Why I like Animals more than Humans

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.