Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 31, 2013

8

JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS

 Mountain Views News Saturday, August 31, 2013 


PET OF THE WEEK

LUCKY LADY, FRIEND OF MANY

BAILEY: #A4622783

Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc

Several unexpected events transpired 
this past week that had an impact on me 
personally, whether direct or indirect. Like a 
package of assorted surprises, I was incited 
to an equally assorted collection of emotional 
responses. Life is, for the most part pretty 
unpredictable, so we must all learn to be 
flexible and prepared to handle whatever 
life brings to us with stability and strength 
versus fear and frustration. Much like finding 
an unexpected parcel on your doorstep, 
opening it can go either way depending on 
the contents, but your willingness to open it 
says you are prepared for whatever you may 
find inside. Last week’s events brought to me 
a full spectrum of emotions from the height 
of elation to the pit of despair, like riding on a 
roller-coaster that takes you all the way to the 
top then drops you back down to the bottom 
in a very short period of time. Interestingly 
enough however, a common factor among all 
of last week’s events was the reminder of how 
fortunate I am to have so many true friends, 
both of the two-legged and four-legged type!

I’ll spare you the details of how my life was 
touched over the past few days, but it was 
necessary to share that there were lots of ups 
and downs in order to explain why I know I 
am a very lucky lady. When things are going 
smoothly in our lives, it’s easy to find friends 
who want to spend time with us. A lot of the 
time we spend is engaged in empty talk about 
nothing important, but it stimulates us to chat 
it up and that‘s what we call socializing. Well, 
I believe that true socializing involves more 
than shallow conversation about the weather 
or a recent vacation trip or who’s dating who 
or who recently made a major foolish blunder, 
all while everything is working out great for 
us. Sensationalism comes pretty cheap. We all 
like to “wow” the one we are talking to. It’s the 
shock value that gives us a bit of a jolt, and it is 
part of our human nature. However, there are 
times when things are not going so smoothly 
and the subject of conversation can be 
mundane or even absolutely draining. Those 
are the moments in time that sort the sheep 
from the goats so to speak when it comes to 
true friendship.

Through my lengthy laundry list of 
experiences this past week, I was reminded 
of how very blessed I am to have a plethora 
of precious people in my life. People who 
genuinely care about how I feel, whether I 
am happy or sad. Not that I should need that 
reminder, but I think sometimes we all have to 
test the water, not only for confirmation but to 
keep the love we share with other beings fresh, 
volatile and alive. One way of putting it is to 
say that without darkness there could be no 
light, or without intense heat (and aren’t we all 
quite familiar with that these days) one could 
not appreciate the feeling of sweat cooling our 
bodies in a shady breeze. It is in the contrasts 
where I believe life really exists.

I was walking with Bo and Dixie, a couple of 
my canine clients just yesterday and there had 
been limited shade along one part of our walk. 
We’d headed out earlier than usual to avoid the 
mid day heat, but the sun was already beating 
down at 10:30 in the morning. As we came 
around the corner of the tree-barren street 
we had been walking on, we suddenly found 
ourselves covered under an enormous tree 
canopy and immersed in a blanket of coolness 
with a strong breeze blowing straight at us 
from the west. It felt almost like a tall glass of 
ice water that I could pick up and drink if I 
cared to. That is the contrast of life that I am 
talking about. Without evil, how could we 
understand the concept of good? And without 
wrong how could we ever comprehend what it 
means to be right?

When life brings tragedy, endure and prepare 
yourself for comedy. When things seem to 
come easier than usual, enjoy it and prepare 
yourself for the difficulty to come, because you 
know it will. And, when you feel you are in the 
hot seat, hang in there and begin to prepare 
yourself for a cooling process. Regardless of 
the circumstances you find yourself in, make 
every effort to control the parts of life that 
indeed are in your control, let go of the things 
that are not meant for you to manage, and 
trust the higher being of your faith to support 
you through every step of the way.

To the two-legged friends who were there for 
me this past week, I want to say thank you for 
being true blue when it may not be much fun 
to spend time with me. To Odie, Nevada, Bo, 
Dixie, Zola, Sid, Gunner, Elijah, Fritz, Milo, 
Bogey, Owen, Brown, Buck, Charlee, Dakota, 
Sambuca, Miss Pimms, Lambic, Marcy, Rosie, 
Athena, Chealsea, Tater, Molly and all of my 
other beautiful furry four-legged friends I 
want to say that I don’t know what I would 
do without you! When I am down on my 
emotions or low on my energy level, you lift 
me up every single time. You smile and show 
un-abandoned immense excitement at the 
sight of me coming down your driveways and 
through your doorways. Nothing in the whole 
wide world could ever replace your honest, 
open kind canine love. You are all in my heart 
and always will be. I love you all dearly.

