Moses

This is Moses. Some of you may have been following his journey on Facebook. Moses was rescued by Martha, his guardian angel, from a high-kill shelter in Garland, Texas. He was picked up as a stray, but at his age and in his condition, he most surely was dumped. You see, Moses is at least 17 years old, and is completely blind. He is feisty and independent, desiring no help or assistance from anyone.
Getting him here from Texas was quite an endeavor. My sister contributed credit that she had with Southwest airlines, and Dan and I picked up the rest. There have been some offers of donations to help with the fare, but we haven't gotten any so far. People have been so nice about trying to get him here - everything from a flight attendant (who tried, but couldn't make it work on such short notice), to a kind and generous group of cruisers who contacted people they knew, to Martha and Jean (who brought him to the airport to meet me), to the many, many people Moses and I met on our journey from Dallas to Kiel. He is home now, and adapting to life with the rest of the crew. It is amazing and inspirational how well he does so!
Moses and I finally rolled up to the house at about 9:00pm last night. What a long day! I was up and down in an airplane four times, and spent sixteen hours traveling! But it was all worth it. Moses slept the whole plane ride home, though he protested (loudly) when we left the airport and he felt how cold Wisconsin is! He continued to protest until the car warmed up.  I gave him some supper and put him to bed in the laundry room for the night so that he didn't have too big of an area to have to get lost in. This morning it has been fascinating to watch how a blind dog navigates new surroundings. Moses followed the walls as best he could, using his little ears as antennae to keep an even distance between him and the wall. Sometimes he bumped gently into the wall with his head, but only a couple of times. Then, when he finds himself in an open area, he turns in tight circles, ever-widening them until he touches something again. He has spent the last hour and a half walking and figuring out the area, though it is not in a panicked way - just very methodically mapping out the room. Now he walks confidently across the open areas, too. Dan just picked him up, and he is falling asleep in his arms. Welcome home, Moses.