Thank you!

If there is a kinder, more compassionate, more generous and supportive community in the world, I don't know where it is. The Blip response to the homecoming of little Kismet (purring on my belly as I write this), to the picture of Bella lost in thought, and to thoughts about what "rescue" means (for animals and for humans), and how fear appears for us: has been incredible.

After I posted the picture of Bella last night and responded to the first 20 or so comments, my modem quit working. Maybe all those comments were just too much for it.

When I woke this morning, I had no internet service. My internet provider routed me to people in India, who told me do all the things I had already done: unplug the computer, unplug the modem, check the connections, and push the end of a paper clip into the back of the modem where it says "Restart." Nothing worked. The guy in India said, "Hold the paper clip in place for a full thirty seconds." We timed it. Nothing.

Bella arrived for our play date, but we were stuck in the apartment because I had to wait for a repairman. I was amazed that they were able to send a man out today. He duly arrived and said the modem was fried. He saw the paperclip and asked me if I'd pushed it into the restarter, and I said yes. He said, "Did the guy in India tell you to do that?" I said yes. I didn't mention that I had already done it once when the guy in India told me that.

"Well, you shouldn't have done that, and he shouldn't have told you to do it. It may be that your modem had died before you did that, but that certainly finished it off. I'm going to give you a used modem I've got in my truck, but if you ever have trouble with it, don't stick a paper clip into it." By about 4 p.m., I had service again, but Bella was with me and she and I were both busting to get out of the house and into the sunshine; and as soon as Bella left, it was time for a friend's birthday party. (Same friend who featured in my blip on this day last year.) By the time I got home this evening, I had about a hundred Blip comments I'd not seen, not to mention some fifty emails.

So I give you the uneaten cake from my friend's birthday party, and I'm turning off comments and may take a blip break for a day or two. I need to catch my breath and say individual thanks to many who left thoughtful comments that have touched my heart. Kismet spent most of her day under the couch, but she came out once the repairman and Bella had disappeared, and she ate a good dinner, and she's going to be fine. She just needs more time. I am grateful for the many comments, the new subs, the stars and hearts and thoughts. You knock me out. When I get caught up, I'll turn comments on again.