Selma, CA

Is this the cutest Shih Tzu you have ever seen! This is my Buddy Jr.'s dad...Buddy Sr. This picture was taken the day I bought Buddy Jr. a year and a half ago. My heart was stollen that day but Buddy Sr. was not for sale.

My granddaughters best friend lived next door to the house and as I would pass the garage that Buddy Sr. lived in, I could see his tongue and feel his eyes pearcing my heart, reaching out to me, begging to bring him home with us.

The 2 other dogs were the 'moms' and what I did not know at the time is these 3 dogs never left the garage, ever!

It is a single car garage and it was lined with fecies and stunk like amonia. Their sensative noses were clogged and deadened by the stench.

Below are pictures taken at the groomers. The breeder had cut him up trying to trim his hair. We found a big gouge on his back that would make you wonder what had happened. We were sickened by the thought of what Buddy Sr. had to endure.

Now...a year and a half later...here is a picture of Buddy's Sr. the day we picked him up. I called my groomer and told her it was an emergency and she didn't hesitate...she said bring him in.

He was so matted that his ears were woven to his neck. He is still having problems with a recurring infection in his ears.

He is home now...it had been a month in this picture and he is still learning how to play, loves to be loved, and the food...well, he gets fresh chicken breast every night with either green beans or broccoli, and mashed potatoes or pasta/rice.

We had to rename Buddy Sr. Yoshi, his real name. He was (and I say was) about half the size of Buddy Jr; we are not sure why...maybe living in a single car garage for over 4 years stunts one's growth like it does goldfish.

He had to be completely shaved.

Yoshi doesn't look too thrilled about being taken out of commission (he sired for 3 or so years) but he will. Buddy Jr. is watching over him with love, knowing that being neutered is a good thing.

Yoshi has had to get used to gravity, healthy food, running, walking on grass, sleeping on goosedown, and a myriad of other luxurious lifestyle changes.

I will post more pictures later. Thanks for sharing in our happiness!

HAPPY ENDING!

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Selma...I Love Living Here!

There, I said it! May the comfort gods find peace at last...at least for the moment...

My problem? Perfect weather vs. ultimate convenience;

As an example; I picked my brother up from his new little house is Selma to take him to the bank. In those days I was still smoking so he lit up a cigarette in the car and when I pulled up to the bank, he looked at me and asked "Are we here already? I smirked and replied with "Yep!" Then without any warning he coined a phrase for Selma I have used over and over again, He said "Man, this is a two puff town!"

Size is relative, I know, and so is the level of convenience on experiences. I come from Los Angeles and there, convenience was the freeway and the beach. Living in Denver; snow plowed streets early in the day meant convenience. When living in San Francisco, having your own parking space is convenience. Now, convenience to me means walking in to pay a parking ticket with no waiting and 2 minutes back to the house. That's what I'm talking about.

I took these pictures while walking my dog Buddy downtown Selma this last January and I think it is time to share them. I hope to convey the calm quiet feeling of my town as someplace that sounds really good to meander in, live in, and grow in.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<WAKE UP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I can't tell you how stunned I was when a forty something woman said she had never heard of global warming And quite honestly, I believe she would never have found out had she not dropped by my home Saturday night.

All my lights were out and candles were glowing all over the house. She asked "whats up?". When I told her that it was Earth Hour, you would think I just told her they found a new planet with people on it and she was the last one to know. She came in and sat down anxious to hear all the details.

How could an American with two children not know the plight of the polar bear or what the new squiggly light bulbs are for? How can this be!!!

My friend said she does not watch TV...nor does she read the newspaper. (I wondered how many people really don't know about global warming?) I happily explained in the warm candlelight all that I could to help her understand. We had such a nice time sharing what ever popped into our heads after the initial update that our girls said they want to do it again...every Saturday. We settle for every other Saturday.

Earth Day is a world wide event where large cities as well as individuals live without electricity for one hour a year. Why once a year I thought! Why not as often as we can...?

Because of this experience, my family and friends are going to have an ongoing opportunity to share with each other and help the planet at the same time.

Today is the day I weed out what I want to write about and what I will just toss. I have always had piles of torn pages from decorator and food magazines but now, because of my awareness gained through Active Rain and the Eco group, I have a GREEN pile and it is the tallest of them all.

At the top of this pile of greenness is an article from one of my AARP magazines and have been hanging onto it for a few weeks now. The photo depicts a tree standing on the side of the road with it's suitcase in one hand and the other with a thumb out. It speaks volumes to me of our grave global warming situation even though it makes me laugh every time I see it.

I often think about our early blooming trees here in the San Joaquin Valley and how fragile fruit and vegetables are. The farmers fear frost every winter and early rainfall in the spring. The weather spells out success or failure every year for them.

This picture epitomizes the fear for the future of our farms and landscapes in general...

I know what you are thinking and I suppose vegetation has been moving around since the beginning of time, but what used to be a gradual migration has accelerated dramatically and never before were there businesses and families/towns/cultures so dependent upon what is produced on their land for survival.

The article points out the concerns of the ranchers wanting to know if there will be grass for grazing...how hard will it be to move those cows? How about nursery owners and botanists who make a living growing flowers for special occasions, what will they do when the land is too hot...use the empty cow pastures? How IS this all going to work out???

What I hadn't considered was how extreme weather conditions give adaptable plants an edge, and some of the most adaptable plants can be trouble. Hundreds of plants are on U.S watch lists because of invasive tendencies. Among them:

1. Kudze - Visitors to the 1876 Centennial Exposition if Philadelphia found this Japanese cousin to the pea charming. It's now rampant in the South
2. Purple loosestrife - Its blossoms may be hard to resist but loosestrife is reviled in most of the nation, where it invades wetland and crowds out native vegetation.
3. Pampas grass - Dramatic plumes make this a real prize in Connecticut, but in southern Californa it spreads vigorously and catches fire easily.
4. Spotted water hemlock - It looks like Queen Anne's lace, but this carrot relative spreads rapidly in waterways and exudes a toxic sap. In most of the Southwest it's considered a noxious weed.

Footnote: 28 states could lose an official flower or tree to climate change, according to the National Wildlife Federation.