Celebrating the Seasons

[tarasgirl06]

Up in the Mojave, our land supported several kinds of ant.  One was fire ants.  I found out pretty quick that fire ants REALLY hurt when they bite you.  Which is why they're called fire ants, I guess 

Yeah, most people are taught that our species is the crown of Creation, the most intelligent, and the natural-born rulers over all.  While there's no question that we are technically very advanced and capable of higher thought, members of other species have their own abilities and talents that we are just beginning to learn about after all these millenia of being smugly superior and dismissive.  If we don't destroy ourselves before it occurs, we may learn that each of us has abilities, talents, and intelligence and that no one is above another.  I think that's true with people, too -- even those with lower IQs may have abilities and talents not shared by those with higher IQs, and so on.  I don't believe anyone, of any species, should be dismissed out of hand as being without value and talent.  But yeah, cruel people make my blood boil, too, and I do rant a lot about that.  I believe in justice and that anyone who wilfully harms an innocent, blameless living being should have justice come upon them, whether here on earth, or in due time, because I do believe in a Supreme Being Who sees all and regards that kind of action as unforgivable.  

 

[Animal Freak]

Our so called "advancement" drags us down. While I believe we were all created equally, humans really bring themselves lower. A dog is more loyal and a cat is more independent. We rely on money and weapons and power far too much. There's little doubt in my mind that if humans continue at this rate, they will be the end of themselves and very well possibly the world. Humans want convenience at the expense of the environment, but we can't survive without that environment. Everything we need, we get from the world. And yet people just keep on taking and what do they give back? Trash and pollution. Everyone is created differently, but equally. And that's the ultimate problem. People don't want to see that. They don't want to see their wrongs and their mistakes. Hopefully that'll change. Hopefully they can go back and hopefully it isn't too late.

I probably would rant about it a lot, but I haven't really found anyone willing to listen. My mom agrees with me on many points, but she also believes that we're getting better. I do not.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Deep subjects, and I basically agree with you, though I would add that cats are every bit as loyal as anyone else, in my experience and according to much that I have heard/read.  And while I embrace technology and utilize it where it enhances my life and those I care about, including the cats I work on behalf of every day, I agree with you that humanity has lost much in terms of being in touch with our interconnectedness and symbiosis with other living beings.  Individuals may choose to access this, but you're right -- most people and all nations have prioritized differently from how most, if not all, of our ancestors did, to our collective disadvantage, acknowledged or not.

According to things I have seen, read, learned, and given much thought to, the human species may very well destroy ourselves; and many species are being destroyed due to our collective arrogance and ignorance; but ultimately, life WILL go on.  I hold that in my mind and my heart, even while I despair at "us" and what we are doing/failing to do. 

 

[Animal Freak]

I did not mean to say a cat is not loyal any more than a dog cannot depend on oneself, but I feel that dogs - pack animals- give their loyalty much more freely. That is not to say anything against, but it is how they are. I would like to say Ember is loyal to me as Ash and Frost are loyal to each other and, hopefully, to me as well. But it can be harder to see and harder to gain. I simply meant to use a single trait of two wonderful creatures as examples of what we - as humans - often lack.

I believe our technology can be good, but it can also so very easily be bad. We need to think before we act. I love my laptop, but it can't be simply thrown out when we're done with it. Phones are gone through so quickly. What's the point of getting a new one every year or so when they can last so much longer? Even something as simple as paper can be destructive. I love my books, but they, too, should not be simply thrown out once the binding it worn or the words no longer interesting. We need to learn to use less; less plastic, less wood, less smoke. We need to learn how to reuse and recycle. We need to stop searching for convenience and start searching for something to do with ourselves.

I would like to believe that we will stop at destroying ourselves, but much of what we do damages the creatures around us. Humans have wiped out entire species already. What's to stop them from taking the rest out? By taking trees, we take homes. By taking swamps, we destroy entire ecosystems. That's not something that can be ignored. I can only hope it won't come to such a great extent.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I'm absolutely not a dog person (and yes, I've had to interact with 2; never again for me!)  

