It's called SPRING and it makes it very hard to stay indoors and study.

What am I saying? These guys never want to study, anyway. Slackers.

Spring is here for now, so we got some fence up and let loose the hounds. They spent the day fishing for junk in the pond.

More after the jump. (more...)

The tapetum lucidum (Latin: "bright tapestry", plural tapeta lucida)[1] is a layer of tissue in the eye of many vertebrate animals, that lies immediately behind or sometimes within the retina. It reflects visible light back through the retina, increasing the light available to the photoreceptors... The tapetum lucidum contributes to the superior night vision of some animals. Many of these animals are nocturnal, especially carnivores that hunt their prey at night, while others are deep sea animals. Although some primates have a tapetum lucidum, humans do not.

wikipedia link

How much does the suffering that you witness remain a part of you? When you act to ease another's pain, does that heal you as well? Do you hurt in sympathy with them? What does that hurt mean? Does it teach you anything? Does your compassion compel you to help again? What do you do to help yourself? How do heal your eyes?

These questions will not be on the licensing exam. They are more like extra credit.

At the clinic today there was a tiny baby lamb. She was born at 3 a.m. with no eyes. My own eyes fill with tears when I talk about her.

At the end of each clinic day, I come home. I lay down on the floor with the dogs. I cry into their thick, sweet-smelling fur. I make a serious, serious face and I tell them to live forever, dammit. I kiss them. I get up. I dry my eyes. I go on.

I love you all.

~A