Leo's Blog

The truth is Real Estate sales are up.

The facts and truth is most of them are "short sales". Don't be fooled into thinking the economy is bouncing back. We have a couple of years.

Don't blame the President. It would have been much worse.

Good selling,

Leo

Every stray on the street has a story. Once they were a puppy
nursing at Mommy's belly. They were hugged and loved by
someone. Would that they could all return to those happy
times.

Just an Old Stray

His body was thin when they brought him in.
Just an old stray found dead yesterday.
I looked at his face, at peace in God's grace.
And thought of the joy, he'd brought a young boy.

He slept on a bed, next to the boy's head.
And wagged his long tail, each morn without fail.
Together they ran through the wet sand.
They both wore a smile. And played all the while.

The boy was soon grown. And then he left home.
I promised the lad that I would be glad
To care for his friend, right up to the end.
I'd see to his needs. Hold true to our creed.

But then came the news that made our lives blue.
Our son had just died. He'd stopped a cruel tide
Of men who wished harm to those in our arms.
No more would I feel, nor would my heart heal.

I looked at his friend, felt pain to no end.
So I took a ride with him at my side.
I told him to wait beside a fine gate.
A family so fair would see to his care.

I drove on back home. But this time alone.
So sure that he would find love to be.
The houses were fine, much finer than mine.
They could afford, his room and his board.

At work just today, a call came my way.
A stray had been found, on snow-covered ground.
They thought I might know. Would I please go.
And stop by the scene for what I could glean.

There found on a street, with ripped, bloody feet.
Searching for home, he died there alone.
Through tears I could see. He was searching for me.
Just an old stray found dead yesterday.

Riki & Herb
November 9, 2009
Spokane, WA

Click here: Welcome to Papillon 911 Rescue and Adoption, Inc.

I belong to a Papillon rescue organization called Pap911. http://www.pap911rescue.org/ At this time there are over 200 members. Herb is one of them. He is very talented and can express what dogs go through when they are in a "puppy mill" and what they go through when they get out. Here is one of the many poems Herb has shared.

Herb's intro and poem:

In my last PTSD class, we were discussing relaxation and
being in the moment. I was asked what I do to let go of
my anxieties and why. Of course, I described how I work
with the dogs, how they remind me so much of myself,
and how they encourage me to keep on. Maybe my success
is because my understanding is not by imagining, but
rather by having experienced what they are working through
and how difficult that work really is. Thus, I have
infinite patience and continue to offer them opportunities
to trust.

In that vein, I offer this ditty that describes my
picture of their life before rescue. Be warned that I
read it to Carol and she hugged Pande and started
to cry.

The Prisoner

Each story here is different from the one before.
But pain has no ending when wire is your floor.
The gruel they call your food is thin, whenever it is brought.
The water here is filthy, and it's always hot.

Feces from above you, always mat your hair.
And the people that you meet, not one will ever care.
The world you know is inches, never measured in long miles.
And yet they wonder why it is that you never smile.

You can hear, running free, someone beyond these walls.
While roaches falling on your head, make your body crawl.
You know that there's a world out there, one you'll never see.
Through the stench you can smell things that must be free.

You may dream of freedom, though you know it won't come true.
Locked inside a little cage is the only life for you.
You'll spend your life all alone, amidst a thousand cries.
And all of them, just like you, each night will pray to die.

But, tonight I will be happy, for soon I welcome death.
Grieve not for me when you see I've taken my last breath.
Grieve instead for the young, with a future yet to live.
Pray for the ones new to a cage, if freedom you cannot give.

Riki & Herb
November 3, 2009