Pooch Park is a small park located to the North of our clinic.  We wanted to create a comfortable place for people to sit with their pets as they walk through town.  We have a picnic table, and a double swing for lounging, talking, snacking, or daydreaming.  We are walking distance from shopping and restaurants.

 

548 Main Street

Jewell, IA 50130

See Map Below

 

Open Daily

Sunrise to Sunset

 

 

 

I found a new website about a month ago.  I shouldn't refer to it as a "new" website, as it is not new in and of itself.  It is just new to me. Google Earth is it's name. Perhaps you have heard of it or visited it.  On Google Earth you can search for any physical address such as your home or business, and zoom into a photograph of that address that was taken by a satellite.  If you are concerned about "Big Brother" watching you on such a grand scale, you can relax.  The image is not a live image.  In more remote areas, such as Jewell, Iowa, the photograph is updated only every three years or so.  In rural areas, I believe it is updated more frequently.  It is an amazing concept.   

 

 

On Google Earth, you can create a tour in which you zoom down to and "fly" over your house or business.  You can go back in time and look at previous satellite images.  This is called a historical tour, but all of the previous satellite images of my clinic were too out of focus to really zoom in.  My most current satellite image was taken in April of 2008.

I am so excited about Google Earth, because I spent some time landscaping this weekend, with a little help from my friend, Missy...and her husband! 

 

 

 

I recently hired a woman that I know from animal rescue.  Her name is Missy.  I am slightly nervous about the new circumstance, because as a boss you hate to lose a friend or rescue contact because you are suddenly in a boss/employee position. It benefits me and the clinic to hire someone that is knowledgable about animals, so I took the chance.  We are still in the honeymoon phase of the arrangement, but I do have high hopes for the match.

I was telling Missy how I have wanted to put a rock garden in Pooch Park, but just have not taken the time to make it happen.  The next thing I know, she and I have shovels in our hands, and we are out in Pooch Park attempting to dig through what used to be a gravel parking lot. 

When I bought the property, the area that is now Pooch Park was a mixture of grass, weeds, and gravel.  There was a house somewhere in this yard at some point, but I am not sure where it actually was, or when it was removed.  It is obviously gone now. The fence was put in for the safety of the dogs.  I decided it would be nice to make a park-like area for people to sit while walking their dogs or ours.  It is a nice spot for potential adopters to sit in while meeting an adoptable dog for the first time, weather permitting.  It has slowly evolved... and it is still unfinished, but it is oh so close to completion after this weekend.

A few years back, I planted two trees in Pooch Park with the dedicated assistance of Miguel and his red truck.  I turned the entire run along the fence lines into a large garden.  Two volunteers that I need to thank are Melissa D. and Rachelle W.  for "rock hunting" to provide Pooch Park with the larger stones that border all the gardens and the base of the trees. They scoured ditches for miles picking up suitable stones for the park.  Miguel and I did a lot of digging, and his truck hauled a lot of mulch to that garden.  We dug three holes for two trees.  We called Digsafe, and had the property marked for power and water lines.  Somehow, we still ran into a wire of some sort at the base of our first hole.  it was so tempting to just throw the tree in at that point and bury it all.  But concern about the roots and their affect on the wire scared me.  I decided to move the tree over after hours of hard work, and Miguel and I made it happen.  Trees were planted.  Stones were placed.  Shrubs were planted.  Mulch was spread.  The task was over, for now.  It looked wonderful, but was not yet done.



This past Friday, Miguel, Missy, and I began digging, again, to place that rock garden that kept getting away from me.  Getting through the layer of gravel is a nightmare in pooch park and anywhere on this piece of property.  Arnold Schwarzenegger would submit to these tiny stones that in number can whoop anyone's behind!  It is ironic that these stones were preventing us from putting in a rock garden! 

We were sweaty and tired when Missy suddenly announces, "My husband does landscaping for a living.  He can use his skidloader to get through this gravel."  Miguel and I stared at her in disbelief as she dialed the phone, had a brief conversation with her husband, then barks, "He will be here tomorrow."  Miguel and I looked at each other.  We were unsure whether we should hug her for getting him to help, or strangle her for waiting until now to brainstorm this wonderful idea!

