THE LOST DOGS OF LANGSTON.

Entry 13.

A thing: religion trying to stay relevant in a world that is increasingly becoming...well, itself.

WORLD. A secular, secular world. The thing that it is, itself, the world being a secular thing which is the secular thing that it is being and that it is.

A world finally becoming itself.

Me (us, we, whichever) eating the large piece of cake instead of the small one AND having a glass of milk too because there's an empty space now and Lily Belle doesn't live here anymore. She just doesn't and there's a space.

World, be what you be.

But I will get over it and move on. I always do. And she'll be so much happier in her new home where I'm not run to death and frayed to a frazzle.

And we'll all be so much better and happier with universal health care where you can pay three dollars to get a mammogram and not even have to get a referral or an appointment. And the mammogram machine has WARMERS on it.

WARMERS!!!!!!!

But this is not a political blog. This is a blog about how we should have Dog Church. Dog Church should stay relevant for quite some time because it is about dogs and their care, and dogs are real and they are a part of reality and reality is what mature and intelligent people work with. (Now reality can be CHANGED, it's true, but you have to start where you are and work with what you have, and dogs are what we have and so we should start there and work with them.) Everyone who has adopted one of my dogs can now be a member of Dog Church, if they wish. In fact you are already members in good standing but there are no dues to pay and no committees to join and there's no structure really except for the one you're already following with your dogs. In fact you already kinda have a Dog Church probably, you just might not call it that. It does not require a special kind of building or a fellowship hall or stained glass in the windows or wind chimes that sound like Joan of Arc's bells or a music director either, unless you just already happen to be one of those.

There's that one Catholic priest guy who's trying to get people to adopt dogs during his church services...people were saying "that's taking the focus off the Low-werd" but truly I say unto you, if you have never seen God in the eyes, nay yet, in the entire physical and spiritual BEING of a dog who loves you who's sitting there looking at you in the way that dogs sometimes do, then you are seriously fucked in the head and you need to go back to kinnygarten to learn some damn things that you seriously missed out on learning. Because those things will really serve you, and you need to go back and learn them. Because you seriously missed out.

Okay Gertrude Stein. We get it.

Dog Church. It doesn't have regular meetings, they just kinda crop up at random like say when you are talking with another dog owner about dogs or just whatever. Or when you are checking on a friend and a friend's dog or dogs because you care. These meetings may happen by phone or Skype, or by Zoom or Facebook Live or whatever. They happen when they happen, there's no strict schedule because most people are feeding their dogs or taking their dogs out or bringing their dogs back in or spending some quality time with their dogs or feeding their dogs just a little popcorn in the yard from the individual small packages that are just right for ersatz cocktail hour because you don't drink anymore, in fact you don't smoke anymore either because it was bad for your dog so you quit.

Dog Church. When you have a seriously meaningful conversation with your vet about your dog's health and well-being and it's evident to everyone in the room that you've done your research and your homework and that you actually care enough to look stuff up so you can ask informed questions. Or just that you ask any questions at all because it does mean that you care and yes you should ask questions if you have any.

Dog Church. When you are grooming or feeding or just sitting with or even sleeping with your dog because that's your dog and sitting and sleeping and feeding and grooming are important things to do.

Dog Church. A very elite group of people who adopt dogs from US. Specifically one more, maybe two more of them being the ones that are left to adopt. And hope to god Angelo is here to say NO MORE and to put the stoppage on any others of these beautiful wonderful amazing creatures ever coming here again for me to have to save, because I will do that to the best of my ability but they have got to go elsewhere just from the git-go because I am wore slap out with all these that have been here these past three years. Wore slap OUT. And it wasn't even that many. I mean eight at one time but you can kinda see what was up with all that, I was running myself ragged, 'round and 'round the rugged rock. So if any irresponsible folks are gonna dump their animals out here because they have no resources or whatever, well that's just stupid because there are plenty of places they could take them instead besides dumping them on me. There are more and more no-kill shelters and rescue me dot orgs cropping up every day, stop being so lazy, people, get right with god and get your dog a responsible home, I know you all have cell phones, now just use them for chrissakes and for my sakes. We will have to get into a pipeline of rescue help somehow, if dickdingles can't do their duty. We will have to get quicker help to get good homes this next time if any more come and hope to god there's a no-kill shelter with some room or just that the right person or persons shows up/show up automatically, and also hoping for an absence of personal phobias that day because that's kinda important too with regard to getting anything actually done, say if I have to drive somewhere I am not sure I can find to deal with people I barely know, in a random universe where anything can happen and the levels of anxiety change from day to day, in fact hour to hour and one never knows what may happen along the way.

Did I cover everything. Oh, no...I forgot, I can't keep on keeping them for three years and then have my heart torn out again every time when somebody finally offers to take them because I finally ask people due to my stubbornness or wilfulness or whatever it is that makes Tinky act like she does that is probably the same as why I act like I do.

Dog Church. Where dogs get specially trained to help people with PTSD who have valiantly served our country (this is a thing, it takes eighteen months to do and is very expensive) stay in the moment and get over their nightmares and get back to eating actual food and actually living again, because dogs can do that. You can help. https://www.thisableveteran.org/training/

Dog Church. Where you just hang out with an amazing living being who just exudes trust and love and all kinds of good vibe stuff and you just wish you could do that forever and never do anything else because it's kind of like the ecstasy of the saints only it's longer and better and there's more of it.

Cats welcome.