We can’t straddle fences
once the barbed wire goes up.
We can’t walk a fine line
when the lines have blurred into nonexistence.
We can’t look the other way
when there ceases to be any other way.
If we concede that this is the best we can hope for,
we are forsaking hope and forsaking one another.
It's time.
Shed no tears; wear them.
Shed not your humanity.
Wear love on your sleeve.
You can’t get to where you’re going
until you’ve come from where you came.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you I am worried about my dog. He hasn’t been well the past few days; lethargic, eating grass (to ease his tummy, I think), and vomiting his food on a few occasions.
Okay, maybe that’s not suitable conversation over coffee. But it’s what’s on my mind.
I grew up in an environment where cats and dogs were primarily consigned to the outdoors. Cats were mousers and dogs were watchdogs. I didn’t understand people’s close relationships with their pets. Something happens to your dog or cat? Okay, feel bad, but then get over it. It’s not like it’s your child or something.
Now I realize that any relationship we hold is a valuable part of who we are. Of course I care more about my children than I do my pets – and I certainly hope all parents would feel that way – but that doesn’t alter the relationship I have with my pets.
You know that phrase “it’s all relative”… not true, in my opinion. If something happens to your pet, if a baby bird falls out of its nest, if the centuries-old tree down the block is cut down… it can all matter to you, if you are in relationship with it.
So baby birds fall out of nests all the time. It’s part of nature. And it’s not like an endangered silverback gorilla being shot and killed in a zoo (which happened in Cincinnati this week). No, it’s not the same. But it’s also not relative. I can care about both.
I can care a heck of a lot more about the gorilla than the bird. And I can care a heck of a lot more about the safety of the boy who was believed to be in danger in the gorilla enclosure. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t care about a bird.
Caring about a bird or a pet does not take away from caring about any other living being. I can hug a tree and still care very, very much about world hunger and poverty and child abuse and war.
We obviously have priorities, and appropriately so. It’s all interrelated, but it’s not all relative.
Dang, here I go off on another rant during our coffee date. You’re going to dread coming over. I’ll stop now.
It’s supposed to get up to 100 degrees (F) today, something we’re not accustomed to here in the Pacific Northwest. I’m going to keep an eye on my listless little guy, and try to keep us both cool. I’ve got lots of yard work to do, but I’ll work on indoor projects and stay out of the heat as best I can.
I hope your weekend goes well. Thanks for stopping by.
Thank you Diana at PartTimeMonster.com for hosting the #WeekendCoffeeShare.
Thank you for your recent reply.
Okay, so technically you didn’t respond.
But may I humbly submit that
your nonresponse was, indeed, your reply.
Actions speak louder than words.
Non-action can speak just as loudly.
And your non-message has come through
with absolute clarity.
Silence isn’t always golden.
Sometimes it’s a cheap substitute
for honesty.
So here I sit in silence,
forging ahead with my own inaction,
and wondering to myself
as to whether or not
you’ll get this message
which – of course –
I won’t be sending.
The Daily Post discover challenge: Apology
It rains a lot where I live. And the landscapes are very green here. At times I get a bit gloomy about so much rain, but I always appreciate the lush greenery.
For me, green is the color of optimism.
I also appreciate “green” environmentalism and sustainability efforts. While I don’t go around hugging trees (well, sometimes I do, but only ones that I know really well), the fact that there are people committed to helping nature survive our negative impacts makes me feel optimistic about the future of this planet. And that same responsible and farsighted commitment makes me optimistic about the nature of humankind.
I try to steer away from politically controversial topics on this blog, but nature isn’t a political entity. It has no hidden agenda. Nature does not discriminate against anyone or anything on any basis whatsoever.
Nature holds no ill will, covets nothing and demands nothing. Yet it gives us life. We owe nature some serious respect, and the most conscientious, careful and caring guardianship we can give.
Each spring when I see new growth on the trees around me, I feel renewed hope. For me, green is the color of optimism.
Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Optimistic
Expansive and deep,
beautiful but volatile,
ample force to turn
vessels to splinters.
Teeming with life,
ceaselessly churning,
an indefatigable
dynamo.
Kissed by the sun,
caressed by the winds,
extolled by poets
and sailors alike.
Sustainer of life
as we know it on Earth,
yet with all its
grandeur and might…
still fragile.
What could be big enough to threaten and endanger our oceans (and thus our planet)?
Microplastics.
Microplastics particles, which are smaller than five millimeters in size, likely pose a massive environmental and human health risk when they enter our natural waterways.
Toxins including DDT, BPA and pesticides adhere to the particles, and because they can resemble plankton, they’re often ingested by small aquatic life. The toxins biomagnify as they move up the food chain, accumulating in birds, fish, marine mammals and potentially humans.
What can we do to help “turn the tide” on the dangerous amounts of plastics polluting the oceans?
These may seem like small steps toward tackling such a large problem ( just “a drop in the ocean,” so to speak), but that’s how things get done. Small actions lead to big changes.
Let’s act today.
Thanks to Jane (Just Another Nature Enthusiast) and her challenge at UNLESS: Earth-friendly Chroniclers: Challenge 11~ “Healthy Oceans – Healthy Planet” for the inspiration.
On my way today
I paused to watch others
who were on their way.
I wonder when any of us will
actually arrive,
and whether we will even realize it
once we do.
Weekly Photo Challenge: On the Way
In Work I am co-creator with the One Creator, co-creator with all in the One Creation. In Work I sow seeds for the Harvest. A touch, a smile, a benevolent word… all are seed for Creation. Yet, what is the fruit of my work? When I dance on the shore and add my voice to the songs of the waves, can I know today that my song will touch a soul months, years, centuries from now? Can I know the steps of my dance will be remembered and retraced, long after their mark has been washed clear of the sandy beach? If this is so, shall I not rewrite the song? Make the tune more melodious, or the words more noble, perhaps? Add a swift spin or an elegant dip to the dance in vainglorious tribute to me… But then creation Work will have ceased and ego work commenced. And if my singing is lost to the uproar of the sea, if the imprint of my dance disappears with the sweep of the next tide, do I withhold the song, refrain from dancing? For Whom am I Working? If I cease the Work of sowing, I cease being a co-creator. And then what am I? In strained faith, I continue to sow. The harvest of my work I leave to the Harvester, Who knows when fruition is complete.
No need to honor my motherly love. Indeed, the honor is mine.
What Rhymes with Stanza? 