They do not get any more 
fun and playful than 
Bailey! Bailey (A4622783) 
is an effervescent one year 
old white neutered male 
Chihuahua puppy who 
was found in El Monte on 
August 24th and brought 
to the Baldwin Park Shelter. 
Weighing seven pounds, 
this kissy puppy is very 
socialized. Fantastic with 
other dogs, this happy puppy is going to absolutely love children. 
Bailey is the perfect indoor pet for anyone in any living situation. 
He needs a home to call his own! To watch a video of Bailey 
please click here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6XBD-Y9UnM

To meet Bailey in person, please see him at the Baldwin Park 
Shelter, located at 4275 N. Elton, Baldwin Park, CA 91706 (Phone: 
626-430-2378 or 626-962-3577). He is currently available now. 
For any inquiries about Bailey, please reference his animal ID 
number: A4622783. The shelter is open seven days a week, 12 
pm-7 pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-5pm Friday-Sunday. 
This is a high-intake shelter with a great need for adoptions. 
For more information about Bailey or the adoption process, 
please contact United Hope for Animals Volunteer Adoption 
Coordinator Samantha at Samantha@hope4animals.org. To 
learn more about United Hope for Animals’ partnership with 
the Baldwin Park Shelter through its Shelter Support Program, 
as well as the many dogs of all breeds, ages, and sizes available for 
adoption in local shelters, visit http://www.unitedhope4animals.
org/about-us/shelter-support-program/.


—Officials for the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA (PHS) will begin 
door-to-door canvassing for proper dog licensing starting Tuesday, 
September 3, 2013 within in the City of Pasadena as part of the 
joint efforts between PHS and the City to improve animal services.

 Licensing officials for the Pasadena Humane Society will be knocking 
on doors Tuesdays through Fridays, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., 
beginning Sept. 3. They will start in the Hastings Ranch area of East 
Pasadena to verify that dog owners have properly licensed and vaccinated 
their dogs per state law. PHS officials will canvass other neighborhoods 
as soon as possible, going across town from east to west.

 All PHS canvassers will be wearing a uniform with a white shirt with 
a PHS patch on the shoul-der. They will display a badge and wear 
blue pants OR be wearing a tan “polo” style shirt, with a photo ID 
badge and blue pants or jeans. Each canvasser will be able to answer 
your questions about licensing your dog.

You can call PHS at (626) 792-7151, ext. 115, during normal business 
hours to verify that the person is with PHS. PHS is closed Mondays.


DOG LICENSING UPDATE: DOOR-TO-
DOOR CANVASS BEGINS SEPT. 3, 2013


ScienceNews 

by JEFF


Volunteering could 
add years to your 
life: Volunteering to 
help others can feel 
good, improve your 
mental health and 
help you live longer, 
according to a 
study in the journal 
BMC Public Health. 
In a review of 40 
academic papers by 
the UK's University 
of Exeter, researchers 
found that volunteers 
had lower 
self-rated levels of 
depression and high 
levels of well being and satisfaction, although findings 
have yet to confirm this in trials. Volunteers 
were a fifth less likely to die within the next four to 
seven years than average. Volunteering is thought 
to be especially good for the physical health of 
older people, by encouraging them to stay active 
and spend more time outside the home. But young 
people experience benefits as well: a separate US 
study published earlier this year linked volunteering 
with improved cardiovascular health in high 
school students.

Camping resets internal clock: After a week spent 
camping (and away from all electric lights) in Colorado, 
volunteers fell asleep earlier and woke up earlier. 
Their internal clocks shifted, syncing up with 
sun, researchers found. The extra sun exposure 
changes the melatonin levels in the blood which 
controls when we sleep. Want to get to sleep earlier. 
Get more sun during the day.

Wrinkles or no wrinkles? Blame mum: How quickly 
we age is influence by a set of genes we get only 
from our mothers: Scientists suggest that the ageing 
process depends on mitochondria. Mutations 
in mitochondrial DNA causes the cell damage. 
These mutations can be passed down by our mothers 
in our genes. Writing in the journal Nature, lead 
researcher Professor Nils-Goran Larsson from the 
Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said: ‘Our mother’s 
mitochondrial DNA seems to influence our own 
ageing. If we inherit mDNA with mutations from 
our mother, we age more quickly.‘Ageing is the accumulation 
of various types of cell damage. Much 
of the damage will be a result of environmental 
and lifestyle factors, which means the inheriting 
mDNA damage can never be the only explanation 
for ageing. But it is an important part of the ageing 
process.’This opens door to new treatments against 
ageing targeting mDNA.

