Sunday, October 01, 2006

Still Life With Lemmings & Other Wildlife



I have a few distinct lemming traits. It's true. Not the blind following (whew!), but the inchoate urge to leap tall cliffs. I've jumped off more cliffs, figuratively speaking, than I can even count. Fortunately, I always bounce back up, much like a cat with its multiple lives. This is a good thing, because there are still cliffs to be jumped. If the cliff won't come to you, you must go to it. "Cliffs," in my lexicon, represent opportunities -- including risky ones. Some chances, you just have to assume the risk and take. Everything is risky. Getting up in the morning is risky. You never know when you might roll right off the edge of the bed and bash your brains out. Everything in life is a risk. You have to risk putting one foot in front of the other if you ever hope to get anywhere. If you choose to remain stationary because you don't know what lies at the end of the road, how will you ever know? Go! Follow the road, see where it leads, the risks be damned. So what if there's a cliff at the end? Sometimes you just have to jump -- and worry about the consequences later. There's no denying that some jumps are dangerous. Lord knows, I've sustained some pretty ugly injuries. Human beings are resilient, though; we rebound. Instinct tells me -- when a cliff is sighted, go for it. It could be the worst decision I ever made. It could also be the best. Who knows, there just might be the opportunity of a lifetime lying at the bottom of the highest cliff.
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Speaking of wildlife, why do dogs love to keep such a close eye on the humans they own? I can't even go to the bathroom without mine. She's always there, wherever I am, just watching. If I close the door, she sits outside it with her nose stuck in the crack, highly offended, snuffling like a wooly little warthog. What does she think I'm doing in there, anyway? Maybe she thinks I'm eating something highly delectable on the sly and don't want to share it with her. Never mind that that's sometimes true. I know she loves me, but there's a fine line between devotion and ... stalking. Listen up, dogs -- there's no rule that says we have to share every single second with you, take you everywhere we go, or allow you to vet everything we eat.
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It actually is Sunday today, and it feels like Sunday, much more so than it did yesterday. Duty calls. Literally. I have duty calls to make. I hate talking on the phone any more. I'm not sure why. It's incredibly selfish, not to mention stupid, of me to wish everybody would get with the times and get e-mail. I have to stop and remember that some people hate e-mail as much as I hate the phone. And some people actually enjoy hearing the sound of a human voice when catching up with their friends. So, I'm off to jump the telephone cliff.

2 comments:

Liz Hinds said...

Me too, I hate phoning people and will put it off as long sa possible. So much prefer email.

My dog is too old and tired these days to follow me like that but daughter was here last week with her puppy who sat and pawed at the toilet door when daughter was inside.

Serena said...

My dog's getting pretty old, but she keeps on going like the Energizer bunny, has more energy than a lot of young pups. I can just picture your daughter's pup scratching at that door. When they want in, they want IN.