 Hello All! Say hello to Carolyn. Carolyn was a student at the Mont Vernon Village School this past spring and was part of the group that sang my song while they played ukuleles. How very cool is that!! Carolyn came by to say hello and was up to getting her picture taken with me for my blog, with her mom's permission of course. It was so much fun! Many students came by, even the little ones who were in kindergarten at the time when Mama read my story last May. Mama said she even saw Principal Schuttinger there and waved hello. Yoo hoo!! It warmed my heart to see them all. I will be posting pictures and the song on the website SOON so watch for it. We met so many great neighbors and even a VERY SPECIAL DOXIE NAMED "MAX" who was visiting ALL THE WAY FROM FLORIDA!! Watch for his pictures and story to be posted soon. All in all A WONDERFUL DAY. Dharma Hugs!! Dharma Dharma
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 "DOWN the winding and oak-shaded furlong of driveway between Sunnybank House and the main road TROTTED the huge mahogany-and-snow collie. He was mighty of chest and shoulder, heavy of coat, and with the deepset dark eyes in whose depths lurked a SOUL. Sunnybank Lad was returning home". From: "Lad of Sunnybank" By: Albert Payson Terhune And so starts my blog for today. WHAT IS IT ABOUT COLLIES? Mama has loved collies her entire life. Merlin is our collie for this time in our lives and we just spent four days camping together. WHAT FUN!! I will tell you more about our time in the White Mountains in a later post. But for now let me tell you about our Merlie Boy. He is going to be twelve soon and you do not know how much you love someone, and he is a someone, until you realize that you do not have forever. Merlie Boy is my BEST BROTHER EVER!! And so for today, here are some Do's I have learned from OUR COLLIE. DO look into your dogs eyes and know that he or she is loving you back. That is all Merlin ever wants from us every single day. DO shut off the electronics and stop and look and feel and love that canine SOUL that lives with you and KNOW HOW TRULY A GIFT it is in YOUR LIFE that you have a dog living in your house. Merlin's nobility, kindness, gentleness, protective nature gifts us EVERY SINGLE DAY. DO embrace the philosophy in life that TODAY is the day. It is the day for hugs, and kisses and cuddles and sitting quietly with your BEST BUD! Merlie sits quietly by, waiting for us to look him in the eye, waiting for that moment when our energy shifts and we see him. THANK YOU MERLIN for BEING OUR COLLIE! And so check out "Lad of Sunnybank". What a great dog story. IT'S A CLASSIC! And check out the Collie Memorial Celebration at Sunnybank. It is held every August at the Cathedral of the Collie at the Sunnybank homestead in New Jersey! Dharma Hugs!! Dharma Dharma
 Hello all! Another great Saturday for my book. We went to the Anheuser-Bush horse farm in Merrimack NH and were part of the Wags to Whiskers event for the Greater Nashua Humane Society. Lots of good memories here for sure visiting the Clydesdale horses with grandchildren, and children, and nieces over the years. Yup, lots of fun. But I digress. I mean the old folks, talked to so many people on this day, they were JUST TOO DARN TIRED TO TALK TO ME WHEN THEY GOT HOME. So, after they took their respective naps it was exciting to hear about all of the many doxies that they saw, and of course, all the other kinds of dogs that came to the event. You can see that SCOOBY DOO a.k.a Chuck came to visit also. WOW HOW COOL IS THAT! The folks sold books and they talked to many many folks and even met a brand new (new to them) breed of shepherd, called a Shiloh Shepard. Lovely they said. Here is a picture of one from the internet. The picture belongs to: The Happy Puppy site. You can also see another picture of a long haired Belgium Shepard called BEAR who Mama and Papa rescued when I was very young. HERE IS BEAR'S STORY!
Mama and Papa were driving home at night and when they pulled into their road from off of the highway, there was a dog wandering at the end of the road near the highway. Now Mama NEVER I MEAN NEVER ignores a dog loose on the road, for dogs can easily die getting hit by cars and she has had two beloved dogs die this way and basically never wants another dog that she knows, does not know, is in her care, is not in her care, to ever get hit again. Anyway, there is this woolly bear of a dog, clearly a young dog wandering near the highway. NOW PAPA, HE IS A SAINT. He has helped Mama rescue more animals than any one else in her whole life . So when Mama says, YOU GOTTA PULL OVER PAPA, he does. Mama opened the truck door and she says to the pooch, "Hey, what are you doing here?" and this big woolly bear of a dog climbs up into her lap. CLEARLY HE NEED HELP and so they took him home. Now you gotta know this about Papa. He is frightfully afraid of German Shepard dogs. He once had a terrible experience of being attacked when just a little babe, and quite frankly, never got over it. But it was strange because Bear did not bother him. And so Mama and Papa put extraordinary efforts into finding Bear's owners with no luck. AT THAT POINT THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST KEPT HIM. But Mama kept thinking, someone "owns" this dog, and anyone who knows Mama know that she can be TENACIOUS. And so SHE KEPT LOOKING, AND LOOKING AND LOOKING. When they did finally track the owner down much later, and returned Bear to his home, within a short period of time, Bear got hit by a car and died. Because you see, some people do not recognize "car danger". So Bear was left to wander again. And so here are my Do's for this week. DO know where you dog is and "control her or his freedom" for YOU ARE THE ADULT and the dog is a child and cannot possibly understand what a 2000 pound car can do to it if it is hit by a car. DO pay attention and when you see a loose dog. TRY to help it get home. IT WILL BE SO GRATEFUL ! Once Mama had two dogs follow her home from her morning walk. When she got home it was like they knew she lived there. Before she even got back to the house, one went down to the backyard to say hello to Merlin and the other went and sat on her door step. She called the police and it turned out they both belong to someone visiting a local farm. They were very grateful to get back home again. DO recognize what the right thing is to do. The people who owned BEAR would have not listed him as a collie mix in the missing notices if they wanted him back. There was a reason Mama could not find the owners. Sometimes not seeing the "big picture" helps no one. WE think that the UNIVERSE sometimes brings others into our lives and it is good JUST TO ACCEPT THE GIFT. And so, when we look at the scratch marks that BEAR left in the mud room on the door frame we think of him fondly and wish we made other choices.  And so, to finish our story, Mama and Papa along with our family friend May spent good time at the Wags to Whiskers event, helping to "GET THE WORD OUT" about my book. And so thanks for checking in! Dharma Hugs! Dharma Dharma   Hello all. Here is a great picture of all of us guys together, Mama and Stoney Wall, and Merlin, and Frodo and of course me. It's funny how when you are building a family, you don't really think, oh yeah, all these animal family members are all going to be old at the same time. BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. Poor Mama and Papa. IT IS GOING TO BE TOUGH. So old brother Stoney Wall was 16 and one half when he passed last August. MY GOODNESS, IT HAS BEEN OVER A YEAR ALREADY! This picture was just before he passed. Brother Merlin is now going on 12 years old, pretty old for a collie. Brother Frodo is now almost eleven. And for me, of course I am going on fourteen. WOW WHERE DOES TIME GO!! And so my Dharma Do's for today are as follows. DO LOVE YOUR ANIMAL FAMILY, AND YOUR HUMAN FAMILY TOO. NONE OF US KNOW HOW LONG WE HAVE, AND EACH OF US IS TO BE CHERISHED. DO take family photos, in hard copy. It is such a treasure to have something, in the hand, MEMORIES OF GOOD TIMES, something to be seen, to be touched, to be held. And finally, Do know that the ONE, most important thing in the WHOLE WIDE WORD IS KNOWING WHO YOU LOVE and KNOWING WHO LOVES YOU. It is so important to FIND A WAY TO BRING THEM TOGETHER. Remember "Where there is great love there are always miracles" Willa Cather Mama always loved reading her books and her favorite was My Antonia. Hope everyone is safe with this crazy weather. Dharma Hugs! Dharma Dharma
 Hello all. You ever notice how some people come into your life and it feels like, it was MEANT TO BE? Here is a little story about Molly. When Mama and Papa were trying to find someone to print my t-shirts they first went to someone local. And after a week of, you know, let us just say NOT VERY PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS the folks realized that this was NOT GOING TO WORK. But then they met Jeff, through a computer search. CAN YOU IMAGINE? Just like our own Jeff. Anyways, Jeff owns a t-shirt company called Articulate Creation. And in one day the old folks emailed my picture to him, he printed it with the title on a t-shirt, AND they drove out to his shop and they saw the HARD COPY. ALL IN ONE DAY. It was pretty cool actually. OUR T-SHIRTS ARE BEAUTIFUL!! But what was so great is he brought his little Molly to meet them at the shop. And GUESS WHAT? Molly is a miniature dachshund, JUST LIKE ME. It all felt like it was MEANT TO BE. She was so cute, and so friendly, it was like somehow we are long lost cousins. And so, Dharma's Do's for today? DO recognize when others are not being truthful. Being honest, telling the TRUTH, is very important in life. DO recognize when OPPORTUNITY HAS OPENED ITS DOOR. The publishing of my whole book has been all about DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY! And finally, DO embrace others that come into your life. For all you know, they could be a long lost cousin. And so, I hope you are having a wonderful day. And hello to Jeff and Molly. Thank you for letting me use your picture. And here is a windswept picture of Mama and me at the beach in Maine. Dharma Hugs! Dharma Dharma
 Hello All! Recently I had to go visit my dearest doctor who we fondly call Dr. Jill. And I have been thinking. Now Dr. Jill has been my doctor my whole life and this is just mighty fine with me. She has taken marvelous care of not only me but, brothers Kira, and Socks, and Gonzo, and Merlin, and Frodo and of course my best bud, Stoney Wall. SO I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO THE BEST VET EVER, OUR VERY OWN, DR. JILL. SO HERE ARE TODAYS DHARMA DO'S DO use your licking skills to show, JUST HOW MUCH YOU TRULY LOVE SOMEONE!! I have licked Dr. Jill quite a bit. DO wag your tail as you are licking SO THAT YOUR INTENDED GETS IT FROM BOTH ENDS!! I wag my tail off WHENEVER I see Dr. Jill! AND FINALLY DO try not to get to upset with all the pills and the probing and all of that stuff that is important to keep you HAPPY AND HEALTHY!! For it is all because YOU ARE WELL LOVED. No one spends money on things that are not important to them. And so LOVE AND KISSES DR. JILL. And thank you for everything that you have done for our family. Dharma Hugs. Dharma Dharma
 Dharma's Do's Do clean your plate! But only if it is OH SO DELICIOUS!! Do enjoy the FUNNY PAPERS with your Papa! Or anyone else who LOVES YOU!! Do sit with people that you love in the warm sunshine of a summer's morning. Dharma Hugs!! Dharma Dharma
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AuthorChell Sommese is a retired teacher.
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