"One of the things that was really hard for me traveling in Myanmar was the way dogs are treated (and cats too I spose, tho they just stay out of sight, with none of the abject desire for love that dogs display). They are considered little more than scavengers, something that takes more than its share, and its share isn't enough to live on.
"The dogs, in their endless loyalty, would still pick their families, pin their ears and dodge the kicks and rocks, come around, but not so close you could hurt them, and live in uneasy symbiosis with the people. In my time there, I only saw two "pet" dogs.
"As pups, they are sometimes played with, but soon become wary and unfriendly as no one can be relied upon not to whack them. With few exceptions, they all look remarkably alike too, as if sired by the same mongrel papa.
"Found this little guy sleepily warming himself in the ashes of a fire. I came as close as I could without making him leave his spot, but often found myself fighting the urge to gather up the young ones in my arms, to return with 57 Burmese strays & their accompanying vermin.
"My housemates are relieved I showed restraint."
Hopefully Myanmar will be enlightened someday soon.
I'm Stacey. I'm a 31(!)-year-old Wisconsin girl living in sunny South Florida. The highlights in my life are my lovely boyfriend, my aloof cats, my adorable/adoring stepdogs, my two lumbering tortoises, select family members, being outside, being underwater, taking pictures, yadda yadda. Stay tuned for lots of babbling!
A small boy lived by the ocean. He loved the creatures of the sea, especially the starfish, and he spent much of his time exploring the seashore.
One day the boy learned there would be a minus tide that would leave the starfish stranded on the sand.
When the tide went out, he went down to the beach, began picking up the stranded starfish, and tossing them back into the ocean.
An elderly man who lived next door came down to the beach to see what the boy was doing. Seeing the man's quizzical expression, the boy paused as he approached. "I'm saving the starfish!" the boy proudly declared.
When the neighbor saw all of the stranded starfish he shook his head and said: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, young man, but if you look down the beach, there are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see. And if you look up the beach the other way, it's the same. One little boy like you isn't going to make much of a difference."
The boy thought about this for a moment. Then he reached his small hand down to the sand, picked up another starfish, tossed it out into the ocean, and said: "Well, I sure made a difference for that one!"