Yes, agree 100% about all the rest.  I'm in my office in front of a wall of boxes containing old CPUs, an old all-in-one, an old answering machine, an old shredder -- and there is a lot more in the garage.  I don't have a car, so I can't take it anywhere; I can call the city to take it, but it has to be just how they want it, and if they don't pick it up I have to haul it all back where it was before.  NOT good.  Phones?!!! I have a collection going back years.  I know, it's absolutely intolerable.  You undoubtedly know about the places where they tear down ewaste -- everyone is sick, and it's polluting the earth, but that's what is being done with it right now.  I use everything I get as long as possible, but that doesn't mitigate the problem even from a personal standpoint.  Technology advances, and sooner or later, one is forced to upgrade if one wants to perform optimally.  I finally broke down and got my first iPhone earlier this year -- I'd held out as long as I could, but I was being "encouraged" to get one.  It's expensive, and yes, it does a tremendous amount of amazing things, but is it really something I couldn't have lived without?  NO.  My family always recycled, reduced, and reused everything; it's in our genes, so it's what I do, too.  But ultimately, we all use a tremendous amount of stuff.  I lived elsewhere for awhile and where I was, people didn't have 9/10s of the stuff they do here.  It was a very low-tech life, but there were a lot of positive things about it, too.  The problem is that we will never be able to go back.  I know a couple of people who are real Luddites -- they don't want anything to do with tech -- and IDK how they even function in this world.  I do love being able to do all I do with my devices; I just wish (hope, pray) there will come a time when we can keep the same device but upgrade the OS/add memory.  That has to happen, or we will all drown in a sea of ewaste, sooner than we think, probably.

Sometimes I just say that I don't know much, but I DO love cats. 

 

[Animal Freak]

Dogs are great. A bit of a handful as I've come to find out, but great nonetheless. My own is very clingy, has separation anxiety, has dog aggression towards any dog bigger than her(And it doesn't take much. She's around thirteen pounds and I'm pretty sure most of that is muscle.), and she's very whiney as well as destructive towards her toys and the cats'. But she's also smart, sweet, loving, playful, kind, and loyal. I understand some people don't want the responsibility of a dog (and it is bigger than that of a cat) and I don't judge people for not wanting a dog or a cat in their house. It's one thing to respect them as living beings, but not want one and being cruel and just flat out hating them.

I just got my first IPhone this past Christmas and it's my friend's mom's. My mom finally upgraded from her flip phone to my old phone. I had my old laptop until I could no longer use it because it was physically damaged and it's still in a draw in my room, waiting for me to get the rest of my stuff off of it and find out how to get rid of it. My old netbook I used even after half of it's already tiny screen was blackened and then my aunt kept it for a kid she babysits to use. My mom and I recycle as much as we throw away if not more. We clean out cans and bottles and Ziploc bags so they can be reused and recycled. I rinse out the cans from the wet cat food every day. Unfortunately, not everything can be recycled. I do use plastic bags to clean out cat boxes, but I'm not sure what else I could do since it has to be thrown away.

Cats are great and I love them very much. In fact, I'm going to an event for the adoption center I want to volunteer at this weekend! This will be the third time I've gone. They haven't called me about volunteering yet and so we're hoping to talk to them about it while we're there. And I want to play with the cats again. I'm rather excited. They, however, will probably get tired of seeing me.

 

[Alicia88]

I'm really not much of a dog person, either.  I don't actively dislike them, though.  They're just smelly - all the time, even when bathed regularly - and they take a lot more work.

 

[tarasgirl06]

SO true, and noisy, sometimes violent, they can jump on people and ruin their clothes, and licking people -- that creeps me out SO much!

 

[tarasgirl06]

Yeah, I would not harm a dog unless it harmed someone I loved (i.e., ANY cat).  Bascially, I just avoid them.  There's one next door that barks its head off at any time of the day or night and the people (they are awful) do NOTHING about it.  They hate me, so I can't talk to them about it.  They'd probably encourage it to bark more if I did.

Our city fortunately has mandatory recycling; they give you 3 bins, 1 for garbage, 1 for recyclables (which includes almost everything), and 1 for yard waste.  That is smart unless you consider the 3 big heavy trucks having to be fuelled and maintained, and driving over the roads meant for passenger vehicles, every week.  Where I lived in the Mojave, there was the option of getting a dump card and driving the trash to the dump, where it was sorted manually (fun, I know!) and what wasn't recyclable was dumped into the landfill.  They don't consider the desert to be of any value, I guess; I love the desert and know it's a very fragile environment full of amazing species of plants and animals whose habitat it is.  Now they're turning it into a photovoltaic farm -- miles and miles of solar cells that fry birds, but they don't care about the birds either.  It's a pretty dismal situation; those of us who care about the desert are trying to fight against that, and against the runaway development out there, but as long as most people don't practice birth control to bring down the overpopulation, it'll just get worse because they have to put everyone somewhere.  

Cats?  They're amazing.  Clean, quiet (usually), loving, loyal, agile, strong, beautiful, intelligent -- they're the best species IMHO. 

 

[Alicia88]

I wouldn't mind having a dog at some point.  The thing is, I do actively dislike MOST small dogs.  With a few exceptions, they're annoying, yappy, ratty ankle-biters.  And I'm not a big fan of having a big dog in the house.  And living in town, it wouldn't be fair to have a big dog outside.  I would love to move out to the country and get a border collie or German shepherd and let it have the run of the property during the day and sleep inside.  Of course, it would have to like cats.

