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Once again this year, my neighborhood will sound like a war zone. So once again this year, I will be celebrating the #4thOfJuly driving around farms roads from before dark until probably around 1:00am, searching for a quiet peaceful spot for a terrified dog. 
(Fireworks are illegal in my home state of #Illinois, but you wouldn't know it from the number of private citizens shooting off M-80s and having private sky shows.)
![Photo of a sad and frightened Shetland Sheepdog (long fur, white with some black areas) wrapped in a dark blue Thundershirt comfort cloak. She is sitting next to me on a recliner chair, and my right arm is wrapped around her. [This photo was not taken tonight. It is an older photo.]
Alt Text for the other image has too many characters for my toot limit. It is a screenshot of a poem. I will put the words to the poem in replies to this toot.](https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/112/731/742/603/246/475/original/88a3880369f27e35.jpg "Photo of a sad and frightened Shetland Sheepdog (long fur, white with some black areas) wrapped in a dark blue Thundershirt comfort cloak. She is sitting next to me on a recliner chair, and my right arm is wrapped around her. [This photo was not taken tonight. It is an older photo.]
Alt Text for the other image has too many characters for my toot limit. It is a screenshot of a poem. I will put the words to the poem in replies to this toot.")
"A Dog's Prayer" (Part 1)
by Anne Ahlert
In Heaven,
There are no Thundershirts
And no Evil Sounds;
There are lots of treats
And none of them makes me feel tired,
Or foggy, or unable to run & play:
In Heaven,
There will be lots of fun car rides
To places where my humans
Get yummy food they share with me:
And to doggie toy stores
Where I pick out new toys & chews;
And to dog parks,
Where I will run off leash all day,
And make lots of friends like me;
None of the car rides will be
Long hours spent trying to find
Peaceful silence and sanctuary
From the bangs, the pops, and whistling fizzles,
But especially from the huge
House-shaking BOOMS
That even the Thundershirts
And strange treats cannot save me...
[Continued in next toot]
"A Dog's Prayer" (Part 2)
by Anne Ahlert
In Heaven,
I will spend
Every cool Summer evening
Lazy on the porch with my Mom,
We will go for long walks
And meet all my friends along the way
I will not waste another night
Shaking & trembling in her arms,
Praying to God to make it stop,
And terrified of the monsters outside;
My Mom says that someday
I will cross a Rainbow Bridge,
And she will come meet me in Heaven;
Her Preacher says that in Heaven
There is no terror or fear;
So I know
That in Heaven
There are no fireworks.