Live and learn

I grew up in a menagerie curated by both my parents and my paternal grandmother. What the monkey didn't do, the birds, cats, dogs and even an alligator did. My grandmother fed us doggie bones instead of cookies. She sent us petrified tarantulas and once a matchbox full of little tiny dead mouse babies. None of us died from these unique gifts, it rather broadened our horizons of who people can be.

The birds laid eggs that never hatched. The cats had kittens, lots of kittens. Back then no one got their cats spayed or neutered. Even our fish laid eggs in their aquarium.  They hatched into little black eyed blobs, most of which were eaten by their parents. That seems to be a thing with small pets. The hamsters often ate their young too. It made me glad I was relatively big.

I learned that big fluffy birds weigh almost nothing, but a crow can take a memorable chunk out of your arm should the spirit move him. Kittens and bunnies are so soft and cuddly, but they have teeth and claws that can tear into mice, eat carrots and disembowel creatures bigger than them. Dogs may be man's best friend, but some of them don't particularly like little girls walking to their piano lessons. Animal philosophy is pretty black and white.

Our pets gave us life lessons that surpassed any of those "talks" kids always dread.  It was a show and tell about courting, births, deaths and life that could be fairly traumatic, but after a while I learned that although life and death can be dangerous and messy, it can also be gloriously miraculous.

I no longer have any pets. Apartments have exorbitant pet fees and vets are incredibly expensive. Pets are not for the poor anymore. Who can afford them?

Yet I still need something to love. Something to keep me company as I sit in my big chair watching movies of my favorite actor. Something to occupy my mind as I walk every day trying to keep active. 

And life has once more provided. Not a snuggly little animal, but a kindly sweet Muse. 

I highly recommend my Muse. He doesn't have to be fed, or walked and mine speaks quite eloquently. He doesn't claw the furniture, or drool on the car windows. I didn't have to teach him to sit. I don't even know if he does sit! But he makes me feel content and loved and he's good company when I watch television. 

Much better than a pet I think, for someone like me.