United in Joy

I normally draw my picture for my blog but I am now REALLY sick, and should be in bed so am taking the easy way out and just using photos from my day at the Carolina Dog Rescue Group picnic yesterday. I should not have gone to the picnic, sick as I was, but how could I not? Carolina Dogs and their families were gathering from all over the country at Asheville for the first annual Carolina Dog Rescue Group Picnic. How could I not be there?

So Asherel dressed our own dear Carolina Dog Honeybun in her finest Scarlet O'Hara dress and I loaded the car with coughdrops and tissues and emergency medivac kits, and off we went. It was a stunning drive, and the park where the picnic was being held was right on the banks of the rushing Broad River. Honeybun, resplendent in her Scarlet O'Hara dress got to meet 40 dogs that looked just like her. She was very well behaved, largely because there was a lot of yummy food nearby.



The highlight of the picnic was the Dingo wedding. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with this breed, they are also called American Dingoes, Swamp Dogs, or "yaller dogs". ) I don't know how it was decided upon that those particular two dingoes were to be hitched in matrimony, but since Honeybun was already wearing a dress, she was asked to be a bridesmaid. An actual boat captain was performing the ceremony.




Now I know what some of you are thinking. You are thinking our government is about to shut down, terrorists have taken to the malls, and insurance premiums are going to triple in a couple of days as our country slouches into socialism....why are we doing this silly gathering of dogs with dresses and wedding gowns and dog tuxedos?

I noticed as the wedding procession moved through the park, many people stopped what they were doing. I saw little families gather on nearby park benches, pointing and smiling. I saw many little children laughing and hugging their mothers with delight. I saw every Carolina Dog owner taking pictures while the dogs swirled happily together. It was a whole park gathered together in a moment of innocent, whimsical joy in what is increasingly a tumultuous world. When this particular group isn't gathering for a picnic, they are dedicating time, energy, and money to rescue dogs destined for euthanization. They see horrific and sobering examples of human atrocity towards innocent animals on a daily basis. They take God's admonition to "care for the animals of the earth" seriously.

The groom lay down for the wedding. When his "best man" encouraged him to stand up for his bride, he growled. After the ceremony, when the happy couple stood together for pictures, the bride growled at her mate. So much for conjugal harmony and peace.

I was feeling really sick by then, and when I got home, realized maybe it was more than just a cold. Maybe it was the flu. I shouldn't have gone, but I was still glad I had. Memories of the day kept me chuckling in the night despite my chills and nausea.

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:3, 9, 10 NIV)



-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org
http://www.amazon.com/Vicky-Kaseorg/e/B006XJ2DWU