Beltane and the Greenhouse Moon

Thursday gratefuls: Shadow. Hugging, wiggling, kissing. Rain. The possibility of a dry June followed by July, August, September with the monsoons. Plastic pavers with gravel. The foundation for the greenhouse. Nathan. Tara. Open-sided MRI. P.T. exercises with mild zerizut. Natalie. Another harness. Ruth in Seoul. Ruth ensouled. Leaflets on the Aspen. Anthers proud, ready for Wind born pollination on the Lodgepoles. The Willows along Maxwell Creek changed from yellow to chartreuse. Maxwell Creek flashing, running with the Water from recent Rain. The Mountains in Spring.

Sparks of Joy and Awe: Wildflowers beside Black Mountain Drive, Brook Forest Drive

Week Kavannah: Zerizut. Enthusiasm for p.t. and resistance

One brief shining: Nathan has had a trucking company, Heeler Trucking, named after his red Heeler’s breed, been a handyman, and now owns Colorado Coop and Garden, a bespoke construction company for the Mountain dweller wanting to raise Chickens or grow a few Vegetables.

Dog Journal: Natalie, my current dog trainer, started out working with her Dad, with Horses. Horses, however, bite, kick, and run at you. Plus, as Natalie said the other day, as prey Animals, they run first, second, and third. And as herd Animals their safety is in fight or flight, not cunning.

Dogs are different. As predators, thinking and cunning have to be part of the equipment. Hence, they’re much smarter than Horses. Since nobody calls in a trainer for a pliable Dog or Horse, the much more pleasant work is with Dogs.

Right at the top of the Doggy intelligence ladder are herding Dogs who must anticipate and shape the behavior of herd Animals, especially sheep and cattle. In a different vein are the sight hounds, Irish Wolfhounds, Whippets, Greyhounds, Borzoi. They hunt prey on their own. Their intelligence requires little about their interactions with humans. I imagine the same thing is true of Terriers.

Dogs and humans. Friends and companions since friendly Wolves partnered with hunter/gatherers for warmth, love, and to share the hunt for food. We now belong together though our mutual understanding has weakened, at least on the part of humans, as work and sustenance has diminished as an important part of the bond.

Pets are not coworkers. They’re, well, pets. As a result, humans, most humans, have lost their keen sensitivity to the needs, moods, and communication ways of Dogs. Yet Dogs have not lost their heightened awareness of human behavior since they are dependent now on them for food, Water, and shelter. A gap has opened up between humans and their companion animals. We need folks like Natalie who go back into the old days of human/dog relationships and recover modes of communications lost in the transition.

Just a moment: George Will, a bright crisp writer, often funny, even though I rarely agree with him, has an extraordinary column in yesterday’s Washington Post: The Trump administration is pure progressivism in action. In it he gives his 9 core principles of progressivism and outlines why he believes the Trump Administration is the ne plus ultra of all progressive presidencies. Worth a read.