Letters from Ascension Hermitage and Sanctuary

There are a few flowers still blooming and the maple trees are hanging on to their leaves, but the black walnut trees have lost all of their leaves and walnuts . . . and I'm pretty sure that the abandoned building on the lot next to our property's graves has its fair share of ghosts! Walking under the walnut trees this time of year is a definite tripping danger (it gives a whole new meaning to "fall") and early this morning I tried to warn a squirrel against hiding his winter stash near the dogs' water dishes. Our neighborhood crows (yes, more than enough to be a "murder" of crows which is usually considered to be 3 to 15) have discovered that they can reach through the chain-link fence to eat the food intended for the duck and rooster. Nothing to do but provide extra food! The crows help keep the hawks away which is fine with me. . . hawks being beautiful, but deadly for small birds. We hope your day is going well!  

 Slowly but surely, Autumn is creeping in - the Virginia Creeper on our back fence is definitely red now and many yellow and brown leaves have been blown from the trees, but there is still a lot of green here, too.  However, tonight and tomorrow night the temperatures will be in the mid to low 30s, so there's still hope for the "great leaf color change." The squirrels have abandoned the bird feeders and are busy burying every walnut, pecan, and acorn they can find . . . food for Winter and/or new trees for Spring - only time will tell! We hope your day is a beautiful one.

 I am glad to announce that today is the beginning of our Flower Power holiday fundraiser! You can find all of the details here:  http://SanctuaryHouse.fpfundraising.com There are several new sale items this year, so we hope if you are looking for amaryllis or paperwhites or Christmas stocking stuffers you'll look at this list - every order helps us feed and care for the animals! Ordering begins now through December 15th - items are not shipped until December 1st. In order to ensure delivery in time for Christmas orders must be placed by December 5th.

And yesterday, Precious came to live with us! She's a 10-year-old, lemon beagle - her first owner died, and then her new person became homeless. Fortunately, Precious likes cats and other dogs, but as you might imagine there is a definite degree of chaos when a new dog joins the pack! Never a dull moment!  

A little brightness on a cloudy day. Greetings on Columbus Day or Indigenous People's Day, depending on your state. . . except that the post office and banks are closed, and many stores advertise sales, there is really almost no observance here. Schools in our county opened two hours late, but that was entirely due to flooding and poor weather conditions. And I'm happy to say that the repairman came to replace the heating element in our dryer, and FedEx delivered cat food and dog biscuits, so we're all good! We hope your day is a bright one, too!

We are in day one of a predicted three-day rainstorm, but the birds have to eat and today the goldfinches flocked around our birdfeeders. They were joined by several doves but few others. Even the squirrels seem to be staying out of the rain. The beagles barked to go out, but when I opened the door, they either ran out and right back in, or just looked outside and turned away. Even Piper who loves to play in snow said no to the idea of wet rain. Our electricity was off for about five and a half hours today, so I tried to convince the dogs that it was just an extra-long night while I read an Agatha Christie mystery!  

I recently read an article that said an alternative to walks for dogs is playing with toys, especially tug toys. So, I got toys for them - balls, frisbee, and tug ropes. Not one of my beagles would even look at any of the toys! Piper the Eskie was happy to play with the tug toy for a few minutes, until she discovered that if she released it to me, she'd get a treat . . . apparently, she would just rather go right to the treat and let me keep the toy! Piper does love the ball that she chewed out of her Wubba Kong toy, and in the past, she has chased a Chuck-it ball, but all of my other dogs just ignored me when I suggested that we play with toys. I guess that just not where their interests are!  

 It was with much sadness and many tears that we said good-bye to our gentle Sonny last night. Sonny had lived at Sanctuary House for many years - he had been rescued by Cindy years ago after a serious leg injury that no one else thought would heal. But he recovered from that injury! As a younger horse he gave rides to children at the county fair and taught Cindy's children to ride. He was her daughter Macie's first horse, and last night Macie sat on the ground with him when he could no longer get up. Sonny first came to Sanctuary House as a companion for our horse Jack, who died years ago. He was blind in one eye but didn't let that hinder him from watching everyone and everything! He was gentle and loving toward all other horses and people as well. He was a golden light - gone from our pasture, but forever in our hearts.

Wishing everyone a blessed St. Francis' Day! We have an unplanned mini frog pond where the birds and squirrels often stop for a drink. This blue jay was the first afternoon visitor.  

This sweet kitty was living under the next door abandoned building. Little by little she let me get closer (food helps!) - and today she came home with me. She is very young, and I believe she's glad to be in a safer place. I'm glad she's in a safer place, too! Calico cats bring good luck to a home, and they are the state cat of Maryland. And no doubt she's a gift for St. Francis' Day, which is tomorrow. She is Callie for calico and for my second great-grandaunt Martha Caroline "Callie" Sargent Pyle (1827-1857).  

For my Jewish friends, Yom Kippur begins at sundown tonight. Tzom Kal, may your fast be easy. And for all of us, here is  Kol Nidre  played by Fredell Lack, one of the greatest violinists of last century. Fredell Lack  was also an advocate for animal welfare, in spite of the fact that her dog accidently bit off the tip of the small finger on her left hand . . . that's forgiveness!