Mirthful Monday, and a Blessing for the Animals

Oldest Hanson brother marries in Oklahoma
(I wonder if they need a set of matching engraved hockey sticks?)




Scientists find more efficient cloning method
(the only problem is having the subject stay in the copier long enough...and what if you push the staple function by mistake? That'd be UGLY.)












What's the credit union's name?
(Uh...George? Fred? Julio? Help me out here, folks...)







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Today in History:

On Oct. 2, 1967, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; he was the first black appointed to the nation's highest court.
('Nuff said on that one...)





In 1950, the comic strip "Peanuts," created by Charles M. Schulz, was first published in nine newspapers.
(You know, I wish that kids today got as much of a thrill from "Peanuts" as my generation did. I had a Snoopy & Woodstock lunchbox, and I decked a high school boy with it when he was twisting my sister's arm behind her back. I split his lip. It was a proud moment in my life.)




In 1985, actor Rock Hudson died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 59 after battling AIDS.
(I remember this vividly...that was so sad. He was a very handsome man, and he was thoroughly ravaged by the disease...he was a shadow of his former self. While awareness is present in this day and age, it came too late for him.)




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Well, I had an interesting afternoon yesterday...I went to my very first Blessing of the Animals service at St. Nicholas Episcopal Church.

For those of you not familiar with all aspects of the Episcopal Church, one thing you'll find is that saint days are followed as in the Catholic faith. Actually, that's something I find very interesting, because saints are supposed to be testaments to faith. (If I'm wrong, do correct me in the comments...that's what they're for.) This particular service honors St. Francis of Assisi, and I think he's the patron saint for animals (again, I'm not sure on the exact title).

At any rate, we meant to go last year, but for whatever reason, we didn't. This year, I decided we were going, but I almost copped out because (yes) I wanted a nap. No dice. D guilted me into going.

So this year, we took Miss Millie. She did not like traveling at first, but oddly enough, she started to calm down after the Marvin Gaye CD came on. (Never underestimate the healing power of Marvin...)

We actually had the ceremony on our church's future site (right now we're sharing a facility with another church, and they're so great at accomodating us it's not even funny). It was a gorgeous fall afternoon, with a light breeze.

The assistant rector told me they've blessed everything from iguanas to Clydesdales, and I thought she might have been exaggerating a bit. However, when we got there, the following animals were present:

**Two quarter horses
**six cats (counting Millie)
**one Labrador retriever
**Two Golden Retriever mixes
**one Great Dane/Australian Shepherd Mix
**one Samoyed
**two German Shepherd mixes
**one Tibetan Terrier
**one collie mix

(OK, well, maybe she WASN'T exaggerating. Excuse me...)

At any rate...we got there, and it was a hub-bub of sorts. The horse trailer was unloading as we arrived, and although I am not a horse person, even I had to admit that they were pretty. I think Millie was the only cat there that was not in a carrier, and it was mostly because we didn't want to mess with it. We considered her the one to be less likely to freak. She did pretty well, I think.

Lots of dogs...and because D is taller than me, he was elected to hold Millie because a dog couldn't reach her as easily with D holding her.

It was a simple but meaningful ceremony, and it was a really wonderful way to honor the pets in our lives. I know my cats have been a blessing (although sometimes I really have to grit my teeth and avoid throwing them out the window) and a comfort to me many times. I wish I'd known about this before I joined the Episcopal Church, but now I know about it for future blessings.

Something tells me that we'll have to prep Chelmsford to go in the carrier WELL before hand. I can hear it now...

"You little blankety-blank...you're going to need HEALING PRAYER when I'm through with you! OW!"

Oh well...just another day in the life of Sudiegirl.

Thanks for coming...