Poly-Ticks

Poly-Ticks = Multitude of Bloodsuckers

War Is Asinine

Watching Ray busking in his regular spot at our farmers market this Saturday morning blowing up his balloons for the kids, chatting in between, I realized Ray has all these great one-liners, he ought to entertain not only kids, but us adults. I would love to watch Ray on his own soap box spout his wisdom among plenty of laughter. To my surprise I learned that he used to be a stand-up comedian, wow, who knew!

We have become too politically correct, hence the rise of Trump. Let us all let out our own inner, little Trump. Let us all be bolder, more audacious, and a whole lot more passionate. It would be refreshing to hear real people again expressing their views with vigor and preferably lots of laughter. Let us all do our part in expressing ourselves with less caution so that the real Trump may fade away, at the very least disappear from public view and especially the US political scene.

This is how David Bedrick, Author of "Talking Back to Dr. Phil" put it: "

"I AM DONALD TRUMP

* Do you sometimes feel like the system is just not working? 

* Do you ever think that you have censored yourself too long and you would love to just let whatever you think and feel just flow freely out of your mouth? 

* Do you sense, at times, that you really know better than a lot of what passes for policy, politics, healing and more?

I have. If you have too, then we have a little "Donald Trump" in us. 

No, I don't mean literally - you need not be a racist, sexist, ego-maniac to join the club. "

Check my flickr set for more on Ray Masterson and his service dog Dawson.

Canine Meet & Greet

Dawson, Ray Masterson's service dog, a Husky meets a 9 month old pup, thankfully not for the first time. My dog Isabella-girl takes no longer kindly to impolite doggies that show no respect and get in her face. But Dawson, now 7 years old, has become a very friendly  dog, Ray has taught him well. He was not always mellow, as a pup he used to explode at my dogs and we would have a barking frenzy on our hands. This year has got me dodging dogs and has gotten me very tired of dog custodians that do not pay attention and are not proactive in avoiding unpleasantries. This little cutie here is a 9 month old male and a handful, but the lady says she always checks with others about her pup approaching, which I sure appreciate. I did notice though how Ray gave Dawson cues to take it easy with the little one. Shocking the dirty looks I get from those on the other end of the leash that somehow feel insulted when I pull my pups away in an effort to avoid conflict and keep our dogs safe!

 Balloons Are Free

- Tipping Is Expected

Boy Meets Girl

All Smiles

AMEN

Ray Masterson - Vietnam Vet, Peace Activist

 BLOW UP BALLOONS NOT PEOPLE!

Ray surprised me when he started to entertain kids at the Farmers Market.

Ray trained his service dogs himself.

Dawson is "trained to only bite back" we are told.

Dawson now between 4 and 5 years old
has become the sweetest and most tolerant dog.

After all that sitting and waiting and being patient
 a bit of canine yoga is what the doctor ordered.

 Dawson's job is to navigates their contraption through traffic.

BICYCLES ARE VEHICLES NOT OBSTACLES

Oh, so true.

Find more images of Ray and his dogs here on flickr.

I made a point to grab a chance and meet this colorful character and his service dog when I spotted them hanging out on the plaza. Only days earlier our dogs had barked ferociously at each other, and I deem it important to teach my pups good manners. It helps to go towards what we fear, I think in general. I practice this more with my pups then myself I must admit. So this is how I started to learn that about Ray Masterson, a Vietnam vet and his certified assistance dog Yukon.

Yukon came to him after his prior service dog had died, so he had to train this fourth service dog from scratch, not easy. But Yukon learned to help him negotiate their blind corners from the back of their bike, they were such a sight together, here at the Fiesta 08 Parade, bicycling for peace. When I met them they had been together already 10 years.

Today I learned that Yukon, now 14 years old, lives retired at Melon Ranch with three other female dogs, but not before he trained the next service dog. Ray found him like all the ones prior at a shelter and only 2 years old, the puppy in him still visible. Ray looks very pleased with his new companion, somehow I was not in the frame of mind to take their image even though my Olympus was in my pocket and they looked handsome together, for once on foot.

His yellow bike got replaced with a new Schwinn that has given him nothing but problems, so he said today. But then walking is not the worst when the roads still are littered with icy patches. I am glad our streets are filled with colorful characters like Ray and his service dogs.