Rainbow Bridge Page

[Willow Oak]

Sorry to have been away for so long. The Willow Oak crew and I have been beyond busy lately: two years ago I decided to change careers from software engineer back to high school teacher. Tomorrow will be my last day of teaching summer school, and I shall receive a much anticipated layoff until the fall term begins in early August. I have had little time to do anything but teach and prepare for teaching. The educational field has changed much since I last was in a classroom back in 1999.

Also during that time I moved myself and the Willow Oak crew from Mississippi back to my home state of Louisiana. I don't like to complain, and although admitedly the stress and strain has been pretty tough, the crew has managed well, and I am beginning to settle in to my new surroundings. I have bought 13 acres of rural Louisiana swamp land (not much else in Louisiana) and have already dubbed the place Willow Oak II. I shall simply just call it "Willow Oak." Fortunately there are a few Willow Oaks on the premises!

I have worked on my rainbow bridge place, and would like to share with you, if you are interested:

http://www.danieltaylor.us/RainbowBridge.html

Believe it or not I moved 12 dogs and 14 cats 650 miles from the old place to the new! I just simply could not part with my clan.

If you haven't visited my website lately, I've added links to several picture galleries, and there is a very nice montage on the front page, which Randi created for me.

[karlyb]

Wow! How did you move your crew all that distance? I moved my (then) eight cats 60 miles and it was traumatic for all of us, so I can't imagine how you managed. I can see how much you love your animal companions. Will check out your pages later.

[Medusa]

Wow, that's quite an accomplishment to move all those furkids! Glad you're doing well and that you like your new digs.

[smokey the elder]

What did you use, an 18 wheeler? Well done, though!

[Catty1]

Good to hear from you! I hope Buddy heals soon!

[lvpets2002]

WoW you & the babies have been busy.. I just love your web pages of the babies && the RB page.. Very Nice.. Congrats on your new home && glad everyone is settled in now..

[Karen]

Congratulations on the big move, and I am glad to hear everyone took it well! Looking forward to having you back during your summer layoff! What subject do you teach? Just curious!

[Randi]

Good to see you here, Dan!

How did you move your crew all that distance?

I'm still impressed you did that - and you survived!

[pomtzu]

Hi Dan (big waves ). Great to see you back - sure miss your stories! As a teacher??? - my guess would be English lit maybe???? I was surprised to hear that you changed professions - and moved too. That must have been quite a feat, as I have a time handling 2 little fuzzbuttz just to go 7 miles or so to the vet!!!
Hope you're doing well health-wise too, as I remember you had some rather serious issues a few years ago. Hope you can find the time to drop in here once in a while.

[Bonny]

Visited your web site. Each pet cat or dog is special in your eyes. Thank you for taking them in & caring for & loving them.

[Willow Oak]

Computer programming was fun and paid well; alas, it is a young man's game, and the heart attack I had in 2008 has forced me to back up. You'd think that teaching teenage miscreants would not be a step back but a step up, but truth be told, teaching is the best gig there is. I teach everybody's favorite subject, of course: math!

Everyone in my new town (population less than 500) knows who I am and what I did in moving my crew. For some reason no one has yet told me that I am crazy or a lunatic or anything like that. I moved here without having any idea where I would be staying or living. I knew that was a very chancy move (where do you find lodging for a crew the size of mine on such short notice?), but things worked out. I believe in miracles, and a lot of good luck and hard luck stories. If I was famous my story would be a good one to tell, but then again, who wants to know really how I pulled it off -- transporting that many dogs and cats in one move across two states? I did have the assistance of a good friend, Cliff, without whom I could not have pulled it off.

[Bonny]

So did one of you take the cats & the other the dogs? I bet they all were in some kind of pet carriers. Maybe a pick up truck with a topper? Just guessing. You probably drove them in the cool of the night? Doing some more guessing.

[chocolatepuppy]

Good to hear from you Willow. Best of luck at your new Willow Oak!

[K9karen]

Sorry for the late reply. I'm almost finished your web site. Some of it brought me to tears. I don't know how you do it, but you're astounding. I always call myself an ultimate dog lover, but I'm a gnat in your kingdom.
You never cease to amaze me. Thank you so much.

[Willow Oak]

... I'm a gnat in your kingdom ...

No way. Some people cannot handle as many animals as I do. If all you are capable of effectively handling are one or two, then you are doing as much as I am. There are thousands of people who go out of their way to help others -- even much more than I. I wish I could take in homeless children, but living alone and being a single male certainly precludes that possibility. Thankfully there are those out there who do take in the unwanted human variety of animal. If everyone who is seeking a canine or feline pet would adopt from an animal shelter instead of buying from a puppy mill, there would still be hundreds of thousands of animals to be cared for.

Regarding the move, my friend Cliff was indispensable in our safe arrival to our new destination. We had a pickup truck and a 20-foot trailer and a car. I hauled my belongings in the car along with the two small dogs and one cat. The other cats we carried in the bed of the truck -- safely ensconced in carriers and one of those dog-training kennels -- all covered by a tarp to keep out the sun and wind. I constructed one large kennel on the 20-foot trailer out of 2" x 4" lumber, covered that with a tarp, and put the larger dogs in that.

Cliff and I started out before day break, and drove straight through. We managed to drive all day without incident, when within about an hour of our destination we threw a bearing on the trailer. After inspecting the wheel we decided to take a chance and proceed. About 30 minutes later the back right tire of the truck blew out! Fortunately everything held together, and we were able to change the tire and proceed.

We arrived safely (in the meantime I had managed to find some poor sap who agreed to let me rent his mobile home, knowing about my entourage) late into the night. Before going to bed I constructed a "fenced-in" area using the three dog kennels I had carried with me, and put the dogs there. I placed the cats in the bathroom, which thankfully was quite large. After seeing everyone safely put away and comfortable, with food and water, and cat litter, and with the sun peeping over the horizon, I put myself to bed.

After a day's rest, Cliff decided to return home. Within 30 minutes of his departure he called me to say that he while was in town gassing up he noticed something odd about the trailer. The wheel in which we had blown a bearing was missing! Somewhere between me and him the wheel had come off! What a close shave! If that wheel had come off with those dogs on it, the trailer would most likely have gone off the road or flipped. I still tremble at the thought.