Friday, July 27, 2012

This is "Lucky."  She's not quite eight years old.  She is 1/4 Japanese Chin and 3/4 cavalier king charles spaniel.  We were present at her birth.  Her mother belonged to my dear friend Ann K.  

Is she not adorable?  She's one of the sweetest dogs we've ever had.

A few years ago Lucky was diagnosed with a heart murmur.  Cavaliers are prone to heart problems.  We had hoped that Lucky's Japanese Chin blood would serve her well against this vulnerability.  Unfortunately, that has not turned out to be the case.  Now she has congestive heart failure and it is advancing.  She's coughing, not eating much, and has labored breathing.  We all know that Lucky is approaching the end of her life.

I bought her some canned dog food today.  She's only slightly interested.

Please pray that Lucky will have a peaceful end and that our family will have every necessary grace to say good-bye.




Wednesday, July 25, 2012

One Moonless Night

While in Florida my family frequently chose to head to the beach at night.  It's very peaceful at that time and the ocean very beautiful.  We get our feet a little wet in the waves and just appreciate God's creation for maybe an hour.

One night we didn't get there until about 10:30 PM.  There was no moon.  My husband Mike does not usually bring a flashlight but he did that night.  Several of us were further ahead when we saw a frantic moving back and forth of the flashlight beam.  I looked back to see my daughter gesturing urgently to come back.  Wondering what was wrong we rushed back to join them.

They silently gestured further up on the sand.  There was a great mass of something thrashing rather wildly.  Loud whispers followed, "A turtle!  A turtle!!"

It was a sea turtle burying her eggs!!

After she had finished, she slowly and made her way back down to the ocean.  She was a magnificent creature.  I don't believe I have ever seen such a large animal outside of a zoo.  Her back alone was probably five feet long, not including her legs and head.  Her head was much larger than a human head.  Her eyes were like baseballs.  As she moved slowly and gracefully back to the sea her path came about twenty feet from where we stood.  We were awe struck.  She lay in the wet sand.  A few small waves gently touched her.  Then a large wave engulfed her and she disappeared.  "Wow," several of us quietly whispered.  We knew we had just witnessed what most people will never have an occasion to see.  As one of my daughters said, "It was like seeing a dinosaur."

Judging from photos, we believe she was a leatherback turtle, an endangered species.  They can grow up to seven feet long and weigh more than 2,000 pounds.  Most of the offspring do not survive.  One site said that only about 1 in 1,000 hatchlings make it.  Some are consumed by predators before they reach the ocean.  Others are consumed by humans who consider them aphrodisiacs.  (I know.  Please.  An endangered species!!)

We tried to take pictures with cell phones but it was much too dark.

I have seen the sea turtle nests cordoned off on the beach before and never thought much about them.  Let me tell you, I will be thinking about them now.  I will be thinking about the gigantic creature who crawled out of the ocean one moonless night to leave her eggs in the sand.  And I will be thinking about the glory of God all over creation and the responsibility of all of us, His children, to protect and care for His creatures.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

It's hot here in MIchigan.  It's been a very hot summer.  My flower beds cannot last a day without watering.  In fact, after watering, they are again visibly dry after only a few hours.  We aren't used to this kind of heat.

Our family took a trip to Florida to see my mother-in-law.  It was over 100 degrees here when we left.  Florida was in the comfortable 80s.  Weird.  Florida is always hotter than Michigan.


But the trip was fun.  Only Jimmy and Zach could not come along.  We stopped in Atlanta to spend a couple nights and pick up Anne.  Got to see these two new little adorable kitties!!

Walking the beach was a relaxing and beautiful experience.  Soon I will write about what we saw on the beach one moonless night!!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Just saw this fabulous video thanks to Suz McConnell.  It's from a site called Catholic Called to Witness
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=D9vQt6IXXaM&hd

It's about the Catholic vote.  Please check it out.  It's not long.

We certainly do have a responsibility to vote for those candidates who will support policies that we believe are right.

This is a crucial election!!