Annual Treat Visit

Hello Friends.

Yep it is that time of year for me.

It's time for me to visit my Vet Guy, Dr. Eddie.  I don't mind coming here.  They give me treats and good ear scratches.

I'm a good boy and keep my MOM amused in the exam room.

"Hey MOM why do Bees have sticky hair?"

"I don't know Goosie, why?"

"Because they use honeycombs."

Hahhahhahhaha  "Hey MOM did ya hear the one about the squirrels in the church?"

"Oh wait, Dr. Eddie is here.  I sure hope he knows I am here for a yummy treat."

He listened to my insides, and checked my muscle tone, looked at my teeth and eyes.  It was a complete check over and I am happy to say that everything is A-OK.  He says I am as fit as a healthy 5 or 6 year old.  Not bad for a Goose who is over 13 years old.  "OK Dr. Eddie where is the treat?  That is really why I am here."

WHAT?!  Oh I had to get a shot in the butt.  No worries, I was due for that shot.  I didn't even feel it.  Now where is that treat?

What do you mean I am due for that squirty stuff up my nose?!  Fine, fine, I don't like the squirty stuff but I was brave and took it like a big dog.  "NOW, how about that treat?"

"Oh for goodness sake,  now what?"

"It's your snake shot.  It's time for you to get it Gooie."

"Oh right.  OK OK I have had my shots updated, and the squirty stuff up my nose and the added bonus of my annual snake shot.  SO, now do I get what I came for?"

"Oh Yea!!!!!  You bet I'll catch this.  After all, the treat is why I came here."

I want to take a moment to bark at ya about the snake shot.  Why do I get one you may ask.  MOM and I do a lot of hiking and walking in areas where snakes live.  We have even had a few snakes in our yard, and one time for sure it was a rattlesnake.  About 8,000 people get bitten by venomous snakes in the US every year.  It is estimated that 150,000 dogs and cats get bitten.  Snake bites are 25 times more fatal to dogs than humans.  Yes the snake vaccine is safe.  Been through extensive test.   The snake vaccine delays the effects and reduce the severity of snake bites and helps dogs survive and recover more quickly.  This vaccine give my MOM more time to get me to the vet or hospital if I were to be bitten.  My friend Dougal was bitten last summer and because he had the vaccine the doctor said he survived.  I will tell you this vaccine will not protect you from the Mojave Rattlesnake, Coral Snake, or Cottonmouth.  The vaccine last a year.  MOM and I believe that  more dogs should have the vaccine.  Snakes are not just in the mountains.  In fact in the area I live in they are in places you would not think.  That is especially true this year because it is so hot and it is predicted to be a very hot season.  So those sneaky snakes are looking for a cooler place to be and are looking for water.  This vaccine also gives my MOM peace of mind in that she is doing what she can to protect me (aside from wrapping me in bubble wrap and never letting me outside).

Blessings,

Goose

Get Wet, Stay Wet

Hello Friends.

You know all people and creatures crave closeness to water.  That's why most of the earth's population hugs the shorelines of its continents.  Maybe it's because we are made almost entirely of water.  Maybe it is because we started our life in water, living in it and breathing it before our birth.  Maybe it is because almost none of us get the recommended daily dose of water we need to be optimally hydrated, so that whether we recognize it or not, our bodies are constantly thirsty.

Living water comes freely and fully from God.  Living water comes untouched by human contact.  But just because this living water is offered freely to us doesn't mean that it wasn't obtained at a price. The true price was paid by Christ on the cross to redeem humanity and creation.  So if the gift of Christ is to offer us living water; if the redeemed community of faith is always standing ankle deep in living water: why are we so parched?

But God wants us wet.  In the first creation, God as the Master Potter could not work with the earth, the dirt, until it was wet.  Dirt and water make mud, or clay, and you and I are clumps of clay that the Divine Potter scooped out of the ground and breathed into these beautiful mud pies, called us, the breath of God.  For God to continue to mold us and shape us, our clay must be moist.  What keeps your clay moist?  What's your moisturizer?  If your clay hardens, and loses its wetness, your soul gets hard, brittle and bitter.

We are called to be "wet and wild."  We are to be dunked, deluged, dripping with the living water we have received.  The world should be able to trace our tracks in its midst by following our sloppy, wet footprints.  God wants us wringing wet so that we have plenty of living water for God to mold and make us with and to offer the next generations.

There are some tiny little invertebrates that are known as tardigrades, or "water bears." Have you heard of them? They're called "water bears" since under a microscope they look a bit like miniscule gummy bears. They live in small ponds and in the moist pockets of mosses and lichens. When their environment changes, when the water they depend upon begins to evaporate, tardigrades have the ability to lose up to 95% of their body water. They can survive for decades in this dehydrated, inactive state, simply waiting for the next big gully-washer to restore their liquid environment and re-animate their existence.

I hate to tell you this, but we were not created water bears.  Living water cannot be put on the shelf and saved forever.  Living water must be poured out continually in order to keep the stream of the Spirit alive from one generation to the next.  Just because you watered your garden last year doesn't mean you don’t have to water it this year.

Living water is not a flood that wipes out everything else in life. True living water is always supplied in just the right amounts.  When the perfect level of living water is flowing through our lives there is no limit to what we can grow, to what we can accomplish.  When the living water flows, "all things are possible."

Two hours outside of the tiny community of La Macarena, Columbia, there is a remote river known as Cano Cristales.  Like most rivers of the world, the water flow of Cano Cristales is tied to the seasons.  In the wet, rainy season, the river flows deep and has strong currents.  It is clear and cool.  During the dry season the water levels drop, the water temperatures rise, pools become puddles, strong rapids become small rivulets.

