Of dogs and heating oil on Valentine’s Day

It’s Valentine’s Day, y’all!

I’m not going to blather on about Singles Awareness Day, because let’s face it – that’s every day. I’m not here to rant about this holiday that many profess to hate, yet still consumes us. In fact, I feel quite awesome on this most hallowed/Hallmarked of days.

There is hurricane-style blizzard coming, so once I stop yammering and get my butt of this couch, I have a few feet of snow to shovel and Sadie and I have some errands to run…er…walk…in 20 degree weather. The most important being dog food. There is a wonderful little dog store a few blocks from me called Polka Dog Bakery, and as I thought about the people who I want to acknowledge on V-day, I realized that cool treats for their pets would be a nice present.

And then I remembered this article I read last night.

There are people, probably some just a few blocks from that dog store, who have used up their heating oil allotment for the entire winter – and it’s not even February 15. They literally don’t know how they will heat their homes and there is a blizzard coming. So yeah, that changed my thinking a little bit.

I headed over to my budget to see if I could shift some money around to make a donation to try, at least, to help a little. Let’s not get in to whether my little gift really makes any impact, but since I’m not an oil company and I can’t donate oil to these folks, or find them a job, or raise their wages enough so that even then they could afford heating oil, I’m not sure what else I can do.

I’m sure you know where this is going. No pet treats as gifts. Instead, I’ll be donating to my local community service organization, and to the MSPCA here in Boston and the Fayetteville Animal Shelter back in Arkansas, in honor of these pets and their humans:

Kitten Brave, and her human Becky, who sent me the sweetest Valentine card and reset my psyche into a state of gratitude for friendship and love of the real, rather than manufactured, kind.

Pooches Reina, Taylor, Riley and Bonnie and their humans Kyle, Laura, and Megan – their graciousness in watching Sadie when I traveled is one of the things I miss most (other than the mild winters) about living in Arkansas.

Canines LeRoy Brown, Sam, and Grace and their humans Jennifer, Kenton, and Robert Ross and Lisa and Jeff Inness, friends who, well…are just the best kinds of friends, and whom I miss every day.

Big puppy Siena and her humans Daryl and Dave at Taylor House B&B, who watched over us last winter before we moved into our apartment…and after.

Feline Ollie, whom I’ve never met, and his human Suzanne, who is my sports/arts buddy here in Boston.

And the marvelous spaniel Molly and her human Nicole, who have kept us company, showed us all around our new city, and generally been the best friends a girl and her dog could ask for.

If you love this holiday, I hope you whoop it up and have a great time, and don’t let all of us naysayers get you down. If you hate it, well, stay off social media and remember it’s just one day. A big Woof and a hug from us here in Boston to all of you out there.

XOXO, Jodi and Sadie