There is extreme hunger, thirst, a desperate need for shelter and personal safety…and again, a huge concern for predators intent on inflicting the horror of human trafficking/modern day slavery on the men,women and children caught in the natural disaster that is the earthquake that Haiti has suffered.  Good things are happening too, but we don’t hear as much about that…but, we need to so that those helping to make a difference see that goodness can come out of tragedy.

         But there are at least two positives that I want to point out, one is a miracle of another survivor who was found 15 days after the earthquake; a 17 year old girl, now that is a miracle!  The other positive is a pat on the back for those that I saw on a news report who have had next to nothing to eat & drink; and yet, some of those same people have been sharing with their neighbors the last of their valuable items of food and drink.  It reminded me of the old story, Stone Soup…Haiti is creating stone soup.

     For those of you who don’t remember the story of  Stone Soup; it is a story of a travelor who wanders into a village and teaches a lesson about working together and having compassion.  The travelor is hungry and has nothing to eat so he asks a woman for some food.  She denies him because she says she has nothing to give him.  The travelor has a large pot but nothing to put into it.  However, he asks the woman if he can use her fire for cooking and he goes to the well to get water for the pot he carries on his shoulder. 

        Curious, the woman asks him what he is going to cook.  He tells her stone soup.  He looks around the yard and finds a nice smooth rock.  He cleans it off and drops it into the pot of water that is heating up on the fire.  After some time, he tastes it and the woman asks him, how does it taste.  He says well, it is not done yet.  Then he mentions that normally he would add some carrots but, he doesn’t have any.  The woman’s young son says that they have a few carrots in the side garden.  The mother gives her ok to go get them and add them to the pot if he will share with her family some of his stone soup; he agrees and the child gathers the carrots to add to the pot.

       It cooks for a while, and he tastes the soup…mentions that it needs some herbs.  Of course by this time, the children are playing off to the side of the fire; and, one of the boys friends says that his mother has some wild onions growing by her picket fence and runs off to get them.  When he comes back he brings his sister who has two potatoes that she dug up just that afternoon; and his mother follows with a handful of peas that she was cleaning for supper.  Together they throw the wild onions and the chopped up potatoes into the pot as well as the peas that the woman had.  The soup is starting to smell good.  No one had ever heard of stone soup before and it wasn’t long before people were talking about it and coming to watch in case they may learn to make it for themselves.

        The first village woman had gone to her friends house to tell of the stranger and his stone soup.  Her friend says she must see this to learn how to make it as times are hard.  She tells her friend that all she has to feed her family is one dead chicken that she was plucking when her friend came to tell her of the soup.  She takes the chicken with her as she doesn’t want to lay it down on the dirty outdoor table. 

        When the women arrive the soup is sending up a lovely smell and people are starting to gather around the pot.  There were young and old alike giving their advice on what to add and how it would taste.  The pot was very large and so the woman with the chicken asks if she adds the chicken to the pot whether she could bring her family over to share the soup.  Of course says the travelor…the chicken would be a wonderful addition to the soup.  Excitement began to touch those around the fire…they started to think about what they had that could be added, for a small sample of the stone soup.

        A husband and wife happened along in their wagon coming home from the mill.  They had sacks of grain, and inside one of those sacks was some barley they were willing to share with the travelor and his pot for a portion for themselves.  Into the pot went a couple of cups of barley.   The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves about how good the stone soup would taste when it was done.

       Another added some corn, a grandmother had some rice she was willing to share, and a teenager had some beans that he had been shelling for his mother…these they added to the pot.  The travelor said it was nearly done…did anyone else have anything to share…and out of nowhere a rutabaga appeared, along with a few sticks of celery, some lentils, and a head of garlic, some green beans and a fat sausage or two.

       It wasn’t long before the stranger said it was nearly done and did anyone have some bowls to serve it with; the people began to scurry home and came back with not only bowls and spoons but hungry family members who were thankful to have a meal;  when earlier, they had no idea how they were going to find something to eat when alas, they only had an item or two to prepare.  They were all grateful that the travelor had taught them how to make Stone Soup by sharing their blessings with one another.

        This is the story of Haiti…i read a news item this week of neighbors who were sharing the last little bits they had with one another.  One woman said, today I have this to share with my neighbors and friends…tomorrow they will share with me what they have.  In this way we all shall have something to eat and drink.

        In a time when most would understand that desperation has the tendency to bring out the worst in people (and for some it does); I want to celebrate those who in their desperation are finding ways to help one another.  Whether they are sharing their food or water, trying to protect the people from human trafficking, looking for survivors, helping those grieving…or tending to the sick and dying in make shift hospitals…i want to say thank you for finding human compassion inside of yourselves and using it to help a nation trying to survive.  God bless!

         I know what most of you are thinking…it was the campfire.  No! The dogs were fine around the campfire…they stay back far enough from that because of the heat it gives off.  They were safe there.  But, after they got all of the petting over with that they could stand; the puppies wanted to run around and play.  My son started throwing some of the small apples that had fallen from the tree as they naturally shed excess apples that the trees cant support during the growing season.  That went well until they ate the apples.  That was all good.

        What happened next, was that they started to wrestle over a stick.  They do this all of the time.  One will grab a large stick and sort of play keep away until the other dog takes it and does the same.  They did this for a time and then got bored.  So they picked up a large rock and my son would toss it and they would bring it back (a form of fetch), only to have it thrown again and then they would race each other to see who could get it first and bring it back.

         That went on for some time until they got tired and flopped down on the ground to rest.  Then out of the corner of my eye, I see one of my dogs try to chew the stone which was the size of a plum and just swallow it!  Oh man…before I could get the words out to my son to take it away with the first chew the dog had swallowed it!  Yikes…what to do.

          Luckily one of the friends who was sitting around the campfire has a sister who works for a veternarian.  She quickly called her and we got speedy advice on how to make the dog vomit up the stone.   The stone was too large to pass the other way we were told.  Always get the advice of a veternarian before you attempt any kind of treatments for your pets.  Foreign objects in the stomachs of your pets can cause blockages or a twisted stomach; both of which can be fatal.  The advice that we were given worked well by the way.    I am not giving the advice here because I am not a vet and this advice might not be correct for another situation.  Needless to say, this was very scary business for a family that loves their dogs. 

          Of course, most of us know that there are all kinds of dangers out there for our pets; but this particular danger I had never thought of because the dogs pick up these small stones all of the time and play keep away from one another.   Sticks I know can be a danger too because running with them in their mouths can cause puncture wounds or choking if they trip and fall on the sticks too.  So we try to make sure that the sticks are not too long and they are not pointed on the ends.   But,  this danger with the stone had never happened before; and, I never would have imagined that my dog would try to chew and swallow a stone.  So, just take care when letting your pets play; treat them just like you would a toddler i guess…keep an eye on them all of the time!  So glad to report both dogs are fine!  I am grateful.