Comments on Julie Zickefoose: The Peace of Pets

winning roulette systems | free roulette systems |...

2008-04-27T06:47:00.000-05:00

runescape money runescape gold runescape money run...

2007-12-04T20:58:00.000-05:00

runescape money runescape gold runescape money runescape gold wow power leveling wow powerleveling Warcraft Power Leveling Warcraft PowerLeveling buy runescape gold buy runescape money runescape items runescape gold runescape money runescape accounts runescape gp dofus kamas buy dofus kamas Guild Wars Gold buy Guild Wars Gold lotro gold buy lotro gold lotro gold buy lotro gold lotro gold buy lotro gold runescape money runescape power leveling runescape money runescape gold dofus kamas cheap runescape money cheap runescape gold Hellgate Palladium Hellgate London Palladium Hellgate money Tabula Rasa gold tabula rasa money lotro gold buy lotro gold Tabula Rasa Credit Tabula Rasa Credits Hellgate gold Hellgate London gold dofus kamas buy dofus kamas 血管瘤肝血管瘤音乐剧北京富码电视富码电视富码电视台 7天酒店 7天连锁酒店 7天连锁自清洗过滤器过滤器压力开关压力传感器流量开关流量计液位计液位开关温湿度记录仪风速仪可燃气体检测仪 wow power leveling wow powerleveling Warcraft PowerLeveling Warcraft Power Leveling World of Warcraft PowerLeveling World of Warcraft Power Leveling runescape power leveling runescape powerleveling
runescape money runescape gold wow power leveling 棕榈树
eve isk
eve online isk
eve isk
eve online isk

Phoebe has a great eye!My cat, Rocco, who I rescue...

2007-10-04T20:32:00.000-05:00

Phoebe has a great eye!

My cat, Rocco, who I rescued from someone who was retiring and was going to have him euthanised(he's perfectly fine) sits on a little "blanky" I've made up for him. On the kitchen table. He watches me do my math homework. I like to think he helps me do my math homework. He's my ol (17 years!) pal.

I couldn't agree with you more, Julie! Phoebe take...

2007-10-02T23:55:00.000-05:00

I couldn't agree with you more, Julie! Phoebe takes gorgeous photos. My favorite is the one with Chet on your lap and Charlie nuzzling you ~ too sweet!

Phoebe is a wonderful photographer, she really cap...

2007-10-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

Phoebe is a wonderful photographer, she really captures the magic animal essence of this post. That communion of species. Beautiful.

How sad for those who choose not to like animals o...

2007-10-02T15:10:00.000-05:00

How sad for those who choose not to like animals or others' pets. They are definitely missing some wonderful relationships. The bond between a pet and its responsible "owner" is like nothing else in this world. And even when we lose these pets, we continue to have such fond memories of when they were with us. Personally, I cannot imagine myself without my pets. I wonder if I would be a curmudgeon, or worse yet, not care about birding, etc. :o) BTW, Julie, that was a strange ending to an interesting article.

By the number of comments, we can see how popular/...

2007-10-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

By the number of comments, we can see how popular/important pets are. Thanks, Julie, for an insightful sharing of how pets fulfill your life. They are indeed a positive influence and in most cases, therapy. I can't imagine life without my 2 dogs. I have worked all my life with people and their pets and they certainly enrich our lives.

Great pics, especially liked the post on Charlie. ...

2007-10-02T13:56:00.000-05:00

Great pics, especially liked the post on Charlie. Makes me miss my beloved Cockatiel, whom I had for 14.5 years.

Zick is a champion button pusher.I didn't notice t...

2007-10-02T13:10:00.000-05:00

Zick is a champion button pusher.

I didn't notice the glasses but I like the hair style.

NOW, about people who don't like C.B., for shame, phsaw and good riddance.The rest won't pass a PG rating.
Baker, stead of trying to kiss those fools, turn around and FART!!

We are B list, 3 cats now and several dogs in the past.
Then of course there's the raccoons, opposum, rabbits, deer, squirrels et al that come to our yard to eat.

Can't imagine life without critters. Our cats have...

2007-10-02T12:41:00.000-05:00

Can't imagine life without critters. Our cats have us well trained, and vice versa. Pipsqueak (who is quite rotund) does an excellent imitation of road kill, full on her back with broad belly and feet in the air. Having received much praise and many head scritches as the "road kill kitty", she now goes into her act whenever we walk by. How can you not love that? Or Kira who announces it's dinner time by placing herself between me and the laptop, curling down, and anchoring my left arm with her head and front paws. Life would indeed be drab and cold without the warmth of pets.

Yep, you pushed the buttons again. Thanks.

Very hip specs, Zick.Oh, my babies. I'd be lost wi...

2007-10-02T12:22:00.000-05:00

Very hip specs, Zick.

Oh, my babies. I'd be lost without my babies. Niblet the bun jumps around like a hyperactive puppy when I come home and say, "where's my son? where's my little son-moon-and-stars?" The cats HAVE to sleep with us or they meow all night, and I am just so used to keeping my arm around Kitty Kisses all night long while she purrs and slumbers. The babies definitely make us who we are.

I too judge people a little harshly when I hear them say something like, "Oh, I don't like pets." Even cavemen kept dogs with them; people need animals to keep us human!

I think the little stuff is the best stuff, too. ...

2007-10-02T11:30:00.000-05:00

I think the little stuff is the best stuff, too. It is funny how pets can become so much a part of life -- more than just love. When I have dreams with emotional conflict, I still "hear" in the background the sound of my dog's nails clicking on the floor. Gives me comfort, even in the ether of dreams.

Sometimes with newspaper articles (especially the meaty ones), I often feel like they run out of room to complete the thought, so they just tie it up quick without resolution. Maybe that's what happened with this science piece.

