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D0G LESSONS FOR THE REST OF US

Dog lessons begin with a special dog. Since all dogs are special to every family who lives with one, this particular dog is the prime example. Why this dog? It’s the dog I know best, the dog who knows me best. First a note on dog owners:

EXTRA DOG TIME? SET THE CLOCK

Extra dog time happens after you’ve had your last dog? Or your first dog? You could call any time spent with dogs extra time because they do something to the minutes and hours. I think it has something to do with 7 to 1 year ration, that a dog ages seven years to our one. […]

EARTH BURDEN GROWS WITH POPULATION

If the earth burden grows with population, will it shrink with a population decrease? Not when we hear about ‘forever chemicals.’ How does anyone rebound from a ‘forever’ problem? By the way, ‘forever’ is spelled PFAS.

FART AROUND LIKE KURT VONNEGUT, IT’S GOOD FOR YOU

Fart around like you mean it: Kurt Vonnegut tells his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope: “Oh, she says, well, you’re not a poor man. “You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet?“ And so I pretend not to hear her.

ROSE GARDEN FLOWER GIRL TEST

When the rose garden calls how do you answer? There’s only one answer when it includes a birthday for a flower girl. And with a flower girl. With four flower girls? It started two weeks ago.

LIFE CHALLENGES? LET DOGS DECIDE

We wake up to life challenges every day and ignore them. Why? Because we wake up like we always wake up. Waking up is not the challenge. We can disagree, but you know I’m right.

GIVING UP AT THE RIGHT TIME

Giving up is the same as quitting? Or something more insidious? Quitting feels so final, like, “All done here.” Giving up delivers a different message.

DISPLACED WORKERS ‘RETIRED’ FROM OLD JOBS

Displaced workers retire? From what? Ask a Coos Bay logger about it, or a Charleston commercial fisherman. What did they retire from? Getting jacked around by new ideas on sustainability.

LIFETIME LEARNING MEANS HOMEWORK FOREVER?

Lifetime learning means not quitting until you figure things out. It also means knowing what you don’t know and when to call an expert. This is when it gets dicey. You know what you don’t know, but still wonder if the experts know more. These are the lessons of when to listen and learn.

PROTECTING VOWS, THE ONES YOU MAKE AND BREAK

Doesn’t ‘protecting vows’ sound like something a fraud would say? “You protect those vows, boy, while I work the crowd.” Eventually the whole idea turns into another ‘gray area.’ But it shouldn’t, and here’s why: