A Failure of Stewardship

Mankind has this strange relationship with certain other species, namely dogs, cats, hamsters, gerbils, goldfish, etc. These species of animals I speak of, most of them, at least, would not even exist in their present forms were it not for the influence of man. We call these animals "pets", an odd name assigned them due to our propensity to want to stroke them, which makes us, and sometimes them, feel good. Now, if we go back to the beginning, when we were just beginning to form this close bond we have with these creatures, our motives were somewhat more practical. There were certain benefits derived from our domestication of these creatures, and we put them to work, serving us in whatever capacity we discovered they were best at, depending on the individual species. Cats, well, they were good at keeping vermin at bay, such as rats and mice. So we kept them around, and fed them when the rats and mice were on short supply. Dogs, we discovered, had all kinds of talents, such as sentries, aids in hunting, herding our sheep, goats, and cattle, and even tracking. Back then, a domesticated animal only remained in our good graces so long as they performed some practical function, but beyond that, they were no more kin to us than the animals they helped us exploit.

Much later, as we ourselves evolved beyond fighting nature tooth and nail merely to survive on a day-to-day basis, some of us discovered another use for these creatures beyond mere utility. We discovered they could provide us with companionship, in some cases a kind of companionship preferable to that which we got from our fellow humans. What these animals gave us was an unquestioning, nonjudgmental sort of acceptance and love that many of us came to depend upon in our increasingly complex world. When's the last time your dog NAGGED you, or questioned your worth in this world? When's the last time your mate purred contentantly as you scratched their ear? Many has been the human who has existed solely on the loyalty and devotion a pet has provided them, when the humans around them have left them wanting. Thus, these animals we adapted to suit our own needs rose above mere utility to become our friends, and have become as much a part of our family as any human sibling, Aunt, Uncle, Mother, or cousin.

OK, so what in the HELL was all this about? LIke I haven't just told you something you didn't already know, if, I am willing to bet, you have experienced this connection to an animal that you have brought into your own life. Well, what I want to do here is discuss a very important concept......Stewardship.

When we adopt an animal into our lives and become responsible for them, we take upon ourselves a responsibility that is no less demanding than the love and caring that we assume with our human family members. Now, I know that many people, perhaps most, do not exactly see it that way, treating their charges as property rather than kin, and I will not argue the point to that degree. So I am speaking to those of you who know damn well that perhaps these pets of ours deserve so much more of us in return for what they give us than we usually impart to them. I'm sure you all have heard of devotion for a pet so deep with some people that they will spare no expense to keep them heathy, giving more devotion to them then they would any human they know, even related to them. I myself am torn between thinking of my pets as property and at the same time respecting them as fellow beings who have as much right to the same things I take for granted. I try to think of my dog Shiloh as my friend and not merely a dog that I expect certain things from. To tell the truth, I honestly don't think the love and loyalty this dog gives me is something I CAN take for granted, despite the social pack animal motivations that I know drive him to behave towards me the way he does. He's my friend, period, and there's no need for me to denigrate or study how he feels.......he's MY friend, and that's all that matters to me.

Well, speaking of stewardship........in that regard both I and the wife have just failed miserably. Our cat, Tuvak, has been with us, since he was a cute little kitten, for most of our marriage together. He's always been a "house" cat, never having been exposed to the cold cruel world outside of whatever dwelling we called home. The only life he's ever known has been within the boundaries of a human artificial construct, thus he has never experienced the vulgarities of the outside world, with all of it's temptations and dangers. So, when he recently began to behave in a very untidy manner, urinating and defecating almost everywhere but his litter box, we responded to his rebellious behavior in the worst possible way.......we kicked his canine ass outside at night.

Now, Tuvak had it bad enough when we brought Lola into the household and he had to get used to sharing his turf with another cat. But he adapted. Then recently we adopted another cat, a sweet little female that our son-in-law had become allergic to, called Cricket. Perhaps that was the straw that broke his tough-guy back. Perhaps he simply couldn't handle having to accommodate so many other contenders for his owner's affections, food, and litter box. So he replied to the situation, and not in a way that was acceptable to our neat and tidy expectations.
The wife began to discover the cat scat in front of the litter box, and angrily caught our now renegade child pissing all over the place. She demanded action, and in the spirit of appeasing her and not thinking more about the why, I took the easy way out and exiled this house cat to the strange and frightening world beyond our walls, perhaps thinking that the experience would make an impression on him. Now, tell me, just how STUPID can a man be? Yes, Tuvak brought this upon himself, yes, the wife had to be appeased, but, YES, as the man of the house with the final word on the subject, I became the judge, the jury, and.............yes.......sigh............

