Archive | animals RSS feed for this section

Catastrophizing

My neighbor took a photo of a bobcat one morning recently—at the house across the street from ours. Yikes! We overreacted—and worried about our dog Jack—and all of the smaller dogs and the cats in the neighborhood. Disaster! However, my friend Mary, a retired biologist, didn’t panic. “How exciting,” she said. “Not very many people […]

Read full story Comments Off on Catastrophizing

Peace of the parrot and the chickens

I am returning to Dallas from a visit with my brother James and his wife Jeany. They live on nine acres in Los Lunas, a small town outside Albuquerque. However, their home and the acres that surround it seem worlds away from Dallas. We gather eggs from the chickens and cook them for breakfast. We […]

Read full story Comments Off on Peace of the parrot and the chickens

Hell on women and horses

It’s hot in Texas this summer, which reminds me of some wise words from the writer Molly Ivins. In an article in the August 1987 issue of Ms. magazine, Ivins wrote: “They used to say that Texas was hell on women and horses. Don’t know why they stopped. It still is.” –Joy

Read full story Comments Off on Hell on women and horses

A Rabbit Day

I am getting excited about Christmas. I think it’s a Rabbit Day—as described by M.H. Clark in the book Tiger Days. On Rabbit Days, I’m wide awake I run and skip and jump. And, when I start to hop and hop, It feels like I might never stop. –Joy

Read full story Comments { 3 }

A Rabbit Day

I am busy! I made a pecan pie yesterday. I am decorating the house for Christmas today. Tonight, I am going to dinner at a restaurant that features Elizabethan carolers singing while they stroll from table to table. I am getting excited about Christmas. I think it’s a Rabbit Day—as described by M.H. Clark in […]

Read full story Comments { 1,701 }

Tiger Days

Yesterday we installed Christmas lights in the bushes in our front yard, hung our stockings and removed boxes of Christmas decorations from the closet. It was a Tiger Day—as described by M.H. Clark in the book Tiger Days. On Tiger Days, I want to climb. I want to climb and I’m fierce. I pace around […]

Read full story Comments { 3,038 }

A snail day

I’ve written Christmas cards, mailed packages and invited friends to my house for a birthday lunch. Today I am moving at a slower pace, and I am reminded of lines from a children’s book—Tiger Days by M.H. Clark. On snail days, I go slowly In everything I do. And, I might take a Little while, […]

Read full story Comments { 498 }

A pandemic diet

Lose weight fast! It’s easy. Results guaranteed! When we took our canine companion Jack to the veterinarian last September, we got bad news. Jack, our Brittany, weighed 55.1 pounds. That was too much Dr. Merrill announced. She told us exactly how many calories Jack should eat every day. We checked the nutrient information on Jack’s […]

Read full story Comments { 1 }

Happy Birthday, Jane Goodall

Yesterday—April 3, 2020—was Jane Goodall’s 86th birthday. Happy Birthday to an amazing woman! Goodall still works tirelessly to protect chimpanzees and other animals—and our environment. This is one of my favorite Jane Goodall quotes. “Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”

Read full story Comments { 500 }

Female-female alliances

When Ashley Judd studied at Harvard, her favorite course was Gender Violence, Law and Social Justice, taught by Diane Rosenfield. The class learned about bonobo apes, “who over the course of evolution have eliminated male sexual coercion in their communities. If a male does get aggressive toward a female bonobo, she lets out a special […]

Read full story Comments { 1,458 }