Welcome to my World

Welcome to the domain different--to paraphrase from New Mexico's capital city of Santa Fe which bills itself "The City Different." Perhaps this space is not completely unique but my world shapes what I write as well as many other facets of my life. The four Ds figure prominently but there are many other things as well. Here you will learn what makes me tick, what thrills and inspires me, experiences that impact my life and many other antidotes, vignettes and journal notes that set the paradigm for Dierdre O'Dare and her alter ego Gwynn Morgan and the fiction and poetry they write. I sell nothing here--just share with friends and others who may wander in. There will be pictures, poems, observations, rants on occasion and sometimes even jokes. Welcome to our world!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Dogs, Wildfires and Train Wrecks

First I want to share the rest of the story on Little Rojo! Tuesday morning Animal Control called as someone had come in looking for a dog matching his description. My heart sank but I talked to the lady and told her how to get here. My brother and I were not impressed with her--and the dog did not respond to her at all! Turns out she was a neighbor supposedly caring for the dog for sick friends and he had escaped Thursday night. (But she didn't go to Animal Control until Tuesday??) When we said we would need to be reimbursed for the vet stuff we had done on Monday she got a little huffy and said she'd send a relative over to get him--and I guess pay us. We were disturbed and dreading some possible confrontation. But fear not, the Doggie Deity was still in charge. Mid afternoon an older couple drove up. The man was a brother of the old owner. He told us both the brother and his live-in lady friend were alcoholics and the dog had often been neglected but not abused (thus his matted mess of a coat!) and that they were both very ill now and not likely to be able to live at home for a long time if ever. He and his wife could not take the dog and were mainly concerned he had a good home. Charlie, my brother, showed him the papers from the vet and he nodded, smiling. "Don't worry. He is your dog now. We're just happy someone is going to love and care for him."  It was almost a let down but we were so relieved! So now he has a pretty blue collar and his rabies and city tags jingle as he trots around and our K9 kids number four. Here is another picture I took of him Tuesday evening.

The next topic is not so happy. I am sure if you watch the news you have heard about the terrible wildfire raging on the western side of Colorado Springs. I am shocked and horrified but the Springs has been a disaster waiting to happen  for a long time. Way too many costly homes built high on the wooded slopes in very steep terrain, no clearing of brush and trees and overgrowth that has not seen fire for many years. I still hurt though as I read the evacuations from areas I know and that were very beautiful etc. I lived at Falcon east of town from November 1973 to August 1977 and then in the north central part of the city from April 2009 until October 2011 so I am familiar with the region. I weep now for those being driven from their homes, those who have already lost all, and the weary firefighters battling this hungry, dangerous and unpredictable dragon that consumes all in its path. I pray the summer rains start soon and are plentiful but gentle over the burn-scarred areas where the next disaster will be flash floods. Ruidoso, NM is bracing for this and people downstream along the Gila Wilderness, especially the western side. This is a year of tragedy.

And yet another and different tragedy as well. I am a life long rail-fan and both grandfathers were railroaders as was my brother. He was out where the wheel meets the steel for a number of years in the maintenance side and then a union official representing those workers. At one time he or at least his men would have been over in the Oklahoma panhandle clearing up the mess left by the head-on crash of two freight trains a few days ago. Three crewmen lost their lives, burned in the crumpled remains of the locomotives at the point of impact. Someone or maybe more than one really messed up there. A dispatcher may have erred and either a signal malfunctioned or was not seen so that two trains, going at highway speeds met and crashed. It is even worse than a highway disaster because no evasive action is possible--the train must stay on the track until it hits an immovable object and then things go everywhere and instead of the hundreds of pounds a semi truck may be carrying, it is hundreds of tons behind the locomotives... The carnage is almost beyond imagination. The fire was fierce and the debris a mountain. I sympathize with the families of the dead crew members and the first responders who had to deal with the fire and horror and now the railroad employees who have to get the tracks clear so the trains can run again. Train traffic through here--Alamogordo--has been down to almost none since that wreck on Sunday as this line goes on to the crash location. That shows how serious it was. Although not a transcontinental main line, the route through here is normally busy with 15-25 or more trains a day. Not one west/south bound (having come through the wreck zone) and only a few the other way.

Somber things, and not fun to ponder but then life is pretty serious these days for most of us. I promise a lighter post next time but just had to comment on the events in the recent news, especially those that have caught my attention. I will not add politics to the mix; no "D" there and you really do not want to get me started!! All I can say is please do vote in November, whatever your persuasion may be, because our lives will be impacted by the outcome as they are with each major election.

2 comments:

  1. Deirdre,

    I had a feeling you'd end up keeping Rojito. Glad he at least got a happy ending. Such a shame about the fire and the train crash though.

    Enjoy your new pup. :)

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  2. WOO-HOOOO !!!! I am wiping tears. That little darling was meant to be yours. He needs you and you need him. This is beautiful.

    (terrible about the others, of course...)

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