Heather
Wayne, PA

I like the NY Times article a lot for more reasons...

2007-10-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

I like the NY Times article a lot for more reasons than worth mentioning (thanx for pointing it out); in fact Natalie Angier is one of my VERY favorite science writers anyway... BUUUT, yes that last paragraph seems a tad stretched/odd. The last line clearly refers back to paragraph 4, but still rather obtuse to me.

Won't be reading that article. We are facing, in t...

2007-10-02T11:08:00.000-05:00

Won't be reading that article. We are facing, in the coming days or weeks, the loss of my mother-in-law's beloved border collie. But she's really all our dog and our lives will be completely altered without her. So your last couple of posts are hitting a pretty tight chord. Love that picture of Charlie nuzzling in to you as Chet looks calmly off in the distance. Peace indeed. And not so far from the peace of wild things, either.

P.S.Oh, and I can't believe ANYONE would say any t...

2007-10-02T10:46:00.000-05:00

P.S.
Oh, and I can't believe ANYONE would say any type of disparaging remark about Baker! Don't they know they are in the presence of an internet celebrity!!

Okay, I read the article. That last line was reall...

2007-10-02T10:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, I read the article. That last line was really a puzzler. I couldn't quite understand her questioning her feelings either.

Glad I read the article but my overall feeling about it....ambivalent :-)

I am such a klutz. Misfired on the first try. Try ...

2007-10-02T09:42:00.000-05:00

I am such a klutz. Misfired on the first try. Try pasting this in?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/
science/02angier.html?
_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

Here it is:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/scien...

2007-10-02T09:38:00.000-05:00

Here it is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/science/02angier.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

I'm too much of a klutz to put a real link in. But I think you could paste that into your browser.

I like the piece, but I'm not sure I understand why the writer needs to feel ambivalent about the bond she had with her cats. If I read her right, she feels kind of stupid and abashed for having gotten so attached to them, and the little things they did that made her laugh. I think the little stuff is the best stuff, and I think somebody needs to tell her that it's OK to mourn those pets and be a wreck about losing them.
And I just don't get the last line. Call me thick, but:

I loved my cats, and I miss them, but I resent them, too, for showing me what a creature of small habits I am, and for reminding me that even love is not enough. Life, like the laundry, will always cool down.

What does that mean? If I were her editor, I'd have written a big red HUH? next to it.

Thanks for pointing me to the piece, Heather. I'd be interested to hear others' reactions.

Yeah, Christine, it's hard not to see blanket anti...

2007-10-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

Yeah, Christine, it's hard not to see blanket anti-pet statements like that as some sort of distancing mechanism or backdoor slight. I have to laugh at myself when people say disparaging things about Chet, and smile outwardly, while making a big imaginary black mark in my goody- baddy book next to their names. If they had any idea... An acquaintance came over the other night who hadn't met him, and as he was boinging around her trying to score a kiss, she commented, "I didn't know you had a dog! When did you get this... thing?" and then she rolled her eyes and said, "My, he's energetic!" making it plain that he was being annoying. She's had a succession of maybe four adult dogs in the short time I've known her, and "gotten rid" of all of them for one offense or another. Easy come, easy go. Some of us look at pets as things to be acquired and just as easily gotten rid of, and some of us take them into our hearts for better or worse, and never the twain shall truly meet. So Group B will stick together, laugh together and understand each other, and Group A will fill up the animal shelters, leaving Group B to run rescue groups and figure out what to do with all those "disposable" animals. Welcome to Group B. I see you're a lifetime member!

Did you see the Science Section of the NYTimes tod...

2007-10-02T09:17:00.000-05:00

Did you see the Science Section of the NYTimes today (Tuesday)? They have an article called "The Ambivalent Bond With a Ball of Fur." It even mentions Alex the African gray parrot.

Heather
Wayne, PA

AMEN!! I hate to admit it but I tend to judge (jus...

2007-10-02T08:50:00.000-05:00

AMEN!!

I hate to admit it but I tend to judge (just a little bit) people in relation to if they have pets or not. Now I know there are a lot of people that just can't have an animal for whatever reason. But there are some, and a co-worker is one, that have absolutely no interest and actually do not like any kind of animal, and think they are pretty useless. She has actually said she would never be able to come over to my house because I have cats. No allergies or anything, she just can't deal with them. Oohh Kayyy!

I hear ya' sister.

2007-10-02T07:06:00.000-05:00

I hear ya' sister.

Wow... you pushed a lot of buttons again with this...

2007-10-02T05:14:00.000-05:00

Wow... you pushed a lot of buttons again with this one. I think that bond we feel with other species is one of the few primitive, innate intuitions that (luckily) isn't drummed out of us on the path to adulthood. E.O. Wilson calls it "biophilia," but I've never been convinced it even needs a special invented word.
'Unconditional love,' in the case of pets I'm sure is a huge part of it. I have one of those 'be the person my dog thinks I am" stickers, and it always reminds me how often I fail to meet expectations or some ideal... and the difference between doing that with people vs. animals...

How cool that you can sit with Chet and Charlie, n...

2007-10-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

How cool that you can sit with Chet and Charlie, no fighting, just sharing the happiness of being in the moment. You are right about our pets, they make life so rich, we are very fortunate to know their unconditional love.

Great pics, Phoebe.Cool new glasses--very stylish....

2007-10-01T21:13:00.000-05:00

Great pics, Phoebe.
Cool new glasses--very stylish.
As for pets setting us at ease--oh yeah. And they sometimes save our lives, spiritually if not physically.
When I was suddenly without a job 5 years ago (my department was eliminated), I felt that I could easily have slipped into depression EXCEPT I had this dog who insisted on going out for walks several times a day. She saved me--I am convinced.