Yesterday was our first snow day of the season. We only get a few snow days here in Kentucky each winter so it’s a big deal for us to get outside to play in it. One of the best things about snow storms in KY is that the world really does stop for a snow storm here. When we lived in the Midwest life did not stop for snow sans the very rare snow day from school. Here every thing shuts down when it snows. We don’t have the infrastructure to deal with snow removal fast enough and most folks are not used to driving in snow…it’s a dangerous combination and the best thing to do is stay put. That means we get a snow day just like when we were kids…I love it!
This was Sophia’s first experience with snow and she loved it…well at least for a few minutes at a time. She loved running around outside but her feet would get cold so fast I would have to take her in the house to warm up. She would scream at the door though until I let her back out with the rest of us. This went on for a good while…my poor husband was working from home…not sure he appreciated her drama (lol).
Our newest Misfit, Sweet Paulie, had a blast playing outside too. Paulie mostly enjoys anything that involves following me around. She is truly one of the nicest dogs we have ever met. We are blessed to have her here and grateful that we have the tools and resources to keep her comfortable (she has the worst arthritis we have seen since our lab Sam so many years ago).
Mostly we are so grateful for our little corner of this world where we can enjoy our family in peace. I am fortunate to live a relatively sheltered and peaceful life. I work out of my house doing work that I love and spend the majority of my time taking care of these precious dogs. Still, everything these days feels heavier. 2022 feels like its starting out like a wet blanket on a cold night.
I think like most people…we are exhausted. We are exhausted of bad news, life constantly being canceled, difficulties in running our businesses and especially the political and cultural vitriol. It feels like we have become a society full of opinion (the lowest form of information) but completely lacking in empathy and solutions. I am not sure I have witnessed more demonizing of the “other” in our culture than we see now and its paired with a lack of empathy and a loss of ability to think critically and independently. It scares me. We are a society that has that has been prosperous, safe and secure because of our historic ability to work together, to come together and to show empathy, respect and patience in the face of both adversity and disagreement. It seems to be lost…and lost to a point of no return. It makes me incredibly sad…we are leaving such a toxic mess to future generations in so many ways.
If you haven’t watched the movie Don’t Look Up…I recommend it. At times I laughed…the writing is clever and it is my kind of humor…dry, very dry. But at the same time it was very disturbing. Humanity was too distracted to care about the meteor barreling at earth was it’s premise. We have a lot of “metaphorical meteors” barreling towards us…whether you want to focus on climate change or the break down of our culture…the movie reminded us that we (as a society) are our own worst enemy and have been tolerating corruption and incompetence in our politicians, institutions and journalists for far too long. Personal responsibility has been supplanted with entitlement. Institutions and group think have supplanted critical thinking and empathy.
I’m just a crazy dog lady and armchair philosopher…I have no grand solutions for such grand problems other than to live by the old adage that we each need to be the change we want to see in the world…no matter how small our sphere of influence is.
I leave you with this cute video of Sophia’s first moment of experiencing snow…she was precious.
Peace,
Nancy & The Misfits