The next morning, we anxiously await the arrival of our "landscaper".  Saturday mornings pass very quickly because it is often busy with appointments and with adoptions.  It seemed to pass relatively slowly this week as my excitement about finally getting this chore done got the best of me.  We had no idea what time to expect our skidloading friends.  We finally receive a phone call from Missy in the late morning.  "We are just outside of Ellsworth (only 4 miles away or so), but we might not make it there!" 

Oh, brother.  I just cannot let this project get away from me.  I am ready to grab the shovel again and go finish it myself, one piece of gravel at a time!  Just as I am wondering, "why on earth would they get this close to the clinic, and then not come here to get it done?!"  Missy blurts out, "We got stopped for speeding, and my husband may be getting arrested.  Gotta go!"  She hangs up the phone, and we were left to sit and wonder, "What the?" 

 
20 minutes later, in the door prances Missy.  Her husband, Allen, walks in behind her so we are now fully aware that he did not get arrested.  I was nervous that he might be cranky after a run-in with the law.  We were introduced, and he grumbled about the incident with a smirk of humor on his face. 
 
They were pulled over for speeding just four miles away from the clinic.  He had already driven this large vehicle that looks like it bounced out of a "Transformers" movie, forty miles from their home town of Steamboat Rock, Iowa, and suddenly found himself parked on the side of the road in front of a state trooper's vehicle, so close to his final destination.  To add a little salt to the injury, he neglected to bring his license with him, and his insurance card was outdated. 
 
What we learned that day is that Missy, our new employee, has a "flair for the dramatic".  While I am certain Allen took some heat from the officer, and probably from Missy, for failing to carry his license and current insurance card, I imagine he was never spread eagled across the front of the police car as we were envisioning after that informative phone call.  Her "flair" has made us laugh on more than one occasion throughout our workdays. 
 
Outside the clinic sat a long trailer attached to a big, shiny, bumble-bee-yellow truck.  On it's side is printed, "Mabe's Red Paw Landscaping".  The Red Paw is in reference to Missy's dedication to animal rescue, and to Allen's dedication to his landscape work that often leaves his hands sore and red.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allen climbs into the portly trailer and starts the engine on the skidloader that is going to make my world so much easier!   Allen generously spends several hours, not only carving the initial shape into our gravel-ridden ground, he places the bricks around the edges patiently and painstakingly even, with a mallet and some help from some donated sand for levelling. 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the Site Supervisors, Miranda, Connor, and Caleb, observe the production, inspecting each step we took in our project...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the digging was done, we went out to eat and enjoyed some nice conversation.  With full bellies, my volunteers and my workers went home for a quiet Saturday evening, and so did we. 

 

The next day, it was up to me to complete the project under the direction of my usual weekend Supervisors. 

 

Connor supervised the transportation of bricks that were thoughtfully donated by Amy from HEART Rescue... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Connor completed his supervisory obligations, he went on worm patrol and dirt bomb missions.  No worms were injured in the writing of this blog.  I cannot say the same for the dirt bombs...

Miranda artfully trimmed the landscaping tarp to fit into our rock garden so those pesky weeds would not rear their ugly green prolific heads.  I am not a big fan of weeding... is anyone?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guess what I got to carry...and carry...and carry...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, the rock garden was completed.  I proceeded to reconstruct the edging at the base of the two trees that I planted a few years back, and added tarp to their bases to control the weeds where I had neglected to use tarp before.  Back, you pesky weeds, back!  (insert evil scientist laugh here) 
 
Now the hard work is done, and my paws were red.  Now you, my readers, have a job to do.  Keep your eye on Google Earth's satellite image of 548 Main Street in Jewell, IA.  If they update the satellite photos every three years or so, and my previous image was from April of 2008, sometime soon the satellite will produce this image...
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or this one...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me know if you notice it before I do!

 

Perhaps this image in Pooch Park, in this blog, and/or on Google Earth will inspire people to think of their favorite furry friends who have left their mark on this great earth of ours, and left their mark on our hearts.  If each person who views this image, chooses to adopt from a shelter rather than purchase a pet, the world will change for that rescued pet.  Don't we all want to change the world?