Addie’s angel, Glenda
The other day, I was listening to a great Terry Gross interview with performer Rosanne Cash, whose remarkable new cd, The List, is just out. One of the things that Gross asked her was about religion; Cash had gone through a particularly challenging time recently, and the question was what sustained you? Her answer was so poignant that I had to pull over to the side of the road. She said “Well, I adhere to the religion of art and music and small children….”
And when I heard it, I thought “well, finally.” Because the things that people say about this extraordinarily personal thing that makes many of us get up in the morning are sometimes so canned and trite that I often find myself feeling really peevish about it. It got me thinking, too, because I’ve had a lot of challenge in recent years, and I don’t generally point my prayers northward either. Instead, my own personal aha moments come in gardens, in recognizing how stunning things like Japanese turnips can be when they’re still small and sweet, in my baby cousin Malcolm’s drooling grin, in the fact of Susan, and when I turn around in my kitchen to find that Addie is staring at me quietly, smiling, and wagging. For no apparent reason.
I was thinking a lot about this on Saturday, when Susan and I took Addie to the place where it all began for the three of us: a parking lot in Glastonbury, Connecticut, next to a Dunkin’ Donuts. It was there that Addie’s transport from Arkansas to Memphis and Memphis to our home began when we adopted her, sight unseen, from an organization called Labs 4 Rescue, which specializes in bringing needy dogs up north. Once the adoption or foster is agreed-upon, another remarkable organization, P.E.T.S — Peterson Express Transport Service, run by Kyle and Pam Peterson of Cookeville, Tennessee — drives the dogs up in a retro-fitted, climate controlled horse trailer on a trip that takes 3 days and makes stops from Pennsylvania all the way up to New Hampshire. On this trip, Glenda, the woman who first connected us to Addie, would be in attendance. Could she see Addie again? We jumped at the chance for a reunion, and for us to finally meet this incredible lady who has changed the lives of hundreds of dogs and their people. Like us.
The transport arrives.
Would Addie remember Glenda? Would the sight of the transport, packed with barking pups of all ages destined for new homes upset her? Honestly, we weren’t sure. Sometimes you just don’t know. But when she decided to take a quick nap on the pavement, we figured it out.
Exhausted from stress. She needs a fig leaf.
No one really knows for sure who finds religion in what, and really, no one can ever know; it’s just very personal. For Rosanne Cash, it’s music and art and children. For me, it’s my family, and food, and feeding people, and the velvet brown eyes of a dog who is finally safe and happy.
And it’s Glenda, Addie’s angel.
Addie’s Biscuits
When Addie first came to us in March, she actually didn’t know what biscuits were. Needless to say, that’s changed. But, it’s not easy to find truly good biscuits that aren’t either packed with a whole lot of dreck, or cost a mortgage payment for a box that’s going to be gone in less than 8 seconds (not literally). If your dog eats biscuits the way Addie does, things can get expensive. What to do? Make your own. And if you run out of crackers at your next party, you’re set. This recipe comes from a terrific site called The-Hunting-Dog.com
2 cups cornmeal
2 eggs
2 tablespoons molasses
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup powdered milk
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients, and blend until smooth.
2. Roll out the mixture 1/4″ thick, and cut into shapes. Place 1 inch apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
3. Let cool. Store in an airtight container.
* Many thanks to all the people who supplied us with the terrific picture of Addie and Glenda.
