There they were. Those three little dots endlessly rising and falling in a wave.
Click.
Do you know anyone who would foster for a couple of weeks? There are dogs arriving from Afghanistan in desperate need of decompression homes. The dogs need to come down from that gruelling travel before they start adopting them out. If you can think of anyone who would be willing…
And then came the pictures.
So here we are, two days out, signing contracts and sewing dog bed covers, pulling out the old dog bowls, baking vegan dog biscuits and generally wondering what the heck we are getting ourselves into. Are we ready? We have been hesitant to have dogs back in our world, the memory of cherished hounds still a bit raw. The practical bits of dog care, vets, appropriate food, socialization, stability. All can present some challenges. And the big one, how do you say good bye (because, foster) when that happy home is found?
Well, as usual, the heart has ruled over the grey matter and we are about to enter the world of fostering. With excitement, to be sure, but also with a dollop of anxiety in the mix.
Foster means this will not be a permanent state of affairs but still, as a precautionary measure, all available surfaces will be adorned with sticky notes with the word foster clearly written upon them. It will be like dog sitting for someone who travels with an open-ended airline ticket… sort of.
With so many things running amok in this world, choosing to foster one dog may seem to be as futile as trying to stuff a tornado into a cut glass decanter. There are so many dogs in need, everywhere. And people. And the endangered Jaguarundi could definitely use a leg up. Famine, refugees, homelessness, climate change, atrocities of all kinds.
It’s quite overwhelming really. The scope of it can derail you in the blink of an eye. My only way not to go spinning off in a free fall of despair is to grab hold of one tiny thread and tease it away from the collective mess we seemed to have made in this world. It doesn’t matter one little bit which thread I pick. They all lead to the core, and whichever one I grab, that is the one I need to follow to effect a beneficial and lasting change for whatever is on the other end. One thing I know for sure, there is great strength and fortitude in positive thinking. And it’s a damn sight more fun than being bashed about in the draining and demoralizing world of negativity.
Our dear friend and farm intern showed up with a bag of new dog toys. Another with the loan of a big crate. The sender of the message has been getting dog food donated from various feed shops. The village is pulling together…
These kindnesses have me realizing that being able to do something helpful in this ever increasingly weird world of social unrest, nasty covid, and fragile states of empathy is like a life line for all of us. There is an energy in engaging in compassion. It becomes strong and versatile and fluid. I am using it to buffer the constant bombardment of twisted reasoning, skewed takes on science, the willingness to accept hateful symbols, the speed in which peace can be highjacked. These things constantly beat against the foundations of my being. Small cracks have opened up and tiny tendrils of apathy are creeping through and weaving their way into my thoughts and actions. That old ‘why bother’ bit of nonsense has actually had some air time in the sound track in my head. This is not what I want on an endless loop trailing through my musings and mutterings. So time to chuck that crap out. And fostering is how I intend to start.
That, and reminding myself daily that although I am not fixing all the ills in the world, I can make a positive difference in little ways. You drop any size rock into a pond, there is a resulting ripple. Fact.
When this lands in your inbox, we will be on the final count-down for meeting our new roomie. We don’t know much about her, but we reckon she will make her personality known to us in time. Our hope is that we can offer her the space and the calm to relax into her real self and that the trauma she has experienced will fade into oblivion and she will know nothing but kindness in the future.
I leave you with a picture of two crazy rescues who lived out their lives with us many moons ago. They kind of enjoyed it here. And we certainly enjoyed every moment with them. Even when they ate the couch.
‘Til the next time, kristine
Thanks for your contribution to the world, Kristine! Your foster dog 🐕 will be grateful and I hope it is an enjoyable experience for you!
Lucky lucky dogs to have you two as guardians:)