The Book I'm Carrying Around: Salvage the Bones

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This past spring, I participated in World Book Night - a national day to hand out a selection of books for free to folks who may not really be readers.  I chose "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" - click here to go back and read more about that interesting experience.  I noticed today that this book is one of the one's selected for next spring.  Its a good pick that will definitely get people thinking.  After Katrina, and then most recently, the SuperStorm Sandy along the East Coast, and the many floods and storms that dot our news radar, I think we all get a little jittery when there's any threat of an inch or more of rain.  And at some level, we all have to make a decide whether we can survive the potential damage or not.  And when the sun comes out - we find out if we were right or wrong.

It took me longer to read this book then it really should because I usually wait 'til I've climbed in the bed at the end of a long day to read.  Okay, maybe more information than you really need for a book review, but it does serve a point - this isn't the book to read as you are fighting your eyelids.  That said, I do like this book.  Jesmyn Ward has pretty, lyrical writing, even when describing a dog fight or tangle with a tractor.  Some of her writing is so pretty, when something bad happens, it catches you by surprise.

The book opens with a pitbull in labor - I know, makes you wonder where's this story going, right?  We then meet Skeetah, the owner of the dog; Randall, his older brother; Junior, their baby brother; and their sister, Esch, our main character, a tomboy-ish, yet sexually promiscuous girl, hanging out with her brothers and their friends, figuring out that she's pregnant.  They're being raised by their usually drunk father, having lost their mother when she died after giving birth to the youngest brother.  As I moved through the story, I saw China, the pitbull, as a metaphor for the kids' lives.  She (the dog) is the primary mother figure, the one Esch looks to for a model of what motherhood looks like.

The suspense in the story is not only built into the pace of Ward's writing, but the timing of the story.  Its set in a rural area in Mississippi days before Hurricane Katrina.  You want to yell through the pages "get the dog, get your dad, and get out of town!" while at the same time, wondering how or if, this family is going to survive.  You revisit those questions that ran through the nation's head as we watched the waters flood New Orleans - why didn't they get out?  What were they thinking?  What are they going to do now?  Ward provides some answers, at least for this family.  They were pulling the framing out of their attic for plywood to board up the house and were eating Ramen noodles for every meal every day.  They clearly did not have the means to evacuate, and if so, they weren't getting far in the not-really-running pickup truck sitting in the dirt yard.

Salvage the Bones is a story of love and desperation, and the things that happen when those two strong feelings are confused one for another.


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My Lazy Lab-Shepherd

For the dog folks...

What do you think of when you think "Labrador retriever?"  Running around, fetching sticks, swimming in the lake.  Retrieving stuff.  What about "German shepherd?"  Barking, running.  Guarding stuff.

You probably don't think of this....

Raven at home in the crate (what's a better word than "crate"?)

Apparently when you mix the two breeds, you do not get a running, fetching sticks, guarding and retrieving stuff dog.  You get a big ole, sleep all day, lap puppy.

She's still young, but I think we may have the laziest lab around.  I thought she was going to be my running partner, she obviously has different thoughts.  When I do manage to get her out of the house and down the front steps, she trots half-way up the street, i.e. 4 houses away, then sits.  And waits.  Until I finally give up saying "run" and go with "home".  Then she turns around and trots on home.

Our first outing - trying to be one of those people who takes their dog with them places

If she's in the mood, she will fetch a stick.  Its one of her choosing that she finds in the yard and she won't necessarily bring it back to me or my kids.  Instead, she takes it to her spot and chews on it.  Same with the tennis ball; she may go and get it, but she's not bringing it back.  My previous dog would sometimes find a bird, so, yes, I'm actually a little bit thankful that this dog has no desire to actually chase something down.

Guarding and barking?  Only a low whimper when we try to make her run or fetch.

This dog sleeps and lounges all day, would eat lying down if we'd let her, and has an affinity for shoes. (Did I mention - her main activity is stealing everyone's shoes and stockpiling them in her crate?)

Raven with a selection of the family's shoes

On second thought, maybe we're a perfect match.

We adopted our Raven (formerly Bettina) from the Lucky Dog Animal Rescue (Washington DC).  You can read more about our adoption process on my previous post about her "fur-ever home".  Check Lucky Dog's website, or another animal rescue in your area, to find your own furry creature to not guard your house and steal your shoes.

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A Quick Adoption into a Fur-Ever Home

On a pretty regular basis, say weekly, sometimes every other day, I’ve been checking the local humane society website, looking for a dog.  This, despite the fact that I had I swore to myself, my husband, and my kids that we were not going to have another living thing in our house that I had to take care of until someone moves out.  But, I had a dog as a kid, a little mutt my mother brought home from a church picnic or somewhere; she was a great pet and it was the enjoyment of having a dog that I wanted to give to my kids.

So I would check for updates at the human society, and lately, I expanded my search to other shelters and rescue organizations, nearby and a few states away.  Then the kids and I would “oohh” and “he’s so cute” at all the dogs in the shelter and in foster care.  I checked with breeders, too, for purebreds or hypoallergenic hybrids.  But, I will admit, the costs were a bit more than I anticipated paying, and I couldn’t ignore those cute mutts at the shelters and I hated to think of what would happen is no-one took them home.

Check your local dog rescue organizations and pet-supply stores for Pet Adoption events.  This one was at PetSmart.

Saturday night, I found Lucky Dog Animal Rescue of Washington DC online.  And I saw that on Sunday they were having an adoption event at a PetSmart not 30 minutes from me.  The kids and I made our “wish list”, just like at Christmas.

I wasn’t really expecting to get a dog.  There was the application and an interview and a home visit.  And oh, yeah, Bri is a little bit allergic to some dogs so there was a good chance she’d go into a sneezing fit as soon as we stepped up to the store.  We were just going to look and turn in our application.

Mostly puppies and young dogs, maybe a few older dogs, were there, wagging their tails and on their best behavior, waiting for someone to claim them as their own.  They were all adorably cute.  The kids circled around Betina, a black Shepherd/Lab/Mix (maybe Chow?) puppy.  She was the runt of a litter of 9 that had been left at a shelter in South Carolina at 6 weeks old.

The kids picked their favorite out of the whole bunch.  She was also probably the smallest of all the dogs there.

We turned in our paperwork, had our interview on the spot, and were ready to go buy her a leash.  Then – oops – another family actually was ahead of us on the list for that puppy.  I didn’t realize how excited I was to get her until they told me we weren’t.  As we walked around, considering some of the remaining dogs, one of the volunteers ran over and said the other family said they didn’t want our kids to be upset about losing the puppy (they had just gone through the same experience, coincidentally for the sister-puppy) and we could have her, they would wait for her brothers who were coming next week.  Really?  Okay, so I will admit, I can be a bit sensitive and this really gracious act might’ve made me shed a tear or two.  Who expected such an emotional roller coaster in getting a dog?

Before anything else happened – we quickly said yes, we’ll do the home visit today, checked to make sure Bri still wasn't sneezing, then ran inside the store with Laura, the puppy’s foster caregiver, and Seetha, the volunteer who had been keeping her all day, and grabbed a bag of food, a collar, a leash, and a crate – all the stuff a dog needs for her new home. 

Our new furry friend - rescued from a shelter in South Carolina

Thanks to everyone who made sure that Betina came home with us today – Laura for adjusting her schedule and route home; Brittany, with Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, for getting all the paperwork done and making the arrangements; and the family that let us have her - I hope you get your puppy real soon.

Thanks for helping us find all the supplies to take our new puppy home

More on how Raven's fitting in, in this post on my Lazy Lab-Shepherd.