JUNE 16, 2023 MEET MY PET PAL GROUNDCOVER NEWS meet my pet pal: TISH GIRL & AMANDA "feel our fairy dust" A column on why those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity have pets and why it is important to support that. Mom, Becky; who also HOPES she will get to visit with me again now and then. I ENJOY that my Pet Girl Amanda is ALWAYS talking with me when she preps for the day and when she gets back to our wooded home. We feel nature around us together; and I “can tell” Amanda FEELS VERY SATISFIED! with my company. My Pet Girl relates with my really posiHi there! My name is “Tish-Girl” or “Tish” (well, at least that’s what my “Pet Girl” Amanda most often calls me). My full name is “Socraticia.” My “Pet Girl” gave me this name because there are times and ways I just “look so wise.” How did Pet and Pet-Human find each other? I was getting REALLY DESPERATE! I had been THROWN-OUT, tank and all, at a dumpster! My Pet Girl Amanda was walking by one day, and she saw me in my tank with pretty pink pebbles, blue sand, green plants, and just a bit of water. The trouble was she thought I was a small, ornate rock! How could I let this human who cared enough about animals to stop by my tank to investigate — know that I WASN’T a rock!? Besides, I was SCARED! What if my natural instinct was right, and I should be AFRAID of any! human? Still, I was DESPERATE! I decided to extend my head out of my shell, just a bit; and also to move a little. Suddenly, I realized that the human girl looking into my tank as I moved a bit, realized that I am a LIVING TURTLE! Right then, Amanda became my “Pet Girl;” She immediately picked-up my tank with me in it, and brought me into what was then her and her Mom’s apartment. The next day, she looked-up what type of turtle I am, and realizing I am a “Red-Eared-Slider,” she reset my whole tank to be especially for me, just how I need it. She also gave me my type of food. It was then that I knew, I am LOVED! She also talks with me (though I speak a language different from English) and somehow we UNDERSTAND each other. My Pet Girl Amanda also dotes upon me, looking at me fondly, and all these ways let me know that my Pet Girl Amanda ESPECIALLY VALUES and LOVES me. She DELIGHTS in me, and wants to visit with me; She recognizes and likes my yellow and brown splashes of just right, beautiful design. It’s now been 17 years since my Pet Girl Amanda found me; I was then only slightly smaller than a quarter, and I’m now as big as Amanda’s two hands! Many feeder worms, mini shrimp, spinach, pellets and lettuce later — we’ve been Pet and human companions all this time; and since my average life expectancy is 30 years, we’re doing great, and we’ve got some miles to go! Tell us a few things about yourself. I’m a KEEN OBSERVER, and always tell Amanda in my own way How HAPPY I am with her as my Pet human, for her company and for her CARE for me with each detail. Also, somehow I “just know things.” I can tell if my Pet Girl is rushed or tired sometimes, though I am GLAD that Amanda is always a happy person, and patient and CARING,NO MATTER WHAT. I communicate a lot through and with my eyes; I look directly, to notice and convey. I’m still VERY WISE. I get EXTRA relaxed or enthused when Amanda puts K-Love Christian radio on. I ENJOY Amanda’s visits; it’s fun being a pet when you’re LOVED. I’ve been wondering where Amanda’s BELOVED Mom is? She used to live with us and she and I also used to visit a lot — especially while Amanda was volunteering or at work. However, I’m now daily entertained by the sounds of other nearby animals, other sounds like tree leaves blowing in the wind. Sometimes I hear Amanda’s Mom’s voice through this small, strange, hand-held device, and I wonder and I wish I could visit again with Amanda’s Mom sometimes. Amanda and I PRAY for her BELOVED tive nature; we together find and focus on the GOOD; the beauty and purity around us; and the GOOD in other people. We desire to bless others with our “positive vibes,” and to even seek to somehow give back to Nature, at least a little of what it’s doing for us. So we breathe it, and RECEIVE IT; FULLY. We SEEK to KEEP a part of it with us, and let some others EXPERIENCE the “Fairy Dust” (Ha Ha!) from off of us, also. We just CARE! What is a challenge of having a pet while experiencing homelessness? If you tell the wrong people that you have a pet while you’re “homeless,” they might assume you shouldn’t have one! Some people don’t realize that exactly you and your pet are ESSENTIAL FOR EACH OTHER! You Are FAMILY, helping each other thrive! and advance in a big, big world of some who don’t care. If you have kids, just imagine them being taken away from you just because you’re not in some other people’s financial bracket, and then insisting that somehow you’re then best situated to enjoy life and advance financially, though your heart would be ripped apart from such excruciating loss! The really good thing is the way my Pet Girl Amanda takes care of us. We don’t know that we’re homeless, and thus, we really AREN’T! My Pet Girl Amanda, takes much better care of me and herself than if we were residing in a more traditional dwelling! Amanda cunningly improvises; I have a smaller tank right now (though probably my Pet Girl is going to buy me a larger one for summer). We will be taking walks in “our woods” soon on a leash, since my metabolism is getting more active now that spring is more fully here. There isn’t a stream here, so Amanda must bring water in a jug to me, but that is “AOK” with her, since it’s for me. Though my metabolism goes down to semi-dormant during coldest fall and winter, I MUST have at least three or four hand warmers that my Pet Girl tucks me in with, along with my blankies. Water also must be given only at certain times; I don’t need it as often; though water also must have a hand warmer under it, to keep it from freezing. My Pet Girl ALWAYS keeps us REALLY TOASTY WARM! My Pet Girl budgets extra carefully to make sure I ALWAYS! HAVE WHAT I NEED, and that I’m COMFORTABLE. Something really sad though, is, if you have a pet that CANNOT BE ADAPTED FOR, that pet might not have ANY good options for the cold season. Amanda’s pet toads now simply talk to us from afar somewhere. We hear them in the voices of non-pet toads and frogs in the woods around us. THANKFULLY, I, Tish-Girl, am MUCH Simpler to TAKE CARE of; Amanda and I just ENTRUST our departed amphibian friends to our OMNIPOTENT, ALL MERCIFUL GOD. We believe we will more than likely have them in our lives again someday, somewhere beyond this life, In Eternity. What is something our readers should know about you and Amanda if they see you both on the street? You won’t likely encounter Amanda and I out in public; I MUCH prefer the earthy ground under my feet, and the shade covering of leaves overhead and around us (and actually Amanda much prefers this environment in many ways, also! ) If we somehow do get to meet someday though, I’ll really look forward to it! I’m REALLY FRIENDLY and I know my Pet Girl Amanda will seek only nice humans to introduce me to; and if you’re interested in this Pet Pals article, you probably are one! 7
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