When Divinity Intervenes, It's Time to Listen

Not that I'm going over the top preachy, or anything of the sort.  I just choose to perceive most situations in life as indicators of ways to improve.  Such was the case after my unsettling yet brief scuffle with an aggressive pit bull while out with Merlyn and Honey Bear (the service dog I'm walking for a local dog outfitter in Seattle) earlier this evening.  I realized that pits, while often tagged in a negative light due to the aggressive behavior towards other dogs, are only that way because the humans who have opted to take them in are irresponsible to begin with.  They don't seem to realize that the ONLY way to ensure a dog's well-being is to get them plenty of exercise and mental stimlulation.  When they are occupied in a healthy pastime, they will be so much less likely to jump their fences and go after two dogs strolling by. 

If I could propose some manner of neighborhood exercise for dogs such as this, where volunteers would walk the dogs a minimum of an hour a day to make sure they don't get pent-up aggression by being stuck in a backyard all day.  Why not give the pit bulls-or any seemingly undesirable shelter dogs, for that matter-a job where they can get both plenty of exercise AND mental stimulation?  Winning all around!  :)

Not sure how realistic it would be to convince the owners of unneutered pit bulls to allow their dogs to be fixed and taken out for regular walks, but it's worth a try.  I wonder if these dogs even register on their scale of what a canine companion is or is not.  I wonder if they even bother to think of how their neglect is ultimately affecting an otherwise amazing dog. 

Anyway, love to those four-legged friends in your life, whatever form they may take. 

My Facebook Page for Canine Meditations on Life, the Universe and Everything

https://www.facebook.com/MerlynMcGillicutty

Includes photos from Merlyn's puppy days, four-legged and reptilian family members who are no longer with us and his adventures adjusting to life as an urban dog is a very artistic and culturally diverse metropolis.

Follow Merlyn McGillicutty as he muses about everything under the sun and rain clouds and seeks to find the answers to life's biggest questions ... or something with some hummus on it. 

Urban Dog

 

Urban Dog

 

Urban Zen Dog

 

Seattle Waterfront

 

Dog Bromance?

Frontier Airlines No Longer Flies Pets in Cargo

I was really surprised and a little disappointed to have learned that Frontier Airlines would no longer be flying pets in cargo as of the first of November.  When I scheduled my flight back to Washington some months ago, I had to time the trip so that I could avoid having to fly my dog on a separate flight.

The customer service individual that I spoke with about my dog's travel arrangements said that it had something to do with complaints about pets flying in cargo.  Whether or not those complaints centered around the temperature ranges that critters in kennels would have to endure, I have no idea.  We've been flying with pets in cargo for years and it has never before been an issue.  Not that I'm opposed to improving conditions that traveling pets experience.  I just feel that an airline like Frontier, who's one of the most affordable airlines I've ever flown, will likely lose a lot of business from the passengers who aren't able to fly their pets in the cabin and who don't want to shelve out a few hundred bucks to fly their beloved four-legged family members on a separate flight.  Frontier was a small airline and quite affordable.  By contrast, their competition consists of many much larger airlines that have bigger planes which carry many more passengers.  If you don't enjoy being made to feel like a sardine crammed into a little can full of other sardines and if you aren't made of money to be able to afford first class accommodations, then your options as a traveler with your pet are sadly much more limited.

In the Spirit of the Season

 

It's hard not to do crazy things to cooperative dogs when this time of year rolls around. Back in 2009, when I purchased a cheesy blonde hippie chick wig for my Mother Nature costume, I could not resist snapping some photos of Merlyn in this wig.  Bless his heart, he was so cooperative and didn't even seem to mind it when I took a few more photos in order to find the best one to post on his Facebook page.  I think that a sure sign of manhood-or doghood, in this case-is not caring how ridiculous you look and feeling handsome in spite of it all.   

 

Last year, I was at a loss for costume items to get because I didn't exactly have a solid plan of what to do for Halloween.  I'd already lined up some special activities to honor Samhain with my then-covenmates, but there was nothing in the way of costume parties to attend.  And after my late-night club outing for the Halloween of 2010 that resulted in my missing the last Metro home and ending up spraining my ankle, I wasn't feeling as inclined to stay out late in DC this time.

 

This was the mountain range and river that was inspired by my environmental studies class at Evergreen entitled Earth Stewards:  Sustainable Living in a Threatened World.  I'm not sure if this was the result of wanting to represent a modernized version of Mother Nature, complete with a few different nature scenes, or if this was because I love facial art.  It was certainly a fabulous excuse to go crazy creative on myself, whether or not I actually had a prayer of entering a contest for Best Costume.  

                                       

This was Mother Nature at the Day of the Dead party in Olympia, Washington.  Since I knew that wig would end up green, I had to get some photos ahead of time to see what I'd look like as a blonde.  Turned out I was about as ridiculous as my dog in that wig.  But oh what fun it is to be ridiculous sometimes!

 

I do need to make a bit of a distinction between Halloween and Samhain.  They're technically the same holiday.  One, Halloween, just happens to be a far more secular and capitalized version of the older sabbat, Samhain.  When you're a late-bloomer witch like me and you've spent the first three decades of your life celebrating the party side of the holiday, it's hard to completely discard it once the need for reverance for the ancestors takes priority.  I still mention Halloween whenever there's talk of parties or costume contests, or if there's any candy around that I have a hankering for.  But when I consider the deeper meaning of the day and this time of year, it's Samhain.  Samhain is the time for ritual.  The altar is decorated to make room for offering plates for the spirits of those who have gone before.  This is the time of year to take stock of what we've accomplished, what we've "harvested," and to go inward to begin work on ourselves again.  Part of the wisdom of my grizzly bear power animal, part of the medicine she offers, involves turning inward to begin the long process of making plans for the next year.  This is the time of year to initiate new creative projects and set into motion what will need to be put into practice come spring.

 

This year, I'll be in a bit of a major life transition.  I'm flying out to Washington next Thursday and will be fortunate enough to attend the Samhain ritual next Saturday hosted by a couple of my fellow witches.  I don't know yet if there are any parties that I could attend.  I don't even know just where I'll be on the actual date of the sabbat, since it falls on a Wednesday.  Perhaps this year will find me focusing on directing magickal energy towards securing a job and a place to live in Seattle for me and Merlyn.  Figuring out what costume I want to wear has taken a backseat to submitting job applications and contacting prospective roommates.  At least next year at this time, I'll have already gotten a little more settled in and may have found a group in the city to gather with to honor the sabbat. 

 

 



Merlyn in the Springtime (2012)

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