The wife called me at work, on the verge of tears. I had tossed the cat out the back door last night. She found his still body on the side of our dirt road when she returned from taking me to work that morning. What did Tuvak know of cars and the deadly consequence of being in the road? He probably was having a hard enough time digesting where he was and why he was out there in that world he had never had to experience. Yes, my friends, for all practical purposes, we killed our cat. This has been our hard lesson in stewardship.

Once again, on this night, there was a funeral pyre set ablaze on this sandy acre we call Pendragon Hold. Once again we sent a friend on his journey to wherever pets go when they die. Only this time I had to stand there and ask this friend for forgiveness. I do not fear any punishment for this sin, no fear of roasting in some hell for this deed I had a hand in. But I do fear suffering from some nonchalance of the loss of life of a mere animal, for this was no mere animal, this was a friend, and I failed him. All I can ask is that this has taught me a valuable lesson in regards to stewardship for a life that I took responsibility for by bringing him into our lives.

Go now to Summerland, my friend, and learn how to catch mice, and I promise that when we meet again, I hope you will allow me to scratch your ear, and that you will purr in contentment, and forgive me.

UPSET!

First off let me inform you that I have precious little interest in football, which in my opinion lost all "cred" when the first team deserted it's mother city and moved to another, the ultimate betrayal of the sports fan. When the Baltimore Colts became the "Indianapolis" Colts, and then the Rams left Los Angeles for St Louis, of all places, I said the hell with it. TRAITORS! I compare that to the United States Marines moving their headquarters to Mexico City. When money trumps loyalty, it cheapens everything. The fact that some players are dragging down more moolah than the President, simply for getting an inflated pigskin from one end of the field to the other, has also contributed to my disdain for what I once considered a noble endeavor and source of community pride.

Which leaves college sports. OK, I admit it, the current bowl system is so totally screwed up that there's no way for the best of the best to rise to the top, especially if they don't belong to one of the major "money" conferences. A team with a 9-3 record could actually end up being declared the champion while an undefeated team gets shut out, based on an asinine poll system that every sports writer I know has declared to be downright stupid. However, there's no danger that the Fighting Irish will ever play for the University of Miami, and we won't be seeing the Crimson Tide representing Yale. These teams are actually tied to their schools, and you can't very well sell them off to someone else.

So this year the team most North Floridians call their own, the Gators, made us proud, pulling off the most unexpected and well-fought upset ever, beating the undefeated Ohio Buckeyes, and beating them BADLY! 41 to 14! If ever a team felt like simply dropping out of school in shame, I think the Buckeyes do right now.

I have quite a few coworkers who must be walking on air right now, and I feel good for them. Gator fans are about as fanatic as they come. Whenever the Gators take on the Georgia Bulldogs, every Florida fan expects a feast of roast dog, while Bulldogs always insist that Gator tastes like chicken. College rivalries sometimes make nations at war look like wimps.

So, OK, I'm smiling. I may not care much for football, but I am proud of these boys. These are their glory days, and I look forward to the movie that I'm sure some Hollywood type at this very moment is busy writing the screenplay for. It should be inspiring!

Now We Can Hang TOGETHER, as Well as Seperately!

My fellow bloggohaulics, the deed is done! After carefully weighing the votes it appears that the name "Freedom's Place" has barely edged out all the others. I personally was rooting for it since it was suggested, even though I personally suggested "Reason's Refuge". FP is a fine name and I want to thank morningstar for seeding it, and Whitesnake for fleshing it out. Every name you guys suggested, with the exception perhaps of DILLIGAF (Whitesnake's initial ornery offering), was a fine one and would have served us well. Thank you all for your inspired participation!

