Wednesday, August 01, 2007
A man was well-known in his neighbourhood for his obsession with widlife. His house was full of paintings which he himself had created, as well as piles of books and magazines all on the topic of animals. He TV was constantly programmed to the nature channel.
One day this man decided to fix the sidewalk leading up to his house. He mixed the cement and carfeully filled between the boards he had laid. But when he returned an hour later to see how it was drying, he cuaght the neighbour's sog making paw prints in his fresh new sidewalk! He chased the dog away and then re-poured the concrete. He went inside, and came out later, only to find that the dog had stepped in the cement again. The man angrily fixed the marred cement and stomped inside. The next time he came out, the dog had of course messed up the work again. The man grabbed his shotgun and killed the dog in a fit of rage! The owner of the dog heard the shot and came out to see what had happened. He said, "I can't believe that you just killed my dog! I thought you were an animal lover!" "I do love animals!" replied the man, "It's just that I only like them in the abstract, not in the concrete!"
This was one of the funniest jokes I ever heard in a sermon, delivered by my cousin Ed. I honestly can't remember what the sermon was about, but this joke resonates in me. I think it might be because, like the man, I really do love looking at animals and learning about them, but I don't like having to touch them or take care of them, or put up with poop in the yard. Anyways, I got an email from my mom this week informing me that our family dog died. I cried a little bit for Toffee, after all, I had known this dog for almost half of my life, and she really was a fabulous pet. I can't imagine that we will ever find someone to replace her. If someone asked me "do you like dogs?" I would have to say that I loved Toffee and she was like a friend to me the times when I paid attention to her, such as while waiting for the school bus or going on walks, but I can't speak for all the rest of the dogs. I think it would be very hard to care about dogs in general if one lived in Paraguay. The stray dogs are especially pathetic, just moping around, looking for some trash to scrunge through, and they never bark at you or even turn their head. For that reason it is also a good place to get over your fear of dogs. people might think that from readint his that I have nothing exciting happening in my life to write about , bt it's not true. I actually have a lot, so much so that I feel stressed out, and so I write about dogs to be more relaxed. Last night the internet place I usually go to, two blocks away from my house got robbed just minutes before I passed by there with Rey and Emi. I admit I do feel a little less secure now, and i can see why some of the people are so paranoid if they hear stories like this happening all the time in their neighbourhood, people getting stabbed for their sneakers or cellphone. When Emi's cellphone got robbed last month, she didn't even bother reporting it to the police because apparently they can't/don't do anything. Yesterday morning a shipment of one million american dollars came into the asuncion ariport for some buisnessman here, and 5 men got away with it. It seems to me like the police really should have been able to aprehend the robbers, but I guess I am thinking very north americanish now. Just so everyone knows, it had to have been at least 23 degrees or so here today in the middle of winter. We had the fans going in the classroooms. Everyone is really hoping it will rain soon. I don't think it looks dry at all, but there is a saying in Guarani about how in August the cows always get really skinny for lack of rain.
The theme of this blog entry will be compassion. I don't have to love animals, but I want to feel compassion for them and help them live well. I feel very compassionate towards all the victims of the crimes that happen and there is no insurance and no one the provide justice. I also feel sorry for the poor paraguayan farmers and the skinny cows.
One day this man decided to fix the sidewalk leading up to his house. He mixed the cement and carfeully filled between the boards he had laid. But when he returned an hour later to see how it was drying, he cuaght the neighbour's sog making paw prints in his fresh new sidewalk! He chased the dog away and then re-poured the concrete. He went inside, and came out later, only to find that the dog had stepped in the cement again. The man angrily fixed the marred cement and stomped inside. The next time he came out, the dog had of course messed up the work again. The man grabbed his shotgun and killed the dog in a fit of rage! The owner of the dog heard the shot and came out to see what had happened. He said, "I can't believe that you just killed my dog! I thought you were an animal lover!" "I do love animals!" replied the man, "It's just that I only like them in the abstract, not in the concrete!"
This was one of the funniest jokes I ever heard in a sermon, delivered by my cousin Ed. I honestly can't remember what the sermon was about, but this joke resonates in me. I think it might be because, like the man, I really do love looking at animals and learning about them, but I don't like having to touch them or take care of them, or put up with poop in the yard. Anyways, I got an email from my mom this week informing me that our family dog died. I cried a little bit for Toffee, after all, I had known this dog for almost half of my life, and she really was a fabulous pet. I can't imagine that we will ever find someone to replace her. If someone asked me "do you like dogs?" I would have to say that I loved Toffee and she was like a friend to me the times when I paid attention to her, such as while waiting for the school bus or going on walks, but I can't speak for all the rest of the dogs. I think it would be very hard to care about dogs in general if one lived in Paraguay. The stray dogs are especially pathetic, just moping around, looking for some trash to scrunge through, and they never bark at you or even turn their head. For that reason it is also a good place to get over your fear of dogs. people might think that from readint his that I have nothing exciting happening in my life to write about , bt it's not true. I actually have a lot, so much so that I feel stressed out, and so I write about dogs to be more relaxed. Last night the internet place I usually go to, two blocks away from my house got robbed just minutes before I passed by there with Rey and Emi. I admit I do feel a little less secure now, and i can see why some of the people are so paranoid if they hear stories like this happening all the time in their neighbourhood, people getting stabbed for their sneakers or cellphone. When Emi's cellphone got robbed last month, she didn't even bother reporting it to the police because apparently they can't/don't do anything. Yesterday morning a shipment of one million american dollars came into the asuncion ariport for some buisnessman here, and 5 men got away with it. It seems to me like the police really should have been able to aprehend the robbers, but I guess I am thinking very north americanish now. Just so everyone knows, it had to have been at least 23 degrees or so here today in the middle of winter. We had the fans going in the classroooms. Everyone is really hoping it will rain soon. I don't think it looks dry at all, but there is a saying in Guarani about how in August the cows always get really skinny for lack of rain.
The theme of this blog entry will be compassion. I don't have to love animals, but I want to feel compassion for them and help them live well. I feel very compassionate towards all the victims of the crimes that happen and there is no insurance and no one the provide justice. I also feel sorry for the poor paraguayan farmers and the skinny cows.
# posted by Ellen @ 11:41 PM 
