Moggies, then and now
A "Moggie" road sign - cats live here?
I’ve spent the last six and a half months taking the same drive to work almost every day. It’s picturesque – a winding back road, past creeks, over rivers, and through landscape that ranges from stark cedars on bare rock to lush pastures with contentedly grazing cows. Every day, I’ve passed the same red brick cottage, and every day, I’ve smiled at the sign they have on their side lawn.
“Moggie”, it says – white letters on a green background. In the spring, they have flowers attached to the base of the sign. I’ve been touched to picture the type of cat loving ex pats who’d have to gone to such lengths to display their devotion to their pets. ‘Moggie’, for anyone in Great Britain, is affectionate slang for ‘cat’ – non pedigreed cats, in particular.
From About.Com –
Moggie
Definition: Noun.Term used in Great Britain to describe a domestic non-pedigreed cat. Also used as an affectionate term for “stray” cats.
Pronunciation: moh-gee
Also Known As: stray, alley catExamples:
My favorite “breed” of cats is the Moggie.
It took me until last week before I realized that their sign had absolutely nothing to do with cats – a fact I realized only when I finally noticed this tiny cemetary, tucked away at the side of the road a few hundred yards from the Moggie sign I’d been admiring.
Moggie Pioneer Cemetery - no pets in sight
Turns out Moggie was another one of Ontario’s lost villages – early settlements that had just slowly vanished, absorbed into larger towns, or simply disappearing when the small schools and churches had ceased to exist. Moggie is marked now by three things only – a small cemetery, home to three gravestones, each dating from the mid 1850’s, a green road sign, and this small commemorative sign, almost buried in the brush near the roadside entrance to the cemetery.
I’ve since learned that the village of Moggie has a very interesting story behind it, but I’ll leave that for another blog I’m currently working on. Suffice to say, it has nothing to do with house cats.
Your Friday Moment of Zen
Oh hai - I'm a nudibranch, and I'm so cute it's almost painful. Not as painful as it will be if you lick me, however.
This funky little dude is a nudibranch, and before the urge to kiss him and hug him overtakes you, it’s good to remember that —
a) he’s a slug
b) he’s a poisonous slug
So, probably best if you skip snuggling on the nudibranch. He’s still pretty cute, though.
h/t to F U Penguin for this one.
At Risk Kids Graduate Class of Assistance Dogs
Participating in BARK program are (from left) Holly with her trainer Amanda, Maple with trainer Matt, and Daisy with trainer Sean.
A great example of how partnerships between dogs and at risk youth and adults can help everyone involved.
From the Londoner –
Residents of London’s Craigwood Youth Services are preparing to say goodbye to their first class of new assistance dogs after more than a year of training at the Ailsa Craig campus.
The youthful trainers began to work with the assistance dogs in September 2007, when the dogs were still young pups. Since then, the pups have had regular training sessions with the youth to learn specialized assistance tasks for local people with physical challenges.
The youth and pups were partnered under the BARK program (Building Awareness Responsibility and Knowledge), a collaboration of Craigwood Youth Services and Golden Opportunity Assistance Dogs, with funding from the Trillium Foundation.
Donna Frezell, the owner and lead trainer at Golden Opportunity Assistance Dogs, brought the concept to London in 2006 after participating in similar programs in California.
Project BARK is modelled after an innovative, therapeutic intervention program for youth who are identified to be at high risk for continued emotional and behavioural challenges.
Under the guidance of Golden Opportunity Assistance Dogs’ trainers the youth learn to train and place assistance dogs with people with physical disabilities. The training teaches youth responsibility, emotional regulation and nurturing skills.
As the group is nearing graduation day, trainers and dogs met recently at the Golden Opportunity Assistance Dog training centre in Westmount Shopping Centre to demonstrate advanced skills such as retrieving a water bottle from the refrigerator, turning on light switches and even fetching a telephone.
Graham Ashbourne, program director at the Craigwood campus in Ailsa Craig, considers the program to be a “win-win” for all participants.
“It’s wonderful to see the effect that the dogs have on our kids,” he says. “The dogs have a dramatic calming influence on children who are often dealing with significant emotional challenges. The attachments they form are important for the children and for the dogs. Both our youth and staff look forward to the BARK days here.”
Read the full article here – http://www.thelondoner.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1694828