Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

People are complicated. Love is not.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Accountability, motherfuckers.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

The revolution will be supervised.

In my day, never was longer.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

The willow is too close to the house.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The words do not have to be perfect.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Make The World A Better Place / Acts of Kindness: A Whole Lot Of Kindness

Acts of Kindness: A Whole Lot Of Kindness

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It has been a helluva end to 2022. My dad is in the hospital with pneumonia, we got a foot of heavy, wet snow (people, it’s Colorado, our snow is dry champagne powder unless it’s spring) instead of the 1-2 inches predicted and Chewy has lost my order. So countdown to 3 VERY hungry Great Danes. I’ll have to brave the roads later today to get them some food.

When you read that, realize it’s the first issue that is making all the others seem insurmountable. When he’s home, everything else will be manageable.

Somehow yesterday, when I was setting the DVR to record the Kennedy Center Honors, I saw this:

And was able to record it as well. I decided I needed to watch at least one of the segments before bed to de-stress. I watched them all, grabbing the box of tissues during the first commercial break.

Here is the full episode. I can’t think of a better 45 minutes you could spend.  The Gift Full Espisode  Steve Hartman is a national treasure

Just a little fun:

Anne Laurie’s wonderful post about rescue kitties this morning reminded me to update you on Frank:

How it started (a text from my friends saying, we’re looking for a home for him and me thinking, oh, sweeties, he’s  found his home):

Acts of Kindness: Our Ukrainian Friends

He’s about five weeks old here

And here he is now. I was able to spend Christmas day snuggling him. The photo does not do justice to his tail. He’s basically a huge tail with a cat attached. I have never seen such a huge, fluffy tail on any cat before:

Acts of Kindness: A Whole Lot Of Kindness

That should be enough kindness to hold you until I have time to start posting regularly again.

Be kind…especially to yourself.

Reader Interactions

44Comments

  6. 6.

    Alison Rose

    My local rescue org here in Northern California posted this yesterday:

    Last month Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue received a bonded pair of VERY pregnant sisters. Due at any moment, their owners moved and sadly left them behind. After arriving to their RMFR foster home together, both mamas gave birth to a total of 9 beautiful babies who are now 4 weeks old!

    Unfortunately, on Friday one of the kittens suddenly presented with severe neurological symptoms (inability balance or walk, sudden blindness, not reactive to light/sound etc.). Two days later his brother began presenting with the same symptoms and a 3rd littermate began to show signs too. GoGo and Chuckles rapidly began to decline and were rushed to the ER. Upon arrival, their temperature was so low the thermometer couldn’t even read it (below 90°!), their glucose and lactate was dangerously high and neither kitten was responsive; meaning their bodies were shutting down. Due to their tiny bodies and critical condition, it was impossible to get enough blood to run necessary tests to determine what was happening.

    The doctors quickly jumped into action and began working together to come up with some sort of plan to give these babies a fighting chance and to keep the remaining 7 kittens safe. They came to the conclusion that their symptoms align with Toxoplasmosis (a nasty parasite). It is suspected that the parasite passed through the placenta and into the kittens when the Mamas were abandoned and left with nothing at the end of their pregnancy.

    So if anyone wants to kick a few bucks their way, that would definitely be kind :)

  7. 7.

    mrmoshpotato

    Hoping for a full recovery for your dad.  And hopefully that missing Chewy order shows up, even after you’ve braved the roads to get more dog food.

  8. 8.

    RaflW

    The snow up at Abasin today was a heavy, not deep winter snow. Of course any day snowboarding (or skiing) is a good day, but not what we were expecting.

    I’m trying not to focus on the local Silverthorne Subie dealership service dept. not seeming to be able to find it’s own @ss with both hands. But my reserve of patience is thimble-small these days, alas.

  9. 9.

    sab

    That doggie daycare bus is adorable. My late lamented german shepherd would have loved to have had doggie daycare like that.

    My current pitbull has issues with other dogs. My german shepherd viewed all other dogs as potential recruits to her pack.

  15. 15.

    SpaceUnit

    Sorry about your father.  Hope he’ll be okay.

    We got about 8 or nine inches of beautiful postcard-quality snow in my part of Colorado.  Wish we’d gotten it on Christmas Eve.  It’s all melting now.  Overnight it will freeze and the streets in my very steep neighborhood are going to be like a game of chutes and ladders tomorrow.  Glad I don’t have to go anywhere.

  16. 16.

    NutmegAgain

    Seems to me that many people in this community already know the truth of my observation (but what’s the point of being and old if I can’t say it anyway?)

    You get back so much more from giving to a being who needs help than it costs you–  whatever the currency (cash money, time, attention, etc.) I’m currently fostering a great big pile of legs, fur and love, a Newfie boy who was rescued from a life in a NY puppy mill as a breeder. Five years in a cage and he’s still the sweetest hunk of dog love–grateful for everything, and wants to learn so much. I’m not looking for applause, just restating with the present example. The reward is so much in the giving

  17. 17.

