Old Ladies and Their Animals

Not really anything inspirational to say today, other than some rather lovely observations - the things you see when you actually take time to look!

And today it was "Pets."

I grew up surrounded by lots of pets. We always had dog, cat, shed full of finches, aquariums, canaries, rabbits, hamsters etc. And I'm very aware that my kids don't have the same experiences. They'd love to, but circumstances just don't make it work:

Firstly, we go overseas to visit relatives back in UK every year as well as an occasional holiday or camping trip. It just wouldn't be fair on the poor things to be put in kennels for all that time (especially for a dog - as I frequently point out to my eldest.) We have no family over here who could look after them and it seems a bit unfair to be constantly asking friends...especially if we still want them to be friends!

Secondly, and probably most importantly, I'm very allergic to pet hair now. Never was as a kid, but as I've got older the allergies have just skyrocketed. Especially with cat hair. Currently trying a course of immunotherapy injections, so maybe things will ease. We'll see.

We did get pet mice, but one died after about 3 months and the other one stinks and hides whenever the kids get near it!

Anyway, as I was out having an early evening power walk yesterday, (oh, so proud to  point out  that I did actually get off my arse!) I couldn't help notice the number of old people, no old ladies, who were out with their pets.

In the half hour I was out, I saw 5 old ladies (4 of them smiled at me!) and 5 pets.

What was so funny was that 4 of the 5 had dogs with them that resembled them in some way: either the colour of their fur/coat (see photo above!), the curliness of the fur/hair or the way they walked - seriously. Two of the little dogs were so hunched over, like their owners and were hobbling along/being dragged. One of them walked 10 paces or so, paused to get its breath and then shuffled on again...as did its owner.

It was so gorgeous - I'm definitely on 'dog watch' when I next venture out for a walk.

And what about the 5th old lady? Well she was sitting on her drive in her wheelchair, just soaking up the last of the evening light and saying hello to whoever strolled   power walked by. She was so sweet, clearly just wanting a bit of company. I'd love to get an Aussie-pseudo-gran for my kids.

And the final pet I saw?

Two beautiful tabby cats curled up on the doormat of their house, clearly waiting patiently for their owners to get back from work. I envisaged the fuss they'd make when they heard the car pull into the drive and how they'd rub against the owners legs, miaowing happily.

I wanted to put the lonely old lady and the two lonely cats together.

I'd love to have an adoptive cat that visited me when I needed company, but didn't depend on me in case I went away. I'm sure my kids would like that too.

There's a certain warmth, companionship and sense of the familial about owning  a pet. There should be a 'rent-a-pet' or 'pet-share' for the elderly or people like us, who just can't have one themselves.

And that's my observation for today!