Chicken Soup for the Soul ‘Friend Friday’ Podcast with Amy Newmark

I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Amy Newmark on the Chicken Soup for the Soul ‘Friend Friday’ podcast. We discussed my stories, “Changing More Than Diapers” in the Empowered Woman book, about my experiences as an engineering student and coming full circle as an engineering professor, and “Teacher in a Fur Coat” in The Dog Really […]

Just Being

Earlier this year I wrote about taking a therapy dog class with Cay, and how far she’s come since she first arrived here as a practically-feral adolescent 8 years ago. I had decided to enter Cay in the class because of the response she’d shown to my niece’s children, fetching the ball over and over […]

New Beginnings

The arrival of spring brought a wonderful message about a new beginning that brightened my day. Remember my 2012 story about the spirit dogs of Bimini (https://www.omegafields.com/blog/spirit-dogs-of-bimini/)? In March I received a message from Johanna, who rescued the yellow dog in the story that reminded me of my dog Cay. Johanna founded a rescue organization […]

The Things We Miss

Several friends have lost 2-legged and 4-legged loved ones during this past year. The holidays are a busy time when these losses can be especially painful. So I invite you to focus on your loved ones this season, to give them your undivided attention and really see and enjoy them. One friend lost her Australian […]

My Greatest Gifts

I don’t participate in the sales, the super shopping, running around completely stressed, many of the things we’re ‘supposed’ to do during this holiday season. I think Christmas is supposed to be about love, and I don’t know how buying stuff for people became equated with love. It’s a misguided notion that helps drive the […]

Living with It… and Rocking it Out

First, an update on how Bandit and Chase are doing. Chase completed 21 radiation therapy treatments for colonic adenocarcinoma on August 23rd. He had a stellar follow-up appointment two weeks later. On September 24th he returned to his volunteer mission at the local library, where kids read to him. On October 15th, he had a […]

My Library Dog

Tuesday was Chase’s library day. It was so inspiring to see the kids read to him. Even over the summer, some of them have improved so much. I love to see kids get excited about books. When many adults don’t read books any more, it’s good to see a younger generation being inspired by them. […]

Derailing the Train

Well, I certainly didn’t see this coming. My oh-so-special dog Chase has been diagnosed with cancer. As cancer does, it came like a blow to the gut when least expected, and suddenly figuring out what to do about this fast-growing disease was our top priority. Chase had blood in his stools for a few months, […]

Chase’s True Calling? Dog is Love

In January, Chase and I started taking a therapy dog class. The point of the class is to familiarize the human-dog team with the exercises they need to pass to become a Delta Society Pet Partners team. Chase has been waiting for me to get my act together for years. He loves to meet new […]