Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, June 6, 2020

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Mountain Views News Saturday, June 6, 2020 

Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc

Pet of the Week

 
Gertrude is a happy, curious, even-keeled, and 
loving companion. This eight-year-old cutie is 
an energetic gal who loves spending time with 
people, but she’s also very chill and easygoing. 
She's just as happy running around in the yard 
as she is curling up for an afternoon nap, so she’s 
very well-rounded. And she’s eager to please her 
human friends and absolutely loves treats, which 
means learning new things is one of her favorite 
pastimes! If you’ve been wanting a friend by your 
side, Gertrude is ready to fill that role!

 The adoption fee for dogs is $140. All dog 
adoptions include spay or neuter, microchip, and 
age-appropriate vaccines.

 New adopters will receive a complimentary 
health-and-wellness exam from VCA Animal 
Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information about how to care for your 
pet.

 View photos of adoptable pets at pasadenahumane.org and fill out an online 
adoption application. Adoptions are by appointment only.

MAX AND MAGGIE

Two Tiny Teachers

If ever I am inspired to write a story interesting 
enough to fill the space of this column, credit must 
go to the animals and this week, I owe all my thanks 
to the dogs. Those fantastic, furry, four-legged 
friends of mine who keep on keeping on to make 
me laugh, learn and appreciate a higher level of 
understanding life.

When I was in Bible college, I had an Old Testament 
Survey professor who’d start class proclaiming: 
“Our relationship with God is a journey. We seek Him and ask His will. We listen for His 
still small voice. We embrace the lessons from His Word, and we practice His principles…we 
walk”. And thus he began each lecture, all the while pacing in a circle, surrounding us students 
seated in the center of the room. Over and over he’d reiterate, “Seek, listen, learn, walk. Seek, 
listen, learn, walk!”

With all that is happening in the world today, trying to seek God can feel impossible at times. 
I do my best to seek Him daily and I yearn to learn from His never-failing, ever-revealing 
promises. I learn from His remarkable creations, not the least of which are the kind, caring 
and compassionate canines I am blessed to call my friends. If not for the precious pups I get 
to spend time with, there have been moments when I may have given up by now. They love 
unconditionally, and they teach me amazing lessons while keeping it simple. They walk.

Last Sunday was no exception. I arrived at Max and Maggie’s at 7am for our walk around the 
local block. As per usual, we were - all three - elated to see one another, so it took us a minute 
to contain ourselves, get leashed and on our merry way. Max and Maggie are mini-schnauzers 
who always love their walks. They mostly enjoy catching whiffs of whatever scents are left 
behind by some previous passer-by, so I try to be patient and let them do their sniffing until they 
are ready to move along.

It wasn’t a day much different than any other, so what made that Sunday saunter so inspiring? 
It had to do with my mind set. My willingness to seek, listen and learn the lessons Max and 
Maggie had in store. In keeping with their typical, top-notch teaching methods, those two tykes 
shared a very valuable, yet easy-to-miss life-lesson that helped change my perspective and set 
me on a more positive trajectory. It was a lesson those sweet little teachers were perfectly posed 
to offer up.

Have you noticed the enormity of greenery recently, due to the rain earlier this year and late last 
year? There are all kinds of seeds floating in the air, and loads more that lay low to the ground. 
You know, those mysterious tufts of stuff clinging to the dirt where vibrant green grass and 
other growth used to be. Networks of seedy parcels awaiting pick-up by unassuming couriers, 
for drop-off at a remote, hopefully fertile site to settle into until the next wet season when 
mother earth will be kind enough to foster their life-form into new, fresh, flowery green growth.

Now, had last Sunday been like some other days, I may have been less than willing to seek, 
listen and learn. I may have missed the lesson God was sending me through those 2 mini 
messengers, with the help of what would otherwise have appeared to me to be nothing more 
than dead weeds sticking like Velcro to their beards and bellies. I would have overlooked the 
fact that those would-be wasted weeds actually represent hope for new life, and they’d have 
meant nothing more to me than an annoying task of removing them from those poor pups‘ paws 
when we arrived back home.

But instead, I was inspired. I was inspired because I was a willing student. As we walked west 
on Laurel, down Baldwin to Montecito, back up Mountain Trail and west on Laurel toward 
home…as we walked and my two tiny teachers insisted that I be patient and meet them in the 
moment. As we walked, and they reminded me to seek, listen and learn. As we walked, they 
introduced me to a plethora of seeds. Seeds I’d have otherwise regarded as prickly, pains in the 
ass. Seeds that were indeed living, breathing organisms, putting forth their best effort to plant 
themselves into fertile ground and bring new life next season. Seeds of promise, seeds of hope. 
Thank you, Max and Maggie. I needed that hope.


All Things By Jeff Brown

ONE DAY AT A TIME

The truth is, we don’t know much. Human beings hate uncertainty but cannot es-cape it, 
particularly now that our species has become host to a virus that’s never before infected human 
beings. With 100,000 dead and 1.7 million confirmed cases in the U.S., nobody knows if the 
re-openings now underway will trigger serious spikes in hospitalizations and deaths, or just 
scattered hot spots that can be tamped down. Nobody knows if summer heat and humidity will 
significantly slow the vi-rus’ spread. Nobody knows if there will be a major second wave this fall 
that dou-bles or triples the death toll. Nobody knows if or when a vaccine will be developed. We 
don’t know if schools will reopen in the fall, or if parents will feel safe sending their children. 
We don’t know if the pandemic will still define life a year from now. We don’t know if we’ll 
get infected ourselves or, if we do, how sick will the virus make us. We’re all guinea pigs in a 
vast experiment whose outcome is…unknown. It’s the not knowing, I suspect, that is the most 
difficult symptom of our new, coved-constricted reality. Any ordeal can be endured if you know 
what you must do to survive, and for roughly how long. Some people are now coping with the 
discomfort of uncertainty by proclaiming the pandemic over, grabbing a beer ,and jumping into 
a pool with 500 other maskless people. Whoopee! For many others, James Hamblin reports in 
The Atlantic.com, a shifting combination of an-ger, hopelessness, and numbness has set in, as 
bland, featureless days meld into one another and losses mount. Health officials are warning that 
about a third of Americans are suffering from clinical anxiety and depression. Grief, under these 
circumstances, is natural. To cope, we have to learn to tolerate great uncertainty, while having 
faith that scientists will find treatment and/or a vaccine, and this bi-zarre era will end.” One day 
at a time” is how people survive a crisis. One day at a time. William Falk, Editor-in-chief “The 
Week” 


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