A Little More About Me...

I like dogs.

I am a dog person.

Cats don't like me usually and usually I don't like them much either. I do respect them however. Over these hundreds of years while humans have attempted to tame cats they have maintained not only their aloofness but their wild skills as well.

Cats, large and small, pampered or not, are still without a doubt the best hunters on the planet bar none. If you think your cute little puss won't stalk, pounce and effectively kill anything smaller than itself you are living in a dream world. You are just very lucky to be much larger than the little darling purring on your lap right now. If you were smaller, I submit that you would be in grave danger of serious bodily injury and even death...if your "pet" was so inclined. And that's the main thing about cats, they do exactly what they are inclined to do and only when they are inclined to do it. And so, yes, I do respect cats. But I don't like them very much. The cats in my life have been few and far between but I have had a couple of good cats that I genuinely cared for and they for me. Some of my best friends are cat people and that's okay. But...

I am a dog person.

I like dogs.

My favorite breed is Schnauzer. One of my best buddies was a distinguished little gentleman Schnauzer named Jock. I lost Jock about three years ago to injury and illness. I mourned for him like he was a real person and still miss him today.

I like almost all dogs. I am narcissistic enough to appreciate their obedience and loyalty.

I would not, but you can, slap a dog silly and two minutes later he'll come back to you when called and be tickled pink to be in your good graces again. That works for me.

Am I a control freak? No, not really, but I do like maintaining control.

And I do want a companion who will listen to me without judgment, like me without prejudice, and catch my back in a fight. If you care for a dog properly, giving him encouragement and guidance and a treat every now and again, he will do that for you.

I like dogs. What else do you need to know about me?

The View From Our Back Porch

From our back porch…
We see the sun pouring through the trees in the early morning mist and the shadows stretch across the pasture in the late afternoon.

From our back porch…
We hear the birds sing – dozens of them in a rainbow of colors, each with a different note to trill.

And we see the cattle – black, brown and white – browsing on the hillside or lounging in my father-in-law's pond, muddying the water as they flick their tales to wet their skin and drive away persistent biting flies.

My father-in-law is 96 and blind.
He lost sight in both eyes in separate coal mining accidents more than 50 years ago. Even though he doesn't see the cattle, or the pasture, or the pond, just hearing them and knowing they are there means to him that things are still right in the world. If only it were that simple for the rest of us.

When we are sitting on our back porch – overlooking the beautifully scenery and hearing the lovely sounds of nature – we too can believe that all is right in the world.

But then we go inside to watch the evening news and are reminded…
the fighting continues, as does the robbing and the killing, and the drugs, and the cruel mistreatment of children and we wonder, how can this be? How can there be two worlds so contrasting?

The world of our back porch is comforting and peaceful and gives us respite from that other world that rampages on and we have come to the conclusion that the world "out there" is in desperate need of more back porches like the one attached to our modest three-bedroom rancher in our quite little world in East Tennessee.

Humble though it may be...
Our back porch is the best place to be.