 

[Animal Freak]

I would just like to point out dogs smell because they go outside and cats walk in litter boxes which is rather gross when thought about. And mine currently smell like litter. Not exactly pleasant. Cats are beautiful creatures, but so are dogs. They adjust to your home and are trainable so there's a big plus. No litter boxes to be cleaned out. Also, cats can be violent too. It's all in how they're treated. Some cats are noisy as well. Ash goes meowing through the house often after eating and in the middle of the night, Ember meows whenever she wants my attention, and I'm sure there are cats worse than them. Basically, the behavior of the dog reflects on the owners. I'm still have trouble with my own dog and she does jump and bark and whine, but she's also young and full of energy.

It's sad what people do to the world. I can't say I know everything about it. I'm already so negative, I don't really need to learn about anything else. Not right not at least. I do hope to do something about it later on in my life though. Hopefully I'll get over my anxiety and even be able to do public speaking.

 

[tarasgirl06]

WIshing you the absolute best on all of that!  You've got a lot of great ideas and a good way of expressing them, so it'd be great if you did share them/that with the world, on whatever platform/in whatever way you want.  I feel the same way about negative stuff (and I spent 6 years trying seriously to tune it all out).  I avoid the news and stuff like that until I get curious again, and then I look.  That makes me wish I hadn't, but living in this world, it's important for me not to be an ostrich (which is an interesting bird, but anyway).  

*I love cats "meowing about the house" 

  I guess I've always been in love with cat vocalizings, having been around them literally since conception 

   

The two dogs I was forced to take care of were not wanted by me at all, but I was given no choice in the matter.  I tried to give them what I could in terms of making sure they were fed/watered, groomed, walked, etc., but I truly could not feel very much affection for them.  I guess I'm just lacking in that, for unknown reasons.  Dogs have murdered several of my loved (feline) ones whom I was unable to bring inside at the time, which certainly did not help me feel good about the species.  And yes, they DO smell.  I'm okay with cats being in the litterbox because it's what cats do.  I'm sure I'm immune to this by now!

 

[Alicia88]

It's not just because dogs go outside.  There are a lot of cats who go outside and I've been around them and I have never known a smelly cat.  Also, dogs smell even immediately after a bath before ever going outside.  They just have this "dog" smell that never goes away.  And I've always been really sensitive to smells.  I think my super nose makes up for my crappy eyesight.  LOL

 

[tarasgirl06]

Yeah, I feel the same way about yipping, yapping, nipping ankle-biters.  I once was standing talking to a friend in her mom's dog grooming shop and this awful, AWFUL poodle came up and lifted its leg on my leg.  

 It was lucky I was so embarrassed I just stood stock still and ignored it.  One of the dogs I was made to care for was in the house, which I'd never have again, no way, no how.  It used to get loose, run the neighborhood, eat garbage, come home, and eliminate all over the house.  And it wasn't easy to clean up.  Weird thing was, when I left that relationship and was in a new job, one of my co-workers came in after work with his dog.  

IT WAS THE SAME DOG.  

I told him the story of the dog in our care, and he said it had disappeared while he was in this store -- the same one where the dog was brought home to me from the parking lot.  Really strange what a small world it is.  Anyway, I was glad the guy got his dog back.  And that I did not have to deal with it!

 

[tarasgirl06]

I have the same combo of overly sensitive sense of smell and bad eyesight 

   I guess it's true what they say about compensating.

I've known some cats who've either gotten into something or had the runs or something, who didn't smell wonderful, but it wasn't their fault and wasn't their normal state.  Cats are THE cleanest beings, cleaner than humans by far.  The sweetest smell I've ever smelled is behind a cat's ears -- smells like a flower field or a meadow after rain or something equally poetic. 

I had a friend who used to sleep with her dog (I know, I know) and when she came over to our house one time, after she left, my mom said she was dirty and smelled like a dog. 

  She was my friend, but I'm sorry, it was absolutely true. 

 

[Alicia88]

I like the smell of horses more than the smell of cats but I just LOVE burying my face into my cats' fur and taking a deep breath.

When I was 4, we lived on the farm with my grandparents and I had this little dog named Tuffy.  He was eating my cat's food and I told him "NO" but he wouldn't listen.  So I picked up a stick and hit him with it.  He bit me.  I needed 5 stitches and still have the scar on my cheek.  I did deserve it, though.  I was a dumb kid.  My mom said she wanted to kill him but after I told her what happened, she just gave him away instead.  He ran away from his new home and came back - traveled 5 miles to do it - and sat on the porch looking up at mom with big, sad eyes.  So, we kept him and he never bit again.  But I wonder if that may have caused a bit of a subconscious aversion to small dogs?  Who knows?

