Day Three Hundred Fifty Five

And the Countdown Begins

I am only ten days away from my goal, which was to write a blog entry every day for a year. My intention was to write about the creatures with whom I share my life. I also intended to keep my stories factual and funny. I did pretty much stick to the facts - whether or not it was funny is subjective and depends on your sense of humor.

What I can say is that focusing on animals for almost a year has resulted in a few changes in my life. First of all, I made the decision to adopt a Vegan lifestyle. I have seen firsthand, creatures as tiny as a cricket, show fear, cunning, stress and panic. That I have caused most of it grieves me. But needs must and, in the food chain, they are a lizard's main source of protein. But! This is the only trauma I wish to inflict upon another living creature.

Trust. I have witnessed a reptile learn to trust a human to feed it and take care of its basic needs. That BD has also trained me to feed it crickets with tongs, as it basks in the warmth of the lights it needs to replicate the atmosphere of an Australian outback. Never having been to Australia myself, I must trust those who have instructed me as to the proper care of a lizard.

Change in Perspective. Paying closer than average attention to animal behavior, so as to glean blog-worthy material, has given me a perspective I would otherwise have missed. There are ten animals living here - two Bullmastiffs, six cats, a rabbit and a Bearded Dragon - and, for the most part, they all get along.

Oh, as with any family unit, there are occasional differences of opinion that manifest themselves into hair pulling, spitting and swatting. Kind of like what one would see on a pre-school playground after it was somebody's birthday and mommy brought cupcakes for everyone.  It happened here this morning.

I have been taking advantage of the pool people not showing up when they say they will, by letting the cats enjoy the outdoors. The cats are happy; I am not. Anyway, I heard some serious caterwauling and hissing and ran to intervene.

Fight or Flight. Eli and Fancy were having a standoff. Neither really wanted to fight or back down and let the other win. Those two have some real issues and, in my anthropomorphic way, I have decided it's because Eli was here first and he is most threatened by Fancy, who is as perfect as a cat can get.

Let me put it this way, other than Boo!, who is intentional in her destruction of property,

 

Eli is almost always at the center of some chaos. Eli is the one to "accidentally" screw things up. He is the one who actually hurts me with love. Eli has a way of being in the wrong place at a terrible time. He even looks hang-dog. I feel sorry for him, and find myself explaining away his behavior to the other residents. For the most part, they just don't like him.

So, there they were, King Cat and the Interloper, facing off. Their backs were arched; pupils dilated. I did what any good parent would do - I squirted them with water. Of course I did it in such a way they weren't sure from where the deluge was coming. All they knew was they were getting wet and that trumped whatever stupid thing they were fighting over.

"I hate you!"
"I was here first!"

As Fancy strolled away (hey, he is way too cool to run from anything) I saw Chance give him a sideways glance and get out of his way. He does sort of do a parting of the seas kind of exit whenever he's been in an altercation. He reminds me of The Rock after a fight, as people scramble to get out of his way.

Laughter. So, no, it isn't always peace and harmony, but that is more the exception than the rule. They play, eat, sleep without incident and even take turns sharing my lap. And there is a lot more laughter here than angst.

There has to be a lesson here somewhere...

Andy and I rarely get through a meal without cracking up over all the ways they devise to get us to part with our food. Jack and Rooney can count better than some Kindergarteners when it comes to keeping things fair when it comes to leftovers. 

"One for you and one for you" doesn't mean the same thing unless it comes from the same human. If I give Jack something off my plate and Andy gives Rooney something, it doesn't count as fair. Jack has perfected the indignant and astonished stare to back up that assessment.

Enlightenment. All in all, it has been an enlightening and interesting year. I have learned a lot about myself and I have learned more from them about how to live a centered life. I'd say it has been a very good year.