Adventures with Astrid and the Letter P

Astrid has another adventure to share with you all today, and she wants to show you some new friends she made.

See them there? They're tall, and orange, and not very talkative or active. But, they did highly interest pup Astrid.

Those new friends of Astrid's have been sitting on that corner of our neighborhood for weeks now. Astrid will be sad to see them go, whenever that might happen. 

Astrid is curious if any of you have made any weird new friends lately? She sure has, with all the random bits and pieces the construction workers keep leaving behind on our walking paths. She'll keep showing you more of those new friends of hers for as long as they stick around.

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And now we're ready for today's edition of the April A to Z Challenge.

This year, my A to Z theme is "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things", as anyone who has visited us this month very likely already knows. Today we've reached the letter P.

Especially the farther I make it into the A to Z challenge, the more I find myself coming up with a number of different ideas for each letter. I guess I just like keeping my options open. For P, I heavily considered making it stand for purple, which has been my favorite color since childhood. I also thought of simply making it stand for personal space, or more like personalized space. Or peace, of course with a side of quiet. Obviously, P can also stand for pets, which I love so very much. Then I realized, why not try to cover all of that in one doodle? And so P stands for all of the above, and then some.

I also considered making P stand for Poe, that being Edgar Allan Poe, as his macabre work is my kind of thing. So, pretend one or more of those books contains Poe's works.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

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Tip of the Day

As part of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month, we are continuing our series of tips regarding this topic. Yesterday we mentioned some of the unfortunate forms of cruelty and neglect, and mentioned the importance of recognizing animal cruelty when you witness it. Today, we are giving some brief tips on what to do if you do witness animal cruelty.

First and foremost, if you witness animal cruelty, report it as soon as possible. You can report it to the police, including calling 911 if you believe it is an emergency at hand. You can also call your local animal control, humane society, or other organization that can offer help in the face of animal cruelty. If your local area does not offer help for animal cruelty, then call the Humane Society of the United States or other similar organization to see what can possibly be done.

What's more, if you do have animal cruelty to report, make sure that you have all the details and any evidence possible. Knowing the location, date, time, and of course the nature of the witnessed cruelty can be important for expediting the report and actions taken by police or other organizations. Try to tell them what types of animals and how many are involved, as well as details on any perpetrators you've seen. If possible, use that cell phone of yours to grab photos or video of any cruelty you are witnessing. Evidence in this form can really help to expedite the resolution of the issue.

When it comes to reporting animal cruelty, be persistent. Animals do not have a voice with which to speak up for themselves, so we must do it for them. If you are witnessing cruelty, be persistent in contacting those who can help, and follow up to ensure that there is resolution. Give the police, animal control, the humane society, or whoever is helping your contact information, so that they can contact you if needed. All in all, we must be the voice for the voiceless, so if you witness any form of animal cruelty or neglect, do all that you can to safely seek aid for the victim(s).