The Creatures That Live Here

There are so many furry friends around here- the 30 odd cats next door, the cows, the horses and neighborhood dogs.

Our own lovely dogs (including our new addition who had been awaiting a home for about 3 weeks at a local shelter before we happened upon each other- more on that later) bask in the glow of a giant fenced yard where they can run and leap, a river at the edge of this wonderland, a big house and plenty of people hugging, petting, cuddling and feeding them all day long. The guinea pigs who weet and eat and weet and eat and get fawned over all the time. The cat, suddenly restricted to the indoors, is being loved on and massaged and getting almost annoyed by all the attention she receives. She deals with it rather well by going upstairs to the bathroom and getting stoned (catnip style) and sleeping on the window seat where she can occasionally open an eye and glance out the window. She's such a stoner.

I am certainly an animal person but I fall into the dog-person category if pressed to make a choice. Which is not to say that I don't sincerely love cats and all sorts of other animals. I find that it happens to many people - this strange preference for either dogs or cats-- though I don't run into many people who are opposed to a particular species.

The idea of all the chicks, ducklings, goslings, goats, possible piglets and so much more headed our way makes me quake with joyful anticipation and fills my heart.

But right now, we are cuddling our dogs and cat and befriending the human and animal beings around us and reveling the goodness around us. What a world to live in....