Telethon

Yesterday I was sitting in the office reading while Dean was in the living room flipping through the channels. He came across the Humane Society of Tampa Bay telethon.

"Nat!" he called, "Come quick! And bring a bottle of booze!" (If you don't know why this is funny, read this.)

We saw dog, cats, puppies and kittens and we wanted badly to adopt them all. We stayed sober and settled for making a donation. They were describing all the love and care that goes into each animal and how they need funds even more so now that they have switched to "no-kill for space". They also need volunteers just to love on the animals until they find their forever homes. This is something I would looooove to do if I weren't already working a demanding job while preparing to earn my Ph.D. within the next year and a half. But I'm keeping it in mind and I was reminded yesterday how important it is to donate to local animal shelters, especially ones doing such a fantastic job. For a few brief fleeting moments I even considered giving all this up- the education, the job opportunities, the prestige, just to work with animals, indulging in my most deeply rooted passion. But alas, Dr. Hari would most likely hunt me down and shoot me if I walked away from it all. He would be followed closely by my parents (who put me through my undergraduate education consisting of 2 degrees) and the program managers at the National Science Foundation. I will have to settle for opening up my checkbook a couple times a year.