Our beloved Dipstick is in a bad way right now. Since this blog began he’s battled through Cushing Syndrome and survived a life-threatening intestinal obstruction. Through it all he’s only become sweeter and more affectionate.
This morning we found him panting, trembling and obviously in distress. We monitored him for an hour before rushing to an emergency appointment with our vet in Gassville. After blood work and an exam, we got the diagnosis.
Dipstick is suffering from acute pancreatitis. He was admitted. As I type this, the staff is administering intravenous fluids and oral antibiotics, hoping he’ll eat so that his GI tract isn’t damaged further. He’ll likely be there a couple of days at least.
He’s my little buddy. He’s become Deb’s favorite. And he’s very seriously ill.
If you’re the prayin’ kind, we’d be grateful if you’d say one for our Dipstick.
The trip to the vet put us in Gassville on laundry day. Not really knowing how this day would play out, we threw a bag of dirty clothes in the back seat of the truck, just in case. As it happened, we were able to take care of the chore on our way back Home.
Just inside the front door of the laundromat, sitting atop a wicker hamper, was a plastic tote. A sign taped to it read, “FREE laundry detergent pods.” It was put there by a local church.
A small gesture? Sure — typically a pod costs between a quarter and 50 cents at the store, and each load of wash requires only one. But in this region, with incomes low and poverty relatively high, even a quarter can be a big deal.
Quiet generosity is the norm here. We’ve noticed it since we first arrived.
Yesterday, for example, Deb and I picked up a few things at the Dollar General in Yellville. At the cashier we were in line behind an older woman, perhaps a bit rough around the edges and clearly of limited means. She counted out small bills and loose change, but she didn’t have quite enough to pay for the food she’d picked out. She came up 87 cents short.
The cashier at the other register, seeing the pained expression on the customer’s face, reached down and pulled a dollar bill from her own purse. She put it on the counter, smiled at the woman and said, simply,
“We’re good. Have a blessed day.”
At the racetrack later, I waited at the order window behind a single mother and her three kids, all of whom were craving BBQ. When the woman at the counter announced the total, the mom was about ten bucks shy. She said, “Just take my meal off. Will that do it?”
Remembering what I’d seen at Dollar General, I caught the attention of the woman taking the order and indicated that I’d make up the difference. She smiled, shook her head “no” at me, then turned back to that single mom.
“What you have is just fine, hon’. Your food will be ready in about 15 minutes.”
None of this is for show. It’s all genuine. And it’s not faddish “kindness” — it’s true goodness. It strikes me, even moves me, every time I see it, which is more often than you can imagine.
(By the way, goodness is contagious.)
Volunteer of the Day: Arkansas Beardtongue (Penstemon arkansanus).
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB