Interesting Replies to Spitzer Tragedy

When I compose a post to my blog, I also send it as an email to friends and family. I have received replies from each end of the spectrum, one pornographic, and one wondering why I don’t spend more time thinking about the lovely things in life. The porno answer is easy to dismiss, after mentioning it as an illustration of what my blog was about.

The email answer was more interesting because it goes to how I think and why I wrote about this still-ongoing story in the news. I don’t have to look for the story, it comes looking for me on all of the news media.

The email responder may not have understood where I was coming from when I said I longed to get back to my rage and fear. If I didn’t care so much for the beauty of the earth and the fragility of its innocent creatures – be they animal or human - I wouldn’t be so full of my muses, rage and fear.

Back in my birdwatching days, there were numerous days when we came upon dogs or cats that had been abandoned in the country. It was not in my character to say to myself that they were someone else’s problem and it wasn’t up to me to stop bridwatching in order to try to save them. To the contrary, that is how I got at least 2 of my cats and 7 of my dogs. On the other hand, I made the mistake of going to Monterey to go whale watching in a friend’s car. We passed a dog trotting down the freeway far out in the country, and my friend refused to stop. I have never gotten over that, and I have never let another person drive me anywhere since then. She, on the other hand, was thinking only of a lovely day on the ocean.

I hope this will explain why seeing the Spitzer family abandoned on the freeway of smut so that the rest of us could go on with our trips to the shore is just not in my character.