Posted on by alleypoet

When Love Takes You In

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote this beautiful song about adoption. Hoping he doesn’t mind a little license with it, I think it works for the precious animals hoping for a home as well.

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

Buddy, my mom’s dog of many years died a couple of years ago. Since then, we knew her life would be so much more complete when a new dog would find his or her home with her. Things needed to be put in place. Work had to be done. The time was right. Mom and Denise and Jenny and Gabi and Chelsea went to the Pound in search of the perfect pet. I have found that they will find us!

For the last sixteen years, Tybee has been my friend and my muse. A stand-up comedian. The best listener ever. Aerobic trainer before arthritis got the best of him…now he just cheers me on. He has inspired stories and has come to completely dig Americana and alternative rock. Life is so much more complete because of this old soul.

So the search began. This sweet mutt found her. He must have known she would be his new roommate, because he played with everyone but stayed almost exclusively by her side. I don’t care what they say; DOG’S SMILE. They love. They emote. They are multilingual. They get that the simple life is the best life. It is their mission to remind us of just that.

His name (already given): “Buddy” How cool is that?

Welcome home, Buddy. You belong here. Do your thing and add life to life.

Posted on by alleypoet

Winter of our discontent – or our finest moment? (published Jan 30, 2010)

Steinbeck’s’ character, Ethan Allen Hawley, was a good man gone wrong. The pressure to become something more caused him to compromise his values and his very nature. Later, he would rationalize as if somehow he actually had helped those he harmed. Too close.

Now is not the first time a people have struggled in this Land of the Free. These days don’t offer a lot of hope for a lot of folk. You have to seek it, invent it, borrow it, build it. I personally believe that our leaders – left, right, middle, independent – go into their work to help build things, not tear them down. Do they get sucked into the bureaucratic machine that is perpetually running in D.C.? Sure they can. But I am not ready to write them all off. The mood of the country, and  that of most within my social circles, is dark, cynical, critical, and mean-spirited at times. I choose to believe in people. I choose to believe that our leaders feel it a privilege to work on the tough problems on behalf of me and of those who can’t speak so easily for themselves (not that I speak so easily myself).

I listened to our President last week. Just a speech? Nah. Vision. Vision changes. It should. Was “Yes, we can” just campaign rhetoric? I don’t think so. I choose to follow a belief in the human spirit, regardless of Red or Blue or Orange (what is the color for Independents anyway?).

Ethan Allen Hawley sold out under pressure. He came to understand what he did and had to live with it. He returned to his conscience and his heart. It may feel like a Winter of Discontent, but I choose to look for the moon on the water and the beauty and the possibilities just around the bend.