I caught a cold last week, my first one this winter. Not at all pleasant, but I'm glad it came now and not any later, because I'm leaving for Scotland in a week.
I had a bit of a scare with my passport last week. I received a letter from the passport agency in New Hampshire that was handling my application, saying my signature as unacceptable since it was printed. This a little less than three weeks before I leave. And I don't write in cursive, so it was my natural signature. But I rushed to re-send my application papers and paid $14 to overnight my passport, because it was doubtful that my new application could be processed fast enough. But the net workday when I called the agency, they told me my passport had already been sent, the day after I received the letter telling me to re-apply! Glass half full: so glad I got my passport and can still go. Glass half empty: A weekend of worry and $14 down the drain because of government inefficiencies.
Our dog Calvin was hit by a car a few weeks ago. He had a bad habit of chasing cars, so even though it wasn't very nice of the person to come and tell us, Calvin was the one to blame. We had Calvin for a little over a year. I think we paid $20 for him because he was a lab-border collie mix, though you couldn't tell it: he looked like a border collie. We were all sad to lose him. The boys buried him with a brief eulogy: "He was a good dog." At least they understand the life span of farm animals. People who treat their pets as children are a bit off-balance, it seems to me. I am vehemently against ever owning pets of my own, unless they serve some practical purpose.
3 comments:
Not so fast! Dogs aren't really animals. They are object lessons in animal form. Among other things, they demonstrate loyalty, simplicity of spirit and singlemindedness. I learn a lot from dogs. I believe that they are as essential to meaningful existence as good tea. (Sorry to hear about your little dog.)
Saying dogs aren't animals seems a bit extreme, so I'm just going to assume you're not being literal in the sentence.
No doubt, dogs in general have characteristics we can learn from. Though I have to say I don't miss the 3am barking sessions.
I think dogs are often what we make them, similarly to people. If we treat them as though they are dumb creatures without feeling, that is all they will know and all that we will perceive them to be. We do not treat our dog as a child, but we certainly don't treat her the way we would many other animals - She is very much like a person in our eyes. She has days where she feels moody, snuggly, grumpy, protective, curious - she can feel anxiety, joy, etc. I could never perceive or treat a creature capable of feeling such emotions like something so base as a blade of unfeeling grass.
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