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<DIV>This is a portion of an email I just received from Dawn at
Daphneyland:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Am trying very hard to keep eveyone updated - today was a very tough
emotional day for us here - and so I'm approaching tonights email a bit
differently.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So many well wishers, callers and folks worried about the hounds - none
more than those of us right here loving on them and taking care of them day in
and day out. I want to reassure everyone at this moment - while we still
are being hit with smoke in the afternoons, the fire appears to be staying put -
and that is a very good thing. We're not out of the woods - but we are at
least getting a break.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In order to best serve the hounds, we keep their routines as normal as
possible - which means loving them, feeding routines and play times, cleaning
and care - and its a ton of work to begin with daily, to mix in all these
various emergency activities and calls - the least amount of stress on the
hounds the better.</DIV>
<DIV>One of the biggest triggers of stress is us humans. Our hounds think
of us as the center of the universe - after all they wouldn;t have clean
bedding, food or play time if we weren't involved, and its VERY important for us
to remain calm with the hounds at all times and even more important in the face
of a disaster.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Today we were able to send out on a vet run the hound known as Ross.
Dr. Kim called mid morning to let us know that Ross was going to the bridge -
and that started the crying. Calls and emails after a night of only 2
hours sleep had my exhaustion level at beyond tolerance, and when Cesar Millans
office called offering support (they will be helping by picking up Laundry and
participating in Bath Day on 9/13 - ) and then the crying really started.
And I couldn;t stop it. Stress relief I suppose - and given that Bev was
wonderful and came up to help today with Rita - I took the opportunity to sneak
down and cuddle with my babies and catch a nap. I apologize if callers
could not reach me, and email went unanswered..... but I really needed a few
hours rest, a good cry and my baby girl Mariah to cuddle up with. My
furkids need reassurance that Mom has not disappeared and they KNOW I am working
like mad - so it was an amazing thing to be able to work off some stress by
cuddling with my baby girl. It helped, it helped alot.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This evening the smoke is still hanging, the need for air purifiers is
about our biggest need at this point in time - the wind is gentle and we pray it
stays that way. Rumor of possible rain and thunder storms is on the
horizon, and a good cleansing rain would be so welcome right now!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Our emergency teams are amazing - the outpouring of love for the hounds
from across(T - that was for you Sherry) the globe keeps renewing the daily
strength that one needs to continue to face this - Drool that it will soon be
over and we can face cleanup - and recovery. To think this is not yet fire
season is something I am not ready to face at this moment in time.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>For those who have asked - How do you keep so calm? The answer is of
course, I have to remind myself constantly - I am living the Dream, yep - Living
the Dream. So very Lucky to be Living the Dream.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The babies are all doing good - goopey eyes and raggedy though we all look
- </DIV>
<DIV>Junior our 17 year old needed to give a serious amount of kisses today -
yea, it is the dream. Have you been kissed by a 17 year old hound
today? You have not lived until you have been.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>With that I am going to go collapse - the Cesar Millan Team arrives in the
morning to start picking up and doing laundry for the hounds - and that is
beyond anything I could have envisioned. We have another girl needing
rescue and thankfully the Hellers are arranging the intake and fostering until
things calm down - </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It is truly amazing the team work that is going on.</DIV>
<DIV>My love and thanks to each and everyone.....</DIV>
<DIV>Dawn of the West</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">We are
currently facing the Station FIre - email will be forwarded to the appropriate
volunteer, please be patient. <BR>Donations for emergency funding can be made
at:<BR><A title=http://www.firstgiving.com/ActonFire_BassetRescueNetwork
href="http://www.firstgiving.com/ActonFire_BassetRescueNetwork">www.firstgiving.com/ActonFire_BassetRescueNetwork</A><U><BR></U><BR></FONT></DIV></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="dbc1a5dd562f855a43eb715279ac57"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/></font></DIV></BODY></HTML>