The First Snow

It finally happened. Winter has showed it's face in the form of snow. It's pretty, too--one of those wet, sticky, heavy snows that clings to everything and makes you forgive the weather. The dogs were interested enough to go out and sniff around, which is more than I can say for the chickens. I don't think those girls have any plans to leave their house until Spring. When I went to feed them they only peered through the doorway irritably and retreated, clucking for their food. I do feel sorry for them having to be so confined for so long. I have thought of a lot of different ways to make things better for them, but none seems very practical. I don't really worry about them being cold, but I feel that they must be very bored and lonely. I'm told that I am humanizing them, that they don't have the brains to be bored or lonely. I can't agree, though. No living thing escapes loneliness, or boredom, if the circumstances are right. I am sure of it, just as sure as I am that they feel happiness and love. It is a bizarre twist of human feelings of superiority that make people feel so separate from the rest of the animal kingdom. My belief is that it is an outgrowth of religious thought, a very unfortunate one, that we must feel that we are the chosen ones, special and superior to all other species.

Well, I believe I waxed philosophical enough on that subject yesterday. I might ad, though, that now that we, with our superior brains, can study the devlopment of the human fetus in minute detail from the moment of conception, we know that it is impossible to tell a human from a fish in the early stages. Also, we share 90 plus per cent of our DNA with a multitude of other animals--------not justs apes but insects, birds, and fish and fowl. There are points as we grow that certain biological switches turn off and on, determining whether a hunk of life will be a man or an aligator. We all start out the same. I am both fascinated and comforted by this. It makes me very happy to look at the dogs and know how much alike we are, or to see a deer running in a field and know she and I are so closely related. It makes all the sense in the world, it is only logical.

So, I cooked today, warming up the house and making it smell good. I was at the gallery for awhile, decorating for Christmas, then at home I worked on my second puzzle for awhile. It was dark because of the storm, and although I wished I could spend some time painting, I just didn't feel like it. It seemed like a day for just wandering from one thing to another, doing laundry, picking up, listening to the sound of the first snow plow of the year lumbering up the hill. Days like this are like puncuation marks.....a little pause to take in a breath.