};> Ray Ledford wrote in a message to Richard Smith <:(
 RL> closed it up before spring, but my wife and I were too
 RL> excited over her pregnancy, and then after we lost the
 RL> baby last month, too upset to really care about a lot
 RL> of things.
  RS> Understood.  My condolences.
 RL> Thanks.
 I hope that you keep trying.  Without wanting to make you
 feel badly, I think children transform a person.
 RL> I'm not going to kill a creature unless it's necessary.  My
 RL> cats usually think it's necessary, but after all, they're
 RL> cats.  It's what they do -- besides sleep all day.
  RS> It IS part of their stock in trade . . .
 RL> You know, I love to watch animals, but cats are really
 RL> interesting creatures.  No other animal, IMO, can sleep with
 RL> the same gusto as a cat, no other animal can seem as serious
 RL> and intent when hunting as a cat, and no other animal can
 RL> turn around and amuse itself as well as a cat.
 I think they're very much "in the moment," so to speak.
 RL> I was watching one of our cats walking through a field a
 RL> couple of weeks ago when I saw a groundhog just a few
 RL> feet away.  The groundhog kept looking at Weasel (the
 RL> cat), and the cat kept taking a few steps toward the
 RL> house, stopping and turning toward the groundhog.  He
 RL> eventually made it back to the house without going after
 RL> the groundhog.  I think he's finally learned the
 RL> difference between lunch and something best left alone.
 I work at an animal shelter, so I see a lot of animals
 daily.  Dogs seem to be almost happy just about anywhere
 they go, but cats can get depressed or anxious from being in
 the shelter.  I've seen cats almost in a panic to get
 accepted by someone looking them over for adoption.  Unlike
 what is currently believed in our society, I believe that
 the lower animals are just as emotional and complex as we
 are.  But then, I'm an oddball . . . I happen to think of
 animals as other people, just like I think of other people
 as, well, other people.
 RS> And, from what I see here, will continue to experience
 RS> it.
  RL> Yep.  I'm afraid so.
 RS> Habits are hard to break.  Besides, you at least listen to
 RS> him.  Not everyone does.
  RL> No one should, really.  If he wanted to talk about the
  RL> issues without being insulting, then talking to him would be
  RL> fine.  But that's not what he does.  I don't know if you
  RL> read the exchanges between Charles and Jim, but he told Jim
  RL> that he posted the "Twain" piece because he was trying to
  RL> make a point about people trying to be something their not.
  RL> My question is, why didn't he just come out and say that
  RL> instead of posting such an inflammatory message?
 I read his posts.  His agenda is his own, and he'll follow
 it regardless of what anyone says.  This is just his attempt
 to keep it on track, per his agenda.
 RL> I don't.  It's rather ridiculous for white people to claim
 RL> such a thing.  Even though I'm a descendent of Cherokees,
 RL> I'm also a descendent of Europeans, too.  I wasn't raised
 RL> within Cherokee culture, so I'm not going to claim to be
 RL> Cherokee.
  RS> I'm hesitant to even share the lineage I know, if for no
  RS> other reason than I think there's a real dividing line
  RS> between how those who are full-blooded, and those who
  RS> aren't, react to it.  I've some negative experiences with
  RS> some who said they were full blooded, and I expect that
  RS> there are some here who are full blooded as well.  I'm just
  RS> trying to not set myself up for slams or anything.  
 RL> I understand.  Native Americans who have always lived within
 RL> their respective cultures and who have experienced harships
 RL> and bigotry are sometimes less than cordial with Native
 RL> American descendants who have always lived outside of the
 RL> culture.  That's understandable. Reservation communities are
 RL> very different than what's on the outside.  And what has the
 RL> outside ever done for the Native
 RL> American?  Very little.  Most of what the outside has done
 RL> they have done TO the Native American.  In the past, white
 RL> America stole the land from The People; today, the New Agers
 RL> are trying to steal the culture.
 I hear you.  The heritage IS being pillaged.  And there's
 nothing that can really be done about it.
 RL> On the other hand, there are those whose recent ancestors
 RL> were Native American, but have always lived on the outside.
 RL> Have they been cheated?  Should they be treated as if they
 RL> are invaders?
 Heck if I know.    Is there a wrong place in the country
 to be a Native American?  I, personally, wouldn't think so.
 RL> Well, I need to go, but if it's okay with you I'd like to
 RL> continue the train of thought above.
 That would be welcomed.
 RL> Oh, one other thing -- the birds have left!  I think I'll
 RL> wait until fall to close up the hole, but that's one family
 RL> with a success story -- all the little birdies left the
 RL> nest.  Or, in this case, the hole in the wall. :-)
 Patience is it's own reward.  Good!  I'm glad they're off on
 their adventure and not prone to accidents when you cover up
 the hole.  Take care.
 Naturam expellas furca,
 tamen usque recurret.
 Richard Smith
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