But for a small window of time, when the water levels are just right, when the temperatures are just right, when the amount of sunlight is just right, the Cano Cristales is transformed into the most colorful river in the world.  During those few short weeks the waters of this little known river are so reborn that it is known as "the river that ran away to paradise."  Don't believe me? The previous and following photos are of the Cano Cristales.  (my MOM did not take these.  Got them off the interwebs)

Natural pools and waterfalls blaze with the colors of the living plants. Nothing could more beautifully illustrate "living water."

Nothing, that is, unless it is the chicken casserole you take to the shut-in neighbor.  Nothing, that is, unless it is the ride home you give to kids whose parents can’t be bothered.  Nothing, that is, unless it is volunteering to clean up the huge mess "coffee time" makes of the church vestibule every week.  Nothing that is, unless it is sitting by the side of someone who is ill.  Nothing that is, unless it is walking dogs at a shelter and rubbing their bellies.

Living water must be continually poured out into the church, into the community, into our homes, into our world.  Unless living water is poured out, it goes stagnant and stale.

Water is powerful.  What was the unstoppable power behind the creation of those huge canyons in the beautiful "Grand Canyon?"  That power was water.  Whether gently flowing, torrential floods, unyielding torrents, water that moves and the movements of water have changed and charted our world.

Living water will do the same, if we give it a place to reside.  Let the power flow my Friends.  Let yourself get wet.  God’s new creation is water based.  And we are God’s new creation . . . born of water and the Spirit.  Keep wet my Friends.

Blessings,

Goose

HOT DOG

Hello Friends.

Hot Hot Hot, I am a Hot Dog!  On Friday it was 106 degrees!  No joke.  That makes for Fried Goose.  Tasty for dinner maybe, but not fun for this Goose.  

So I hope to be doing a lot of this this weekend.

And this.

Oh and this.

This

And this.

Can't forget to do this.

On Friday MOM and I had a visitor to our house.  He walked in, I was so excited to see him, it had been a little while since he had been to our house.  His dog and I are buddies.  Then Mr. Mark said, "Dang it's hot in here."  To which my MOM said, "Is it?"  Is she crazy?!!!  Of course it was.  It was 106 outside and 91 in our house.  Then my friend said, "Why don't you turn on the air conditioner? "  That's when I had to remind him that we do not have air conditioning, we don't even have a swamp cooler (those who live in the dry west will know what that is), just a little fan.  MOM says you get use to it.  My friends I do not think you get use to 106 degrees, well unless you reside in Hell. Anyway my friend left (can't say I blame him).  But 30 minutes later he returned, and oh dog you will not believe what he carried in.  A small air conditioning unit that he put in our living room window!!!  Tears of joy weld up in my eyes I tell you.  "Can't have the two of you melting away" he said.  THANK YOU!  

I am one Cool Goose now.  Butt still I plan on doing some more of this this weekend....

Stay cool my friends.

Blessings,

Goose

Shady Thursday

Hello Friends.

Today I am joining my friends RANGER and FRANKIE and ERNIE for "wear your Sunglasses Day".  

 You know I gotta get in on this.  

Yea I know, go ahead and say it...

Blessings,

Goose

A Few Things That Start With "B"

Hello Friends.

Last night as MOM and I sat on the patio watching the sun go down.  

Well I was watching the sun go down, MOM looked up every so often from her work.  It was then I realized right in front of me was at least 5 of my favorite things that begin with the letter "B".  Can you guess what they are?

Have you figured it out yet?

In no particular order:  Backyard, Beer, Birds (they are in the bush behind me), Bare Feet, and Bert.  What, you don't see Bert?

There he is right on the bottle.

"Hey Bert does your Vickie know about this?"

I thought I'd throw this one in.  It's the moon the other night through our tree.  Hey there is another "B" word...BEAUTIFUL.

Blessings,

Goose

A Day with Friends

Hello Friends.

On Friday I was at work with my MOM.  Then she gets up and says "Come on Goosie let's go."  "Go where?"  "We are going to have lunch with Belle."  Woo Hoo did you hear that friends?  I get to go see my gal pal Belle and her little peep "L" and the newest member of their family little Miss "O"!!  LETS GO!

"I'm going to Belle's.  I'm going to Belle's.  I'm going to Belle's.  I'm going to Belle's.  I'm going to Belle's.  I'm going to Belle's."

"Hey MOM do you think you could step on it.  Or would you like me to drive?"

"Turn right at the yellow sign MOM."

"Goose I think I can remember how to get to our friends house."

"Just making sure.  It's been like 87 days or is it 87 weeks since we have been there."

"It hasn't been that long."

"OK but it has been a long while.  Don't miss the turn."

OMG we are here!  And double bonus, our friend Jenni is here too!  

"Jenni!!!!  Little peep "L"!!!!

"Come on MOM let me out.

Belle and I romped and played and played and romped.

It was just a perfect day.  MOM, Jenni and Theresa had a nice salad lunch and talked, and laughed and laughed.  Belle and I played and...

we rested in the shade and got all caught up.

We watched my little buddy "L" practice his golf swing.  He is very good.  I am thinking of signing up to be his caddy.  I am very good at bringing the golf balls back to him.

While Belle took a nice roll in the grass...

I kept my buddy "L" company.  I love this kid.  He loves me.  He must of said my name like 87,000 times while I was there.  We just have the best time together.

And he sure knows how to treat a Goose right.  He gives me and Belle the best treats, salmon.  Yummmm Yummmm.  If my MOM had not stopped him I think he would have given me and Belle the whole bag.  MOM can be a kill joy sometimes.

MOM and I had the bestest of times.  I kept telling MOM on the way home we should NEVER wait that long to be with our friends, never.  It does the soul good to just relax and enjoy the company of good friends.

Blessings,

Goose

Black & White Sunday

Hello Friends.

Into every life some color will fall.

Blessings,

Goose