Along with the launch of Freedom's Place, I sent out invites to participate to every member that I could get an email for. If you did not receive an invite from Blogger to participate in this blog, please let me know, providing an address, and I will get it sent out posthaste. Also, if your mug or graphic is not showing up in the slideshow, please send me something I can use to represent you. AND, if you are not a contributing member, but feel that you have been poking around this place long enough to be considered one, please do not hesitate to email me and say so. Also, if you found yourself in our group by surprise, and didn't exactly wish to be associated with us, please accept my apology for assuming that you belonged with us, and I will remove you, but I hope you'll wish to remain. If you happen to be here, it's because you matter.

For posting, please adhere to these simple guidelines. Include your pic or graphic with the post, sorta like a columnist would in the paper. Try to keep the obscenities to a minimum (something I have been known to be very guilty of....hehe) and please do not use our forum to launch any attacks that might reflect badly on the rest of us. This is not to say I am asking for any real censorship here, just a tad bit of respect. That being said, anything you wish to say about a certain emperor of a superpower is fine by me, as long as you don't mind having black vans parked outside your door.

So, welcome to your new community. Each and every one of you have been adopted into a family that could never have existed before Blogger came along, and I am very proud to be a part of it. I realize that your own personal blogs come first, all I ask is that you drop in on us at least a weekly basis and add your own two cents worth to whatever happens to be going on. Since you will be posting rather than simply commenting, you have the room to add your own take to the discussion, along with your own personal flavor, such as pics and poetry, and yes, even your face, Tim. Speaking of faces........if there are any enhancements you wish to contribute to Freedom's Place, perhaps with photoshop, feel free to email your concept to me and we'll work to get it incorporated.

If there are any other bloggers that you guys know that might be interested in joining our community, please feel free to recommend them. The more the merrier.
So, without further ado, please glance over to the links and click on the link to your new home. Just wipe your feet before coming in.........smile.

Birth of a Nation, the Continuing Saga.......

I know it seems as though I've up and disappeared, but in reality, aside from the daily grind of my own reality, I have been working on the group blog and trying to get some consensus on the name of it, without much luck. I did not publish the votes for the community name in order not to influence the outcome, which in retrospect might have been a mistake, because, sigh, no two people voted for the same name. However, the choices so far DID get narrowed just a bit, so I am going to publish those, and try one more time. I am also going to publish the comments to the last post so that you can see the spread and each person's reasoning. I hope that helps.

I will need all of the contributing bloggers to send me their email addresses in order to "invite" them to contribute. That seems to be the mechanism Blogger uses to approve contributing members who can write to the blog. I thought that as Administrator I could just add your names, but it's not that straightforward, apparently. So.......if your name is on the list, please send your email to me at pendragonhold@yahoo.com so that I can get the invites out. I promise you will not get in return any sales pitches for penis enlargement or herbal viagra.

Please choose from the following.........

Freedom
Freedom's Place
Possibility
Lower Slobovia
Reason's Refuge
Lyonesse

and don't forget to forward those emails to me ASAP, please.


Sheesh, democracy is a messy affair...........

TRIBAL COUNCEL

Ladies and Germs, I now present you with the nominations for the name of our virtual community. They are as follow, not in any particular order or degree of popularity.......



OK, now, three of these names where offered up by one kind soul, perhaps in jest, so that counts as one. So, I need to collect no less than nine votes. I will accept any vote from a regular, their "regularity" being determined by myself. After I have recorded the votes of those nine that offered up a name, I will determine the winner and announce it with the launch of the new community blog. I will provide the link to that blog when I have created it. Void where prohibited.

I want to thank all of you who embraced this idea, as well as those who did so with a tad touch of wit. I have no idea how well this new place will fare, since it adds an extra burden to those who already put so much of their hearts and souls into their own personal blogs, but I think it has great possibilities. Perhaps thinking of it as a place to make the mother of all comments might incline many to visit it often, since the usual comments are somewhat abbreviated due to the space alloted them. I do ask that you choose your favorite photo or graphic to include with each of your posts, since they will be somewhat like that of a newspaper column, so that those who visit us know us each by our faces and/or representative graphic as well as by our words. If the whole thing ends up falling flat on it's face, so be it, but I promise to give it my share of attention, and only ask that you give it your own. After all, it's YOUR town, might as well add your own unique signature.