A Rescue

When adopting a dog from an animal shelter or rescue, there is always the possibility that the dog will have a fear or two that they have to overcome.  Rigby came to me with a few such fears.  Loud noises (food processor, blender, lawn mowers, etc.), riding in the car, and being covered with anything (a blanket as an example) frightened her.  All of those fears always made me feel so sad for her.  What had happened to her in those short few months of her life before I got her made her react that way.  She's mostly overcome them since, and she's pretty brave nowadays.

The fear of being covered with anything has probably diminished due to the morning routine.  Rigby forgets how to mind when I make the bed.  When I call her off of it, she crawls across it, makes herself longer and bigger, and somehow covers more and more of the bed with each, "Get down!".  When this habit started, I would barely touch her with a sheet or pillow, and she'd spring off the bed with such a start.  Now?  Well, I can pile all the bedding on top of her, and she falls asleep!  I think she's over that fear.  

*sigh*

It's been almost two weeks since our infamous election on November 8, and in those almost two weeks I've had this ever-present sense of bewilderment (and dread) over what has happened.  I know I'm not alone in this shock, and yet I feel like I've gone into my head a bit over it, trying to rationalize how this is possible and what will our future look like now.  Neither is terribly pleasant.
While I've always felt fairly street smart, self aware, and a good judgement of people, after the election results, it is quite clear I've been living in a freaking bubble.  I am stunned that someone so rude and hateful and dishonest and with the vocabulary of a 5th grader has earned the highest office in our land.  Regardless of wanting change in this country, I don't understand how someone who has insulted and degraded every societal group (except white men) deserves to be president.  And no matter how hard I have tried, I can't rationalize it.  If that makes me a whiny liberal, then I guess that is what I am.

I had to take a step back from news, blogs, Facebook, etc, for awhile because I was/am truly disgusted by the election (and what has transpired since).  I spent the last two weeks watching reruns of West Wing instead of the news, pretending that Martin Sheen had gotten the job instead.  Anyhow, I don't plan on posting about it anymore, but I felt I needed to explain my absence.
I hope you all have been well!