Put the Dog in the Basket

As I scream at the television, hoping that the Air Force helicopter personnel will hear, "Put the dog in the basket put the dog in the basket please put the dog in the basket please god let the dog go in the basket", the dog finally goes into the basket with the person's arms wrapped around him and goes up.

My mother admitted to me that one of the first things she would pack, should she ever have to evacuate, would be Sammy's ashes. (Thinking about it . . . I probably would too) Mr. Crabbypants insists that he would put everything important in a plastic bag and bury it in the backyard. This is why we don't let them live in areas with hurricanes. The black outs and ice storms are enough . . . Mr. CP keeps breaking bones in the ice storms because he goes out to get the paper.

My brother however does live with the hurricanes . . . with his girlfriend, six cats, two dogs and evidently two tanks of fish. He is a small business owner and often stays in spite of evacuation orders. He stays partially to keep an eye on the store and potentially to make some money when everything else is closed but often he stays because of the pets (the kids, as we call them). You cannot take your pets with you to a shelter. Since every one of this animals is a rescue (except for the fish . . . I suppose he rescued them from the store), J would never leave them to fend for themselves in a hurricane. Often they go to his girlfriend M's parent's house, who are saints for taking in the zoo, but her parents also live in the Miami area so in a catagory 4 or 5 it is not far enough. My brother would be one of the people standing on his balcony with his cats, dogs and fish in little plastic bags. (though since he lives on Miami Beach, I suppose the surrounding water would be ocean . . . so he could let the fish go) But looking at the pictures of Gulfport, MS, there probably wouldn't be a balcony to stand on.

The news is now saying that the dog didn't even belong to the two men who were just rescued off the roof . . . I wondered why they weren't holding the dog . . .

Have to turn off the television. Have to get the NHS people to run a blood drive. Have to talk to the people at school about having kids donate. Have to get a group to donate their Christmas break to Habitat for Humanity.

I was so pissed at WJR on Monday morning for suggesting that other countries should come and help "us" with the situation. We are the richest country in the world, I thought, certainly we can handle this. I was wrong. Let's hope that our government comes to it's senses . . . take the aid, get more organized, communicate better. And put the dogs in the basket . . . and the cats too.