I have had a couple of dogs that I absolutely adored.  I have an Australian shepherd named Pinocchio.  He died when he was 14, but he was a great dog.  He learned to sit and shake and we would sometimes take him with us when we went fishing.  He loved to swim in the pond and run around the woods and when it was time to go, I hollered for him and he came running with this huge, doggy grin on his face.  We never caught many fish when he was with us, though.  LOL

I also had a border collie/lab mix when I was high school.  When I got married and moved to the desert (29 Palms), I left her with my mom because I was worried she wouldn't handle the climate change very well.  When she was about 4, she got stung by a bee and died.  She was allergic.  

Still, I'm definitely more of a cat person.

 

[Animal Freak]

Thanks a ton. I can always use a vote of confidence since I'm lacking in that department. Can't say I always agree on the idea of cats vocalizing. It's great and all during the day, but I have enough problems sleeping. I definitely don't need their help. And they groom very loudly. I often have to drag Frost out of my room because I'm so sensitive to sounds. I can understand why it wouldn't be enjoyable to have a dog when it wasn't by choice. It's tough to enjoy something you were forced into. But they really are great creatures and wonderful companions. It just depends on the person and the dog.

You all have much better experiences with cat smells then. Frost has the worse breath ever and they all smell like cat litter. Bathing them is difficult because Ember will attack Ash for a week afterwards. Dogs that have overpowering smells need to be bathed more often. Stella smells, sure, but it's not too bad. I, however, do not have the same issue of bad eye sight and great sense of smell. I have terrible eye sight and my sense of smell is probably almost as bad. I make up for it with my hearing with which I can hear dog whistles and other such noises. A bad sense of smell isn't always bad, though, when you want to work with animals. Considering they aren't always pleasant smelling.

I don't typically like small dogs. I had a Chihuahua who did not like me very much at all and instead liked everyone else. I thought my next dog would be a big dog after we moved, but Stella was a special case. I had bonded with her and my aunt was planning on finding her a new home. Alas, she now lives with me and we have to take to the vet. She's having some problems with her back leg.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I'm sorry to hear those sad things.  But you know the dog I was talking about?  Australian Shepherd. 

 

[tarasgirl06]

Cats with bad breath generally need a teeth cleaning (just like people 

) and/or have a health issue.  

I have insomnia pretty bad, and get up several times a night.  So I'm like a zombie all the time 

but someone said I must get enough sleep, because I do function on it.  Sometimes some of my older cats have yowled late at night, and that can be a little bit tough if it's during a time when I've FINALLY zonked out, but all in all, I do love cat talk!

That's nice about Stella.  Even though I'm not a dog person, I would never wish harm on a dog unless it hurt someone I loved; so it's nice to hear that she is in a good place with someone who cares about her, and I hope the leg issue is something minor that's temporary.  

And you really are eloquent at expressing yourself.  Be confident! So many people being paid to write these days can't spell (even with SpellCheck and predictive?!!) and can't write.  *I always wonder WHAT THEY DO to get paid. ha ha* 

 

[Animal Freak]

I like their way of talking until it gets to the point of being a bit too much. Especially at night. I do have conversations with them. So far the only thing I know how to say in cat is "Come and I will pet you." Our conversations go much further when I speak English. Unless, of course, Ember is arguing back and refuses to get off my towel. It's happened.

Frost has had bad breath for as long as I can think of. I've brushed their teeth a few times but it's a pain. Literally since I normally get jabbed by teeth. It got a bit better after he was given dental treats which we ran out of and haven't gotten more.

Stella is a good dog. She doesn't deserve any pain at all. I hope it's nothing. She's too energetic and happy to just relax and not run around. We don't know what could have caused it. I know my sister hurt her a couple of times, but she bounced back immediately. She is a lot bigger than she was supposed to be though. She's supposed to be around five pounds. She's over ten. She's a very stocky, muscular little dog and doesn't act her size in the least. Other than her physical size, there's really nothing about her that reminds me of a small dog.

I'm not sure I can hold anything against a dog. I believe there's a reason behind everything. Even if it isn't necessarily a good one, there is a reason. My aunt's dog was attacked by the neighbor's and had to be put down. My aunt hated that dog, but I just... couldn't. Lola had found a hole in the fence. She was on that dog's territory. It was a female dog and the people who lived there had a little girl. The dog very well could have felt protective. Dogs don't act out for no reason.

Thanks, it means a lot. I don't think you could describe me as eloquent when it comes to speaking out loud though. I sound like I've been drinking half the time and it only seems to be getting worse. It's terrible. I do plan on becoming an author though so I'd better be good at writing! I'll have to work on the confidence part.