Texasgal2009 sent me some photos from a book commemorating the rescue dogs that worked Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11.
During the chaos of the 9/11 attacks, where almost 3,000 people died, nearly 100 loyal search and rescue dogs and their brave owners scoured Ground Zero for survivors.
Now, ten years on, just twelve of these heroic canines survive, and they have been commemorated in a touching series of portraits entitled Retrieved , by photographer Charlotte Dumas.
Tuff
Bretagne
Bretagne and handler in 2001
Guinness
Hoke
Kaiser
Merlyn
Moxie
Red
Tara
Abigail
View_From_Here sent me this touching video about a guide dog and his owner. Both were inside the North Tower when the plane hit.
These beautiful creatures don't know anything about terrorism and don't understand the horror people can inflict on each other.
I don't understand it either and wish it had never become part of our lives.
In 1987, southern England was not prepared for a storm that devastated a large area.
In the early hours of 16 October 1987, winds reaching 122mph ripped across the south-eastern corner of England, taking the sleeping nation by surprise.
As dawn broke, 18 people had lost their lives and 15 million trees had been uprooted.
We were awaken by a terrifying crashing noise. All the ridge tiles from our roof had landed on our car!
I had a driving lesson on that day (in a different car, off course) and I learned to do 3-point turns very well. There were fallen trees all over the place and we couldn't get very far before finding roads completely blocked.
It's easy to remember that event with some humour so many years on, especially as the forecaster in question decided to deny that he ever reassured the public that there was no hurricane, but it was very frightening and distressing at the time. That afternoon I came across a car completely flattened by a large tree and later found out that the passenger had lost his life. He was an old actor who lived in Brinsworth House, a nursing home for people in the entertainment industry. His wife was dropping him back at the home when the tree fell. Incredibly enough, she survived.
These days, thanks to sophisticated new technology, the weather can be predicted much more accurately than in 1987 and people can take precautions.
I hope Irene loses her oomph and that people on the East Coast will stay safe and won't suffer too much damage from this storm. You are better prepared to deal with it as the authorities, from the President to mayors to specialized agencies, are working on keeping people safe.
1. If you leave, put all of the food in your freezer and fridge into
“contractor” garbage bags. If you lose power, you can throw it out
when you get back and save yourself from the stench of having to clean
out the fridge, and it can also ruin your fridge. If you don’t lose
power, you can just pull it out of the bags and all is normal.
2. If you have an answering machine and a land line, make sure it is on
so you can check to see if you have power or not while out of town.
3. If you stay, make your own ice by freezing full water bottles. Keep
them in an ice chest so they can keep other items cold. Save your
cubes for your cocktails. When power goes out, ice is like gold.
After the ice melts, you have more drinking water in case the water
systems is knocked out.
4. Also, place as much as you can in your freezer.
It will help the freezer stay colder, longer. You will
be eating the food in it in the days that follow. Place things that
you go to often in your ice chest. Try to open the doors to the fridge
as little as possible. Your fridge will keep things cold for about two
days.
5. And lastly, if you are going to leave, leave now and
take the mandatory vacation. Go far if you can. Don’t go 90 miles away
so that you lose power in your hotel room with sealed windows.
Well my friends, my poor old computer is now completely dead, gone, kaput.
What my friend Hilary didn't relay to Trigmund Freud in full was the worst part of it: My connection to the internet is kaput as well. The new laptop arrived yesterday (via Hilary), but before I could transfer all my photos, including "The Tongue" folder, there was an almighty clap of thunder right above my head, which killed the old PC, my modem, the phone and our satellite dish.
I'm at our local bar, Cafe de Paris, where our good friend Regis kindly let me use their connection.
It may be a while before things go back to normal. Here in rural France, the shops are shut on Mondays, so I can't go to the SFR shop to pick up a new box to re-establish my connection to the internet until Tuesday. C'est la vie...
As I don't have any photos saved on this computer, I'll borrow one from a link Sleuth sent me.
I forwarded the email to Pallottine and as a result, Tommy will be celebrated by his peers in a memorial service to be held tomorrow, as part of a reunion taking place from today until May 15 in Branson, MO.
We would like to celebrate Tommy as well. Pallottine sent me this photo of young Tommy:
Let's have thoughts for Tommy tomorrow morning, to coincide with the memorial service.
Today is a special day for one of our valued readers, our very own mrsgunka!
Amy baked and decorated a splendid cake and, as mrsgunka loves senior citizens jokes, I selected a few, to bring a smile to her face:
As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang.Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Herman, I justheard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on 280. Please becareful!"
"Hell," said Herman, "It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!"
***
Three ladies were discussing the travails of getting older. One said,"Sometimes I catch myself with a jar of mayonnaise in my hand, whilestanding in front of the refrigerator, and I can't remember whether I needto put it away, or start making a sandwich."
The second lady chimed in with, "Yes, sometimes I find myself on the landingof the stairs and can't remember whether I was on my way up or on my waydown." The third one responded, " Well, ladies, I'm glad I don't have that problem.Knock on wood," as she rapped her knuckles on the table, and then said,"That must be the door, I'll get it!"
***
God, grant me the Senility To forget the people I never liked anyway, The good fortune To run into the ones I do, And the eyesight To tell the difference.
As it is your birthday, I brought the eaglecam as well:
I would like to look at Japan in a different light today. This ancient country, with its history and traditions, has captured our imagination for centuries. It's a country of contrasts, where the modern mingles with the ancient. We mourn the great losses Japan has suffered in the past few days. There is much to mourn, but there's much to celebrate. The achievements of these extraordinarily resourceful and resilient people should give us all hope for the future. Japan will face many struggles in recovering from the effects of the earthquake. It's a long road ahead and they will face the journey with the same resolve and determination that gave the world so much.
Old and contemporary art live well together.
Art invades the kitchen.
And the table.
And the living room.
Origami goes from very simple to extremely sophisticated.
The simplicity of the Japanese approach to flowers, trees and gardens.
Japanese contrasts.
The Japanese traditions and arts inspired many in the past and still do to this day.
Japan influenced children's popular culture all over the world:
There is much, much more to be celebrated about Japan's cultural, technological and other achievements. Japan will rebuild, they have all it takes to reemerge from the ashes.
Japan also gave us a now too well known word: Tsunami.
UPDATE
Mrsgunka sent me an important e-mail regarding relief efforts for the victims on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan:
As Japan struggles to overcome a disastrous string of events -- including a possible nuclear catastrophe -- millions of us have sought to help, often by donating money to urgent relief efforts.
But if you donate via text message, your donations may take up to 90 days to reach aid organizations that need the money as soon as possible.
Even though they're getting large amounts of free media attention for their text-to-donate programs, companies like AT&T and Verizon have chosen not to release the donation money right away. Many customers assume that they're sending funds straight to disaster zones in the crucial days after the earthquake, but donations are transferred after the end of your next billing cycle, a process that can take up to three months.
Masaya Uchino, a law student in San Francisco with family in Japan, started a petition on Change.org to demand that AT&T, Verizon, and other major phone service providers stop delaying much needed donations from reaching organizations doing relief work in Japan. Please add your name to the petition now: Change.org petition
If you want to donate immediately to relief efforts, join the Change.org staff in contributing to one or more of these great organizations:
