Humans and Creatures – Page 2

Mission Accomplished

dreaming about talking to some lady and having feelings in the dream of something being imperative

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED-Another Turtle Doesn’t Bite the Dust

I awoke very early this morning and found a message about my recent Blog post “Do You Think This Is A Joy Ride?” This message struck me as being simple, pure and genuine in that its author recognized the deeply convicted spiritual nature of my message and intent. So I decided not to go back to bed and write a response; even though it was only 2:30 AM, and I certainly needed to so I could get some urgently needed sleep, as I had been sleep deprived the last couple of days. No, instead I stayed up and opened up, which I tend not to do especially online, about very deeply held personal challenges or struggles! I was as a child a fairly open and very friendly lad, what one of my uncles whose name is Gus, referred to me as, “a happy go lucky kid!” And I stayed that way true to my nature into adulthood, until more recent years when I was challenged by the cruel and ugly side of the world and some people that love being nefarious or even wicked, whether out of bitterness, worldly conformity, selfishness, jealousy, pure hatred of those they can’t understand, agendas or even at times pure evil; I became a target of such. Maybe because as some would say I stood out in the crowd or was too loud and vocal about things I shouldn’t be, but as I saw it, if it involves me and the things that matter, damn straight I’m going to voice my opinion or stand up for my rights!

So, after writing a lengthy reply comment, I was too awake to just jump back into bed and instead talked to my dog that by now had shown interest in my own activity and problem which she now had too, of not being able to sleep like we should be. But, after a little play, talking and hugging I thought it was about time to try hitting the hay again, so off to bed. I went out like a light and started dreaming about talking to some lady and having feelings in the dream of something being imperative and I could see how I was motivated to get moving and do something; even though I didn’t know what! I awoke again after sleeping barely an hour more and noticed how it wasn’t looking bright around the shaded window like it typically does at this time of morning; being just past sunrise. I thought how if I would be taking my dog Penny for her walk we were going to have to do it very early before the sun is much up over the horizon, as it was supposed to be a hot day and major thunder storms are expected later today as I write this. At that point I was so tired I thought maybe we can be lazy on Saturday and sleep in for a few hours! And that way I could get much more rest and not feel so beat up, and that later maybe the clouds would be thick enough that the sun won’t be so intense, making for a somewhat comfortable walk for Penny. That’s because she is getting up in years and I don’t want to stress her in the high about 90 degree temperature with the humidity at saturation levels making it more like South East Asia around here.

But, then that imperative feeling came back which was definitely compelling me to jump up now and take the walk early as we had done for previous mornings. So the mission began; which I had no idea was in play other than that imperative feeling of “get going,” and we were now off and out the door heading down the road we usually take that leads down along the water’s edge of a cove nearby my home, when that’s the path we decide to follow out of the several we use to keep things interesting. As we walked along we seemed to be more interested in taking a more direct least encumbered path to a destination we usually end up at one way or the other and then sit for a spell, watching the ducks, geese and occasionally the swans that are just out in the cove just off and very near the shores edge. Our walk became more brisk as I had noticed the sun and it’s full effect was starting to break through the heavy cloud and fog canopy overhead and the humidity was making me feel wringing wet, so I could only imagine how Penny would feel by the time we were on our way back home, especially if the clouds cleared completely! So even though I had let her off the leash for a stretch which usually causes her to walk just ahead of me like the leader of the pack, she was now falling behind a bit and so I clipped the leash back onto her harness so I could keep us moving briskly in order to make our trip to the water sooner rather than later, in order to sit and rest then hurry back to the AC and some ice water! Suddenly as we were in the general vicinity of where we will turn down another road to walk straight to the cove, as we were approaching this long dirt driveway that runs off into some nearby woods Penny stalled and got agitated about something, it seemed she was looking in the wooded area and stopped dead in her tracks and wouldn’t move even though I tried to get her going. This was something she hadn’t done before especially in that particular location, so I eased up and tried to let her investigate a bit to see if she could show me what was going on that attracted her attention so much. Nothing, I couldn’t see anything in the woods, which I figured had to be what was diverting her, maybe some animal sitting still or just behind some trees, but I’ll never know it seems because then she suddenly started heading in the usual direction we needed to go. But then, we hardly walked another hundred feet and came to a short paved driveway where a woman was just walking around the back of her car and trying to get a closer look at something very small lumbering or trudging along going under the car. Then I could see what it was, a baby snapping turtle, which it turns out that if I had come along a half a moment sooner or later; I would not have seen this little turtle today! This immediately brought back my memory of how I once rescued one the same size in the capital city near a highway construction site by a nearby river. Back then I was driving a cement mixer to pour new concrete mix for a bridge column and had just after the pour noticed something moving in the dust of the all dirt access road leading into the site. I pulled over to the side and put on the air brakes and jumped down to investigate more closely, and that was the first time I rescued a baby snapping turtle, which I placed into my shirt pocket until I got back to the company property and parked the truck.

That turned out to be a long ordeal for both me and the baby snapping turtle that never would have made it in the location where I found it aimlessly wandering to its death. It was late fall and I brought that turtle to a lake a few towns over a couple of days later and placed it near the edge of the water expecting it to scurry in like a bolt of lightning but to my surprise it didn’t move at all and then turned back toward me. Then I thought, what is up with you little guy all these Lilly pads and a huge lake with all sorts of interesting wild coastline with plants to nibble on and with winter coming a nice muddy bottom for you to bury yourself and hibernate through the winter and you want nothing to do with it? I could have left you where I found you I thought and you would be a goner already; so now what? OK, I thought, I guess I found you and now it’s my responsibility to do right by you; so you want to winter in with a human being and take the easy route or path for some reason, maybe you even realize instinctively that some big mouth bass will swallow you whole here! Lucky you I thought, how you had me out of all the guys that work around that site to notice you in time and put you in my pocket; all those other guys some I know and many I don’t I’m sure they either wouldn’t have noticed or if they did the last thing they would have done is put you in their shirt pocket, but more likely you would have been mashed under 40 tons of rubber and metal.

So, that turtle got back home with me to spend the entire winter with in a nice fish aquarium that I converted into a terrarium or turtle like habitat, months later in early spring after he had grown into a nice size juvenile yearling reptilian creature, I drove to a major state preserve to the site of an old ancient battle ground by much swampy land for his release! I have to admit I did get a bit attached to this bugger that winter and I had many a talk with him or her, never tried to find out which, but now the moment of truth was arriving as I had to first park my Jeep on a fire access road and hike in a couple of miles to where I decided he would spend his life far away from that capital city and all the man-made world with all of its machinery and foreboding activity. Yes, after all of our time together I wasn’t about to throw caution to the wind and say see ya later alligator, well OK, Turtle, and dump him at the most convenient place for me, NO NO, it had to be the most special place I could imagine were this special turtle would live a life of Greatness with other turtles hopefully, in a very primitive and wild area far removed from people, even me, although I had parting words for him about that point. When I got to the water’s edge of the swamp and like that time many months prior placed him on the shore, but just before I did I said, OK this is your new beginning and I hope and pray you will love it here living a very long life that turtles like you usually do! And then, I went on to say that one day in the future I will remember you and take a hike back to this very spot and look for you to say hello again, but until then just remember our time together at my home and know that I love you and want you to be happy! Then, this time as I did place him there by the edge of the water he without any hesitation darted with speed I never had seen this turtle display, right into the water with a plop and there he went straight down about four feet to the muddy bottom and got right to burying himself to hide from the prying eyes of the world. Never knew turtles could be that shy, or maybe I had talked too much all those months and this turtle wanted out big time, it figured, wow crazy people! I said again goodbye, and left that place, and haven’t been back since. That turtle in his shell in that moment of truth got me thinking how I was really kind of shy behind my thick head and big mouth too!

Now all these years later, here I am with one of his kind again, which is sitting in the same tank terrarium that I’ve kept tucked away in my home; while I now think over how I will handle this rescued turtle. They live many decades and that first one may now be in its prime or beginning to get old and might want some company! Another, “Mission Accomplished!”

Lawrence Morra

“A God Sent Ray of Hope and Light on Thanksgiving for a Dog and a Man”

I rescued my dog from being put down at a shelter when I came along by a God Send about a dozen hours before it was scheduled; and a couple of days before Thanksgiving! If I hadn’t been working near the shelter and heard howls that reminded me of the wolf howl or “Call of the Wild” which I used to do with mush team dogs I had rescued years prior; like Jack London’s great story which I’ve always loved, I would not have been curious before the shelter closed that afternoon to go look and then found out in fact that two Champion blood line Siberian Huskies had gotten out of a house in an affluent town next door and were there at the shelter only a few hours, because their owners were frantically looking for them; which also was the call out for help for my current dog, to give her my attention, in order for “me to be aware she was in dire need!” I got there and knew the director from years prior when she was a dog officer for the town and I said; “that dog what are you doing with her, no name on her cage?” And she said “the Police Department decided she has to be destroyed!” I said “NO WAY,” but only because this lady knew how determined and convincing I can be she went out on a limb for me as she later told me, and did what is unheard of there calling the Chief after hours and then others in the loop to save her; but then as promised, the next morning I was waiting before the shelter opened, in the parking lot! I gave Anne time to get things going as it wasn’t even public visiting hours yet at that point, but then I finally went in to ask about Penny, which was the name they gave her months before and she said, “Larry don’t say anything, and go see your dog!” Makes me cry remembering how I felt that day, just as Anne said that, how I started crying! I love this dog so much I would take a bullet for her or do anything to protect her! It’s been determined she is a dog with Jackal in her, being that she is half Basenji (derived directly from the Jackal) and half Rhodesian Ridgeback! She was very hard to control or get to be calm and be nice in the house for the first few years’, lots of work and mopping up after her, very destructive and defiant almost, tearing down mini blinds to see who was outside nearby, wanting so much attention and freedom to do as she pleases! I let her sleep on my bed every night now! She loves me so much and same back to her! Also turned out that the Police Department had given her a chance before I came into the picture and allowed her to be adopted after some months of working with her in the shelter environment, but, she was brought back immediately by the family as completely unruly, the final nail in her coffin, that is until I came along in the nick of time! Penny through no fault of her own had been placed in a category of dog similar to that of the “Wolf Hybrid” which isn’t even legal to own in many states; but, those Siberian Huskies with their “Call of The Wild,” an actual ancient “Wild Wolf Howl” if you will; was that all heart cry out or “final alarm” that changed the paradigm for Penny on that fateful day! Thanks be to God!

Hope I made you feel something nice inside telling you all this!

Lawrence Morra

Here I am several months after Penny having succumbed to age and illness; recalling this writing to another dog loving person I know online through our writings; which now I think is so appropriate to share this tribute to Penny!

In Memory of Penny

I just walked in after a walk with my dog and was contemplating; she is so old and weakening but would have been put down way back then if I hadn’t walked in to that shelter that late afternoon before the next day when she was scheduled to be put down! For several months they had worked with that stray unusual dog found as a pup, Basenji-Ridgeback mix that nobody knew anything about nor where she came from, and for months no one was looking for her! But she was deemed unadoptable even with the behaviorists input! The decisions for that euthanizing assessment are final and not reversed, but, if anyone could convince the director to find a way to stop that order it was me through her that director, who went out on a limb as she told me the next day when I returned before opening time, somehow overnight in off hours she worked some blessing for sure.

Oh yes; we humans are absolutely connected to the universe in the most profound way too! All an expression of God’s vastness, greatness and unimaginable love! But it is a journey and a long road that of course has many peaks and valleys with scattered bumps in the road, many trials; all helping to illustrate the many things we can and must learn along the way; while finding our worthiness! But my belief which I have seen proven time and again, is that God wants our cooperation and devoted love to Him! The way I’m so devoted to my animals is a drop in the bucket compared to what God is doing with us! But, He is so pleased and happy when we are getting it and trying our best!

That was right at this time of year many years ago when I happened in there by a very uncanny series of events just minutes before closing time, a few minutes off here or there leading up would have been curtains for the dog, such as my insisting on taking a look at the dogs being so compelled, and as it turned out this dog was scheduled before opening time the following morning to be put down; all of which happened I know for sure by a Godsend! 6/11/23

See ya Penny! Love you!

Standing Boldly in the Darkest Hours

The Animal Rights Advocate Pledge.

Fellow Advocate if you can lead the way we can follow or when you need me or some other advocate to take the lead and advance the cause by all means don’t hesitate to say so, I’m more than willing and able to face any adversary for what is RIGHT and JUST! To me my life means nothing if in the darkest hours I fail to stand boldly before our true enemies in this world, and there are many! Prayer and fellowship with one another are always needed and beneficial but BRAVERY and VALOR are harder to come by in most circumstances these days, because too many would rather pass the “buck” or leave the “dirty work” for someone else to do! I don’t have that problem because nobody owns me and I’m not beholding to any power on earth, political or otherwise and I’m always willing to go down with the ship if need be! Justice must be served in this world because we know that evil has gotten too many to cooperate already, and that will not do, it must be stopped dead in its tracks and obliterated if necessary; because it intends on infecting the entire human race with its end being destruction!

