-=> Richard Smith said this to Ray Ledford <=-
 RS> I hope that you keep trying.  Without wanting to make you
 RS> feel badly, I think children transform a person.
We're already planning on it.  Her doctor has advised her to wait
until July before trying again.  
Don't worry, you didn't make me feel badly because I recognize the
truth in your words.  Ever since we found out that she was pregnant,
we began keeping separate journals for the baby, talking to him or
her in the future about what we were going through and how we felt
in the present.  Even though the conversations were one-sided, we
still had developed an attachment to the baby and we felt changed in
the process.
We'd actually gotten happier.
Of course, we still want a child and we'll try again.  It'll be
great to dump what little our three brain cells (I won't tell you
who has the 2nd one) have managed to hold over the past
thirty-something years.
 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.
 RS> I think they're very much "in the moment," so to speak.
I agree.  We have one cat who seems to support this.  Normally, when
a car comes into the driveway, he'll hop up and run quickly away.
The other day we drove up behind him and he didn't budge.  Just kept
sitting there, staring into a tall clump of grass at a fence,
waiting.  I suppose it was a field mouse, but there's no telling
what it really was.  The same nut cornered a skunk once a few years
ago -- at least, I assume he cornered one.  The evidence was
somewhat overpowering....
 RS> I work at an animal shelter, so I see a lot of animals
 RS> daily.  Dogs seem to be almost happy just about anywhere
 RS> they go, but cats can get depressed or anxious from being in
I hate that.  I know I'd be in an awful state if I were cooped up,
too.
 RS> the shelter.  I've seen cats almost in a panic to get
 RS> accepted by someone looking them over for adoption.  Unlike
 RS> what is currently believed in our society, I believe that
 RS> the lower animals are just as emotional and complex as we
 RS> are.  But then, I'm an oddball . . . I happen to think of
 RS> animals as other people, just like I think of other people
 RS> as, well, other people.
You can do that if you're around them long enough.  I have a
background in psychology, so I know that there aren't any studies
which can prove that animals are just as complex emotionally as
humans, and while there's no way to prove that they have ANY
emotions, I do believe that they have at least some emotional
complexity.  I've seen one of my cats "pout" whenever I've removed
him from my lap.  I've got another one who alters his meowing
whenever he wants to be petted.
 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?
 RS> I read his posts.  His agenda is his own, and he'll follow
 RS> it regardless of what anyone says.  This is just his attempt
 RS> to keep it on track, per his agenda.
He's still miffed at me for questioning his agenda.  He's even taken
to accusing me of the very things he has done.  Not that I buy into
Freudian theory, but his actions do seem to support Sigmund.
 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.
 RS> I hear you.  The heritage IS being pillaged.  And there's
 RS> nothing that can really be done about it.
No, although I can't help but laugh at the new agers.  They think
that a change of wardrobe and singing a couple of ceremonial songs
will make them be more Native American.
 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?
 RS> Heck if I know.    Is there a wrong place in the country
 RS> to be a Native American?  I, personally, wouldn't think so.
Oh, I'm sorry -- I wasn't clear about what I was saying.  I was
talking about people who are descendants but have lived on the
Outside and the opposition they get from some Native Americans.
Some do get treated like invaders or intruders.
Also, have they been cheated by not growing up within any of the
Native Cultures?  I have the ancestry, but I've grown up outside the
culture.  Have I been cheated?  Would I be the same person if I'd
grown up in the Cherokee culture?  Would my lot in life be better or
worse if I'd grown up in the Cherokee culture?
I'm inclined to believe that who I am is who I was meant to be, and
while Cherokee girls are MIGHTY pretty, I can't imagine being
married to anyone other than my wife, who is herself 1/4 Nahuatl and
cute to boot!
 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. :-)
 RS> Patience is it's own reward.  Good!  I'm glad they're off on
 RS> their adventure and not prone to accidents when you cover up
 RS> the hole.  Take care.
I'll have to build a comfortable place for them before they come
back around in the spring, though.  However, that's not a problem.
None Of The Above
iam4nota@juno.com
... Boycott the tabloids.
... Cats are a mysterious kind of folk. --Sir Walter Scott
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30
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