danes and nomination for BestActor for Damian Lewis.

I was so glad to find Homeland as an OnDemand option, especially since we subscribe to Showtime. With all this time spent cuddling Buddy, I used it to start watching the show. I found this "post 9/11" drama very entertaining, following CIA agent (Danes) as she spies on Marine (Lewis) who had been held captive by al-Quaeda and whom she thinks has been "turned" by his captors. It's a great story and I am happy to learn that it has been picked up for a second season, to begin sometime in 2012. I will have finished the 12 episodes of Season 1 by then!

So thanks to Buddy, I have had guilt-free daytime television watching and worked my way through a great new TV series. If you have Showtime, and if you have OnDemand, I highly recommend it.

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The storm in the Pacific Northwest has turned into a big disappointent for us. Steve is giving a benefit concert in Olympia along with one of my favorite groups, the Righteous Mothers, writers of "Old Fat Naked Women for Peace", "Big Legged Women," "Missing Molly Ivens," and "She Shanty," the hilarious song about childbirth. I have a couple of their CDs and just love them. This was going to be my chance to visit Steve, see another of his concerts, and to finally get to see the Righteous Mothers live.

But the weather is just too iffy. Right now Olympia has 4' of snow, though people think it's going to melt by Friday. But we are not too keen on the iffi-ness of it all, so I canceled the motel reservation, Walt canceled the flight and we will let the money we paid for tickets be our donation to PFLAG.

But I won't get to see Steve (assuming he can get to Seattle from New York!) and I won't get to see the Righteous Mothers and for that I am very sad. I won't even have Buddy to cuddle to make me feel better.