I’m a Twit…er…Tweet…er…

I begged Diana to join Twitter earlier this fall. She was skeptical.

“I don’t want to know what a stranger just ate or who they are mad at this moment, Pish.”

I had a hunch it was more than that. Diana visited with @PhotosRmStry and she said, “You have to join. You will be amazed."

Duh. I’d been barking that for ages. Did she listen to me? Nooooooooo (oh, nice howl, don’t you think?)

Diana is kind of shy and does not meet new people easily and Michael is so busy with his work that he doesn’t have much time to meet new people either. At Michael’s encouragement, Diana is working on not being shy. I am helping with that. I am not shy. At all. Ever. I’m showing her that you just have to go for it. Good things will happen. Sometimes bad things will too, but that’s life, eh?

Twitter has really helped Diana get over her shyness a lot. We have found a community of wonderful people doing amazing things to help animals. They welcomed us in just like that. No questions asked. No uncomfortable moments. We don’t always chime in. We sit by the edge of this fast moving river of chatter and dangle our feet, enjoying the view. But sometimes we jump right in and paddle around.

Diana feels so blessed to have met me and brought me into her life. She should. I’m awesome. But I’ll save that for another posting later. To thank them and to help current pals in need, we started making snuggle blankets for the rescue agency that saved me. Diana is very slow at it. She is a “perfectionist” for barks sake. But we have nearly a dozen ready to go to the agency and plan on making tons more in the coming year. Diana makes them because no one in the family wants her crocheted stuff anymore.

“Oh, no, really, the lap blankets you’ve already made for me are plenty enough. Thank you.” But she spends nearly three hours a day on the bus going and returning from work. She has to do something with her hands and gets dizzy reading for that long. Voila. Sasha’s Snuggles, blankets for us lap doggies ad kitties, was born.

We are small peanuts compared to the people we follow. We are completely floored by the hard work and dedication we have found within the confines of our Barkberry and the Twitter Universe. So in this season of hope, this season of giving to others, this season of good cheer, we would like to Bark Out Loud a short mention and clap our paws together in support for some of what we have discovered:

• Some people run rescue agencies. Their work is so desperately valuable and, unfortunately, never ending; 

• Some people train fearful dogs to become more comfortable in a world that has not been kind to them; 

• Some people foster dogs and cats, providing them with a safe home until their forever home can be found - sometimes this is the first safe home they have ever known;

• Some people post information about the terrible things people do. While this if often difficult, heart rendering and almost impossible for Diana to read, she told me they are angles on earth because they shed light on evil and diminish it;

• Some vets give their time and experienced voices to help people understand how to take care of our health needs better;

• Some people challenge the stats quo of looking at the world and ask that we explore other ways of looking at dogs, dog behavior and human interaction with them;

• Some expend countless hours organizing and rallying their followers to raise money for selected charities by organizing #PawPawty events. These are virtual parties of amazing proportions and fun - all on the internet with real, tangible results benefiting so many, many needy animals;

• Some are creative and funny. They write The Anipal Times, they write their own blogs, they write books and they create amazingly cute pictures and videos for their followers to enjoy and share.

We are a blip in the Twitter Universe and yet have been changed forever by what we have seen and learned. We have less than 200 followers and follow about 250 from all over the world. Imagine what is out there that we have yet to discover and bark about!

Special Thanks to #SuePicArtist4Anipals For My Festive Look

 

 

P.S. If Sandy Paws would be so kind as to come to our house this year, Diana would like some yarn for the blankies, Michael would like some new socks and I would like some CHEESE!