Today, although I worked all day, technology took a back seat for me. Our female pygmy goat, Flower, died after a short illness. I discovered her this morning in her little barn. We knew that she wouldn't be with us much longer, but after the events in Virginia yesterday and day after day of headlines with the words murder, killings, dead, etc, I broke down when I found our little pet goat.
Listening to the news and reading the papers, I grew even more sad because of the sensational, irrational, and knee-jerk type society we have become. It doesn't matter if someone is white, black, purple, green, or polka dot or whether they are Catholic, Muslim, agnostic, or Methodist or whether they were born in Madagascar, Japan, Iceland, or North Dakota or if their political beliefs are left, right, circular, up or down, I truly believe that we all have a few simple goals in life: health, happiness, and the right to live an uncomplicated life.
It seems to me that humans have always been polarized on some topic or another, but in today's information society, we have become more polarized than ever. Mac vs. PC, blue states vs. red states, smokers vs. non-smokers, us vs. them. Sometimes people are afraid to talk at all for fear of offending someone or some cause. Discussions of the past have become flash points today. Looking at my 40+ years on this planet and talking with my elderly family and friends, I think that in large part common sense, common decency, and respect for each other has take a back seat to short sightedness, sensationalism, and disrespect.
For all the progress we have made in the past 100 years, I wonder how much progress we have really made.
Flower's passing made me really take a step back and reevaluate my life and marvel at hers. She lived for fresh water, fresh hay and grass, a good long nap in the sun, and a chance to run and jump with her brother each day. If she and her brother, Gumby, had a disagreement, they would snort, push each other a little, butt heads once or twice, then wag their tails and lay down and take a nap together.
There is a lesson there for everyone, I think. Flower, we will miss you.
Rick,
Better late than never, I just happened to stumble upon your touching tribute to Flower. It is always sad to lose a loved pet. Your post reminds me of a story written by my brother about a special pet almost a year ago: http://buffaloaltavet.com/?s=my+most+difficult&x=0&y=0
Craig
Appreciate it…and I remember when you tweeted or blogged about your brother’story…very nice and touching story.
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