“WE SAVE THE ANIMALS WE SAVE OURSELVES!”

We fail them; our lives are worth dust in the wind.

All of this I say because of “NDUME” the gorilla, in his honor!

Lawrence Morra

Animals Give Happiness

You’re happy I like Animals! They are God’s little creatures; should we do less? Friend, you said the key word there, Happy! They bring more Happiness than not! We do right to enjoy what God created by His pleasure! Peace

Lawrence Morra

Memories and BUCK!

Another pure thought that came to my heart and soul due to this Pet JOE passing in a violent attack like this was something so classic and brazen in my heart forever! I always loved Jack London and especially his great classic “Call of the Wild!” From when I was a boy I would romanticize the whole Northwest Territory and Alaska of days gone by; but the thing that got to me like really deep in my soul was the dogs, and all of them but especially the key dog in that classic tale which makes me cry now thinking about his brave loving heart! Buck – A powerful dog, half St. Bernard and half sheepdog! Good God what a beautiful sentient animal being I would love to die if I must in that remote place isolated and pure from all of humanity and chaos with a team of dogs mushing through the snow and with a lead or key dog like Buck! I would want to just keep on going like that for countless years feeling the awe and magnificence of life, as you would in that backdrop of pure reality and being in touch with the soul of Nature and all those Sentient Beings in Unison with your own Spirit! God, I can feel it now sitting here!

Lawrence Morra

Special credit and memorial in loving memory for the Dickey family and beloved pet Joe!

Photo Courtesy of “animalpetitions”

The Alien Within

We Are The Aliens

“We humans breed, slaughter and consume many species of animals which makes us all mass killers”

Humans methodically go about doing this to so many of the animal species on this planet, most of the time giving little if any thought about what it must be like to be one of those innocent animals that lives such a controlled unnatural life, only to be later murdered and eaten by humans to satisfy their barbaric appetite for flesh!

The proper goal is to end all animal EXPLOITATION, and the public should DEMAND it, but they go on eating and stuffing their selfish faces abandoning any real concern of the animals they consume!!! We have all read or watched Alien Invasion stories where these foreign beings aren’t compassionate and are rather cold, calculating and hostile toward we humans; they are sinister creatures that seek to control us and suck our life force from our very inner core leaving behind perhaps something akin to so much dandruff, like dust in the wind!!! Yet, ironically throughout our history as we have written or read about such monsters, it appears to have been without stopping to recognize the “simple truth;” that the evil creatures we write and read about are in fact what we have become!!!

Lawrence Morra

Where does that creature belong

“Human Creatures”

via Daily Prompt: Creature

The word creature has both good and bad connotations when I see the word or think of it. Most people would recall hearing the term “they’re all God’s little creatures.” Many of us were fascinated by Hollywood versions of creatures, like “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” or “Sea Creatures from Outer Space,” and so many others that sometimes were frightening while others were laughable. But, to me the most important piece of work from my perspective about creatures by any artist or in this case an author is James Herriot, which is the pen name for Alf Wight. His book “All Creatures Great and Small,” chronicles the many experiences of a veterinarian who finds that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire England are drastically different from the sterile or controlled setting of veterinary school. In this literary work I found the deeper significance of “our fellow creatures” that we inhabit the planet with, along with those whose charge it is to care for them when in need. My appreciation increased dramatically by the sharing of this window into a world and area of medicine that I along with countless others have taken for granted far too often! This book helped me to understand how oblivious I was to the varied nuances and difficulties that our fellow creatures experience in life; while at the same time these dedicated people who to me are no less than heroes that take due diligence to the highest level, while providing treatment and care to so many simple but beautiful creature beings.

Throughout life my appreciation has grown and increased to an intensity that I now find myself many times wanting to know all creatures better and whenever possible to help in some way by offering myself up to the task at hand. I have rescued a small flock of farm ducks next to an interstate highway that got out of their pen and were about to try crossing where there was no crossing! I averted disaster and although no one was sure who they actually belonged to. I kept them in my garage temporarily which got a bit messy, but it was a short stay because it didn’t take long to find out who knew what to do with them. I remembered reading an article about a couple that had an animal farm which had become a menagerie of sorts where some people who had to move or had other life altering events occurring in their lives would bring many little creatures, from alpacas to bunnies and all kinds in between! But, once I got them to the right kind of people who knew how to help them, they were permanently placed on a beautiful tranquil farm with a pond, barn and enclosed adjoining area for them to “free roam!” I’ve many times rescued injured or orphaned wildlife from a certain bitter end, and then turned them over to caring hands of rehabilitators which in turn eventually led to seeing these creatures get their, “second chance!”