    Miss Bianca

    @SpaceUnit: Damn, we’ve gotten *nothing* up here in my part of the central mountains – a dusting of less than an inch last night. I guess that’s set to change within the next few days, tho.

  18. 18.

    mrmoshpotato

    @SpaceUnit:

    Overnight it will freeze and the streets in my very steep neighborhood are going to be like a game of chutes and ladders tomorrow. 

    Sorry.  Sounds like Trouble.

  22. 22.

    NutmegAgain

    Should have added–TaMara, I hope your dad recovers swiftly–sending good thoughts to all.

    And of course, as to the dreaded Out-Of-Dogfood sitch: I sympathize. I ended up ordering 2-16 lb bags instead of taking the one bigger one from the rescue. One, from Chewy came right away; the other from Amazon, was delayed 5 days. I always keep chicken in the freezer, and have plenty of rice for canine dietary emergencies, but I doubt I need to tell you that!

  24. 24.

    SpaceUnit

    @mrmoshpotato:

    It will be interesting.  I went out for a walk and there’s only one dude in a bobcat attempting to clear the roads.  That’s not going to do the trick.

  27. 27.

    Bupalos

    I had hopes that this cold snap–while odd and something I don’t remember to this degree in my 45 years in northeast Ohio (-4 Christmas eve)– would be a kind of refresher amidst global warming. But the forecast for Tuesday is over 60. Which is also something that also feels like a unique outlier for early Jan.

    We had 3.5 inches of ice formation on the pond BEFORE CHRISTMAS that will be totally gone and back to a totally liquid pond by Jan 3. I’m abundantly sure that hasn’t happened in the last 50 years and I doubt it’s happened in the last 1000.

    Stop burning carbon fuels people

    You. I’m looking at YOU. Figure out how to stop burning gas and coal and oil to fuel your lifestyle.

  28. 28.

    Pauline

    Best wishes for your dad’s speedy recovery! Down here in Denver we had rain before it turned to snow, so I think that definitely contributed to it being more like a heavy spring snow. It definitely was an unwelcome surprise when I got up this morning and saw all the shoveling that awaited me.

  29. 29.

    Kelly

    Our power is back on!!!

    In other news we took a couple of grandchildren for a walk down along the river. Ten year old grandson wore my rubber boots. Only needed one extra pair of socks. Seems like I held him tuck in in one arm just the other day.

  31. 31.

    Josie

    @Kelly: ​
     I totally know the feeling. The seven year old is growing so fast. I can clearly remember sleeping with her on my chest so that her Mom could get a few extra hours of sleep one night.

  33. 33.

    Chris T.

    We got almost a foot of snow in the PNW up near the Canadian border in the week before Christmas, but fortunately it was light fluffy powdery stuff. Still, shoveling light powdery stuff gets awfully heavy when it’s that deep.

    Later, we got freezing rain, as did Seattle, 100 miles to the south. That was much worse, but after just staying home and hibernating for a few days, the warm rains came on the 24th and 25th and the ice melted away.

    The weather-mess affected all kinds of mail and package delivery. I finally got my box of kitty foods and litter yesterday. The boxes clearly went through The Wars, but aside from having to repack all the Fancy Feast into the previous box since the new one split open (and the cans got dented) everything survived. The cats continue to be well fed and happy…

  34. 34.

    DarbysMom

    Thanks for the ‘kindness’ video, TaMara.  A good reminder that there are still a lot of good people out there.

  36. 36.

    Skepticat

    This move to a new house has been exhausting, but there’s progress. We had a very light dusting of snow last night, and this morning I noticed what seem to be a few small kitty footprints on my small side porch. I haven’t met any of my neighbors, and I think, having seen their properties,  I’ll continue to avoid them. However, I do hope the prints were left by a housed cat that goes outdoors rather than a stray. My three fabulous felines already are about all I can handle, if only because I hope we’ll be back to changing countries twice a year by next fall. If it is a stray, a good friend whose beloved cat recently crossed the rainbow bridge might be an option. Suggestions for whether I should put out food or just ignore the issue are welcome.

  38. 38.

    VOR

    My Congressperson posted on Facebook that there are chunks of the district, suburban areas, where residents have not received USPS delivery for a couple weeks. I have no idea how widespread this problem may be.

  41. 41.

    kalakal

    This is a guy who runs an animal sanctuary investigating the ‘mysterious’ thefts of food from the store shed. Here he is confronting the culprit. It’s very, very funny, it’s a great example of interaction between friends, and how kindness can be it’s own reward.

    “You can’t buy me love”

    https://youtu.be/ZZnqLi0rSQg

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