Hiya.

I was hoping to get a post up today (I suppose this will count as such)... I just haven't had time to devote to writing here since returning to work. I was in a pretty good mood, with some interesting ideas to talk about, until I opened my email this morning to find this message: "Catskill Animal Sanctuary has lost a beloved friend. Dino, our first resident, passed away peacefully in his stall at 11:30 am on Wednesday, August 15, his head in the lap of April H., one of many human friends and caretakers. The tiny pony was in his forties. We will miss him terribly." It has been a year since I volunteered there; prior to that, I'd been volunteering for two. When the knee catastrophe happened, I just couldn't do the work anymore... and, like the idiot I can rather too often be, I let my guilt at not being able to do the work keep me away from visiting, or helping in other ways like doing dishes. I was too bitter at the loss of function to see past it at the time, and now of course I regret it so much. CAS is a place like no other, and I miss it. It fed my heart - the animals and the people. And now I have missed the passing of a dear, sweet friend; it makes me feel sick. You can see a photo of Dino here: http://www.casanctuary.org//cas-permanentresidents.htm What an amazing spirit, and what an incredible organization he landed with. I can't say enough good about either. I need to go back, even if it does mean I'll have my tail between my legs for awhile. My heart goes out to CAS and all of Dino's caretakers. So... yeah. I'm feeling pretty sad. --------------------------------- I won't be posting pictures for awhile - my camera broke while I was in Ohio. Hopefully it will be repaired soon; I really enjoy taking pictures and posting them here. I will sign off with this excerpt from one of my Sri Lanka journals - it made me smile a little: "This rain appears to be determined to stay around for a good, long time...it hasn't abated for over half an hour now. Wow - it's a tad chilly! Isn't this a switch!! I want to go run around outside in it just to be cold. Kelly and I did that last year about this time at Fernandos' (ed. note: that was a host family we lived with until the man lost his marbles, which is quite the tale in itself).... we stood under the water spouts from the roof, stood in the pouring rain with arms and heads flung back - it was a good thing! I'm alone now, though, and am not up to facing the family with sudden, inspired insanity. Lame of me, perhaps, but I'm too tired of this culture to even get into what aberrant behavior would do for me. Seeing as even minute changes in "normal" behavior create a furor, one can hazard one's own guess at what chaos I might wreak by suddenly running amok in the driving rain." Heh. Ah, I remember it well. Ta for now. God bless Dino and the Catskill Animal Sanctuary.