I know from my experiences that this world wouldn’t be worth living in it if not for all the “Creatures Great and Small,” that are part of our lives here on earth as “humans,” or if you will allow me, we “Human Creatures,” which also can conjure up good and bad connotations! Without going on about that last point, which I will leave for another writing sometime, suffice it to say that I’ve experienced firsthand many cases of countless “creatures great and small,” that I would prefer to be sharing my life with, rather than some of the human kind I’ve run into or had to deal with out of necessity!

Lawrence Morra

Creature — The Daily Post

Where does that creature belong

The word creature has both good and bad connotations when I see the word or think of it. Most people would recall hearing the term “they’re all God’s little creatures.” Many of us were fascinated by Hollywood versions of creatures, like “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” or “Sea Creatures from Outer Space,” and so many others that sometimes were frightening while others were laughable. But, to me the most important piece of work from my perspective about creatures by any artist or in this case an author is James Herriot, which is the pen name for Alf Wight. His book “All Creatures Great and Small,” chronicles the many experiences of a veterinarian who finds that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire England are drastically different from the sterile or controlled setting of veterinary school. In this literary work I found the deeper significance of “our fellow creatures” that we inhabit the planet with, along with those whose charge it is to care for them when in need. My appreciation increased dramatically by the sharing of this window into a world and area of medicine that I along with countless others have taken for granted far too often! This book helped me to understand how oblivious I was to the varied nuances and difficulties that our fellow creatures experience in life; while at the same time these dedicated people who to me are no less than heroes that take due diligence to the highest level, while providing treatment and care to so many simple but beautiful creature beings.

Throughout life my appreciation has grown and increased to an intensity that I now find myself many times wanting to know all creatures better and whenever possible to help in some way by offering myself up to the task at hand. I have rescued a small flock of farm ducks next to an interstate highway that got out of their pen and were about to try crossing where there was no crossing! I averted disaster and although no one was sure who they actually belonged to. I kept them in my garage temporarily which got a bit messy, but it was a short stay because it didn’t take long to find out who knew what to do with them. I remembered reading an article about a couple that had an animal farm which had become a menagerie of sorts where some people who had to move or had other life altering events occurring in their lives would bring many little creatures, from alpacas to bunnies and all kinds in between! But, once I got them to the right kind of people who knew how to help them, they were permanently placed on a beautiful tranquil farm with a pond, barn and enclosed adjoining area for them to “free roam!” I’ve many times rescued injured or orphaned wildlife from a certain bitter end, and then turned them over to caring hands of rehabilitators which in turn eventually led to seeing these creatures get their, “second chance!”

I know from my experiences that this world wouldn’t be worth living in it if not for all the “Creatures Great and Small,” that are part of our lives here on earth as “humans,” or if you will allow me, we “Human Creatures,” which also can conjure up good and bad connotations! Without going on about that last point, which I will leave for another writing sometime, suffice it to say that I’ve experienced firsthand many cases of countless “creatures great and small,” that I would prefer to be sharing my life with, rather than some of the human kind I’ve run into or had to deal with out of necessity!

Lawrence Morra

via Creature — The Daily Post

Where does that creature belong

“our fellow creatures”

via Daily Prompt: Creature

In this literary work I found the deeper significance of “our fellow creatures” that we inhabit the planet with, along with those whose charge it is to care for them when in need. My appreciation increased dramatically by the sharing of this window into a world and area of medicine that I along with countless others have taken for granted far too often! This book helped me to understand how oblivious I was to the varied nuances and difficulties that our fellow creatures experience in life; while at the same time these dedicated people who to me are no less than heroes that take due diligence to the highest level, while providing treatment and care to so many simple but beautiful creature beings.

“All Creatures Great and Small”

James Alfred Wight, better-known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and writer. Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to England to become a veterinarian in Yorkshire, where he practiced for almost fifty years. Wikipedia Born:October 03, 1916, Sunderland, County Durham, England. Died:February 23, 1995, Thirlby, North Yorkshire, England.

Lawrence Morra