Behavioral research may overstate results: Behavioral 
studies statistically exaggerate findings more 
often than investigations of biological processes do, 
especially if U.S. scientists are involved, a report 
finds. The inflated results come from there being 
little consensus about experimental methods and 
measures in behavioral research, along with intense 
publish or perish pressure in the United States, 
say biologist Daniele Fanelli of the University of 
Edinburgh and John Ioannidis of Stanford University. 
Without clear theories and standardized procedures, 
behavioral scientists have a lot of leeway 
to produce results that they expect to find, even if 
they’re not aware of doing so.

NEW MEXICAN SKIES PROTECTED WITH DARK SKY PARK DESIGNATION


The 34,000-acre Chaco Culture National Historical Park is 
home to many ancient wonders including the remains of 
a civilization that thrived over 1,000 years ago. The park, 
which has been protecting its archaeological riches since it 
was established in 1907, is now protecting its views of the 
starry skies too. It has just been named as the International 
Dark-Sky Association’s newest Dark Sky Park.

“Once the night sky was something that was very much 
a part of the human experience at Chaco and around the 
globe,” says IDA Executive Director Bob Parks. “We are 
delighted that Chaco is now preserving the nighttime 
environment alongside their historic treasures.”

As a Gold-tier IDA Dark Sky Park, Chaco has shown its 
commitment to preserving its near-pristine night skies. 
The park has adopted a set of strict lighting guidelines that 
include the use of dark-sky friendly lighting now and in the 
future, ensuring that it will do its part to keep the nighttime 
environment natural and unspoiled for generations to 
come.

The park is also exemplary in its public outreach efforts, 
holding numerous educational programs and events. 
Upcoming will be the Chaco Canyon Star Party on 
October 5 that will include a formal public dedication of 
their new IDA Dark Sky Park designation. The event will 
feature guest speakers, dark sky preservation messaging, 
and special interpretive programs, along with stargazing 
opportunities throughout the evenings. A commemorative 
poster will be given away to visitors during the event.

Other regular park events include “Archaeoastronomy of 
Chaco,” “Public Telescope Viewing,” “Pueblo Bonito Full 
Moon Walks,” and “Campfire Astronomy.” Special events 
are also held celebrating astronomical events such as 
eclipses and meteor showers.

Chaco Culture National Historic Park superintendent Larry Turk feels 
strongly about the designation. “Standing at one of the park’s 4,000 
prehistoric archeological sites, one can easily imagine another human 
centuries earlier gazing awestruck into the same universe while surrounded 
by ecosystems that have adapted to the natural rhythms of the moon and 
stars,” said Turk.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park joins eleven other parks scattered 
about the globe that have been recognized by IDA for their efforts in night 
sky preservation. Learn more at http://www.darksky.org/parks and about 
Chaco Culture National Historic Preserve at http://www.nps.gov/chcu

IDA established the International Dark Sky Places conservation program in 
2001 to recognize excellent stewardship of the night sky. Designations are 
based on stringent outdoor lighting standards and innovative community 
outreach. Since the program began, four communities, twelve parks and five 
reserves have received International Dark Sky designations.

MEANWHILE, CLOSER TO HOME, stellar viewing is also available at 
Mount Wilson Observatory, located in the San Gabriel Mountains just 
above Sierra Madre. The Observatory is open to the public daily from 10 
am to 5 pm, March 30 through December 1. On weekends, you can have 
lunch at the Cosmic Cafe, open 10 am to 4 pm Saturdays and Sundays, and 
then take a 1 pm Guided Tour that includes entry onto the observing floor 
of the 100-inch Telescope. At other times, including the winter months, you 
can arrange for a Special Tour.

And for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, your group can also reserve an 
evening on Mount Wilson’s historic 60-inch telescope, which still has 
nights available during the 2013 season. The views of planets, star clusters, 
nebulae, and galaxies through the 60 inch, among the largest telescopes in 
the world accessible to the public, are unforgettable. For more information: 
www.mtwilson.edu.

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.com.

“Milky Way, Fajada Butte” by Stan Honda