I’ve always been an animal lover – since I was little. My parents have pictures of me in diapers,
cavorting with a beautiful white kitty.
The legend goes that I and this intrepid hunter would sit in a prime
window and catch flies together.
Apparently this predator taught me to hunt and eat these insects. And talk is that I got pretty damn good at
snatching those critters out of the air.
Alfie, I think his name was. I’m
still a fly killer, although I’ve switched weapons from grubby toddler fingers
to a stealth swatter. Ya gotta upgrade
in this technology laden world, right?
My point is that I have an affinity for animals. I relate more with them than my own
kind. There is no subterfuge with a cat
– they’re apathetic to my existence, there’s no middle-ground. With a dog – if I love them, they’ll love me
back ten-fold. My son has accused me of
loving our four legged friends more than I love him, but he knows that’s not
true – simply an easy button to push.
Although, if it needs to be said, I do love that particular human more
than is polite. When I was younger, I
wasn’t discouraged from this behavior and we had companions and family members
of many kinds. I think the only time I
saw my father cry before I was 20 was when he carried our little beagle,
“Little Bit” up the road after he was hit.
The bond created with these friends has sustained me in many ways. I wrote about my boy, Scooter in an essay
last year and posted it on my blog. I
haven’t written in so long because I was in mourning for a particular girl
named Lucy, who I lost when we moved to Arkansas. I still love and miss her, but I am finding
my voice again.
Happy trails to all, and
please, if you can, share a bit of kindness to a shelter, a friend going
through a loss of a fur baby, or just share a post on social media for an
organization trying to find homes for those who have no voices. I know there are other beings out there
worthy (children, elderly, soldiers) and I support and advocate for them too,
but my particular passion is the four-legged creatures we share this earth
with. Peace.