I’m up and out very early on this cold frosty morning. I have important chores to preform such as waking up the roosters, making sure the sun rises on schedule and insuring that all is right with the world.
Attempting to make everything right is the hardest of all of course, especially when so many seem dedicated to doing the opposite, At least this is how it appears to me here in our human world.
Our natural environment and animal kingdom on the other hand seem relatively well balanced. They’ve been so I guess for many ages. But when mankind attempts to alter, manage and regulate nature, well that’s when things are apt to go a bit off kilter.
“There was a time in this great land when the railroad did not run
And the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
Long before the white man and long before the wheel
When the green dark forests were to silent to be real”
Those are a few lines from Gordon Lightfoot’s song: “The Great Canadian Railroad Trilogy”.
But man is quite convinced that he is indeed king of the jungle and top of the food chain. He considers it his basic right to control, alter and remake his environment to suit his needs, advance his wellbeing and the future of his species.
This worked well for him in many ways. He no longer lives in a cold, dark, dingy cave trying desperately to avoid hungry savage beasts. He advanced and improved his lot. He discovered fire, invented the wheel and found that fossil fuel can provide cheap efficient energy making life a lot easier.
The number of his fellow humans has grown from a scant few to many billions spread throughout the planet.
He now lives in central heated and air conditioned blocks of luxurious dwellings in modern cities. He is surrounded by plastic, glass concrete and electronics. He has no recollection of his former home - the cave.
There is however a more negative aspect to man’s advancement and progress through history. He not only controlled and dominated the natural world to get ahead; he did his utmost to do likewise to his own kind.
So many pages of our history are filled with battles, bloodshed and brutality. Warfare has been our evil construct. Man not only conquered the wilderness but subdued, abused and enslaved other less technological advanced societies.
Force, violence, the sword and the gun were often the tools he used to get what he wanted. Sadly this is still so today.
Animals of the world often view humans with fear and apprehension, and perhaps rightly so. Down through time they’ve been hunted, killed, eaten and their heads mounted on walls as trophies. They may well see man as a predatory dangerous animal.
Domestic animals however often give their faith, trust and hearts to humans. They have a gentle way about them that people find so unique and special.
Not many years ago some cultures would butcher and eat dogs. Today, with the advent of a bit of affluence, they are apt to be treated as special pets. People even go so far as dressing them up and parading them around for show.
Some years back I worked for a while in a zoo. I found it to be a very unusual world. Humans toured through admiring animals in cages. Most of the captive animals totally ignored their curious onlookers. They appeared to have a sad, apathic look about them. They knew I suppose they were doomed to a lifetime of confinement. They would never more enjoy their natural world.
Unlike humans, birds don’t need singing lessons. They were born to sing their sweet songs, fly off in the sky and be free.
Whereas we in our world rely on education, programing and indoctrination to learn, a baby duck can glide across the surface of a pond with great ease on day one.
Hibernation, navigation and migration are talents readily available to those creatures through somewhat of a group mind consciousness. We call it instinct.
As we look at the animal life around us we admire their beauty , simplicity and freedom. This makes me wonder about the ones who come to live among us in our human world. Could they be bringing us a message?
To me, the most basic concepts our four legged canine friends may like to impress and pass along to us are just plain and simple love and kindness.
Dan O’Connor can be reached at danhughoconnor@gmail.com
