I got up early this morning, responding to an overzealous canine security guard barking his fool head off downstairs. By the time I stumbled groggily down to the first floor, tripped over three cats and wandered blindly into the living room, he was curled up on the sofa yawning and blinking sleepily at me as if to insinuate that I had disturbed his sleep. So much for the Camp Cactus alarm system...I guess it works well enough, if you count announcing the newspaper carrier at 6 am, the mail carrier at 10 am, and squirrel alerts every ten minutes throughout the day as important security updates.
I must admit, I've been a little jumpy lately. The news has not been so good the past few weeks. Maybe I've spent too much time online reading about politics, the looming financial crisis, the war(s), and the rapid disintegration of the American Dream as we know it. Let's face it: things are not exactly hunky dory out there, people.
Add to that the discovery that we now have coyotes roaming the streets of NE Portland, and it seems like things are really getting out of hand.
coyote on MAX train photo by Dennis Maxwell/AP
It doesn't seem to be a view that's widely shared these days. Can't we just make an effort to get along, people?Wildlife in the city is certainly not a new development. Raccoons, possums, rats, squirrels, crows, hawks, and the occasional owl populate the area where I live. As a matter of fact, while I was typing this post, a giant heron flew past the dining room window, heading east down the street. You don't see that too often when you live in the city. But, back to the coyote issue. Things must be bad all over for them to be wandering unafraid into such densely populated human territory. One of my neighbors told me he hates them. That he thinks they're no better than rodents. I'm familiar with this attitude. An old friend of ours who, until recently, raised sheep in Central Oregon, once described how he'd stand out on his deck and pick off the coyotes in the pasture with a high powered rifle, and then leave the carcasses out for the birds to clean up. I kind of have a hard time with that attitude. I'm not a vegetarian (yet), but I certainly believe that all creatures on this planet are sentient beings, and that we we should treat each other with respect and compassion, especially if and when we overlap each other's territory.
"Talk amongst yourselves."
I'll give you a topic: How will America's current monetary crisis affect our position in the global economic food chain? Discuss.
Your comments are like buttah.
2 comments:
Ohmigod! I gasped at the coyote pic! Amazing!
Our house is built on a hill, and though our front door is at ground level, our kitchen window is a full story above the ground at the back of the house.
We built a patio below the kitchen with a shade structure. The top of the structure comes to the bottom of our kitchen windows.
We have vines growing on the structure, one of which is a grapevine.
Last night, my husband came out to the kitchen at 3 a.m. because he couldn't sleep. He heard some noises out the window and turned on the light.
There were 3 raccoons on top of the shade structure, eating the grapes. Bold as brass!
Jane this picture of a coyote riding a train is so sad, it makes me feel so bad for these little guys.
I know they steal everything to get a bit to eat -
Years ago I chased a pack of them down to save a neighbor's poodle!
But as you, I do not hate these little guys, wish there were a way for us to work with them instead of just kill, kill, kill.
and of course this repetitive phrase brings up the McCain slogan - bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran
Will we ever get it right?
This bail out is such a mess, if we let them go through with it, the fat cats get fatter and paid off while the whole cookie continues to crumble. Why are Americans so stupid? Don't they see what is reality and fact instead of advertising and rationalizing what is being sold to them.
Ugh, as I said in my blog - this is a matter not of red verses blue but of ancient barbaric consciousness verses a healing, cooperative consciousness.
As we enter the next yuga, we need to remember who we are if we are to stay and play out life on earth's stage. The globe is tiny and all residents need a home - from coyote to human -
I so totally agree with you - "Let's find a way to get along"
Hugs, Michele
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