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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The secret lives of dogs.

Meet Walrus, my daughter Pia's dog. She only likes you if you play a guitar. She can smell that in you. If you're not a musician, like her mommy and daddy, forget about it. She'll keep her distance from you or bark at you the whole time.

Walrus has established her own routines around my house. She tells us exactly where she wants to sleep, how she wants to interact, when she wants to spend time outdoors without a leash or a tug, as in this instance in our lakeside fenced garden. 

I don't play any instrument, but I sing, and she follows me around when she  visits, mostly because I'm the cook, and she expects that every time I'm moving, I'm off to the kitchen to cook.  Walrus then will sit attentively for the entire amount of time it takes to whip up a meal.

What a wonderful life and community she has established for herself. She likes and welcomes those who are most like her family; and, she loves and welcomes those who will feed her.

Isn't that how we established our blog community?
Don't we befriend those most like us? Writers befriending writers; ex-educators befriending ex-educators; retirees befriending.....

And we befriend those who can help us with our needs.  If we enjoy cooking and collecting recipes, we sign up to follow cooking blogs.

I bet you can profile a person by the blogs she follows!
You can reconstruct their history.
You can see how she eats and shops.
Why, you can tell if she is a Republican or a Democrat!

Oh my!
There goes my attempt at keeping my identity safe from wiki leaks!

23 comments:

Simon said...

Quite true, as the old saying goes "Birds of a feather, flocks together".

Unknown said...

Not to mention the old saying "Lie down with dogs and rise up with fleas!" lol

ellen abbott said...

yes, I imagine one could learn a great deal about a person by the blogs they follow.

Brian Miller said...

haha...would be interesting to see what my profile would be...thank goodness we can just leave a comment and not have to do the sniff test...just saying...

erin said...

perhaps yes and perhaps no. ha. how's that? but mostly yes, as long as the person in question isn't blogging for blogging games, to gain a following for a following's sake. there are too many like this, however, but since reinventing i see fewer and fewer of them.

i look at it like this, if you're honest and authentic, no matter how you exhibit that, and i can learn from you and you might listen to me, then i'm in. it's a celebration of this thing of life, that is what blogging has become for me, and sometimes a means of figuring this thing of life out. and we help one another to grow. at least, that is what you do for me. and i am just that greedy.

we've a federal election in a week. just so wiki can find me and the great dark baron of the interweb, i'm for community, which leads me to being the third party up here, NDP:) imagine, more than two parties! we've actually five or more, depending on where you live.

xo
erin

Dawn said...

So true.
I have been noticing that....one will follow that which they are drawn to.
I have been trying to "round myself out"...but it's hard when you are the way you are to embrace others' loves....or even likes.

Angela said...

I like guitar playing so much, too! So I bet Walrus and I could befriend each other, although I don`t play myself, but I can cook!
The blogs I follow (Walrus, where is yours?) are of a wide variety, but yes, I guess not one of them admires Sarah Palin...

Dimple said...

It's true! And also to be expected, because why would anyone seek out, or follow, a blog which holds no interest for them?

Jane said...

Hhmmm, I was a government schools inspector - but I keep that very quiet on my blog for fear of retaliatory virus dumps ! :O))

Grandmother Mary said...

Dogs keep it simple and authentic. And love who they love with their whole heart. Not a bad role model.

quilterliz said...

G'day Rosaria.Remember that old saying "A dog is a man's best friend" A wonderful animal to have as a best friend. I like your idea about the blogs we follow. I only follow a few, but I have tried to round them out, but it's an interesting thought. Take care. Liz...

The Boat House said...

She looks like a dog who would sing with you (used to have a howler, she sounded better than I did).
Yes, I find myself interested in specific blogs, but I've touched on some souls who have a lot more courage than I, I guess I live vicariously through them.

The apples in your orchard look wonderful too, can't wait for fruit to come into season.

Come north Mother's Day weekend for the Blaine Studio Tour. www.blaineartists.com

Greetings from Nancy of the Boat House in Birch Bay

Anonymous said...

I could follow that dog. I've come to love dogs (used to be scared of them, thanks to my mother). I love these photos, and that wonderful "surprise" ending. Is anyone's identity safe in this unsafe world!

As to your comment on my post just now about crossroads: I would say than your crossroad decision to move where you are was a brilliant one. I've always thought: one choice, I've got to make ONE choice as to where to live. That can be daunting. But I feel like Jen and I were guided to the place where WE now live. Good choices, it sounds like, in both of our cases.
Ann Best, Memoir Author

doreen said...

Hmmm; I must be at least bi-polar or more likely quad-polar. I follow very diversely. Perhaps I don't want to be figured out.
I am a writer; I guess that explains it I am just interested in everything!

yaya said...

That dog would love my #3 son who plays guitar beautifully! Me, not so much! I find that I love reading blogs that really I have nothing in common with. Or atleast I think I have nothing in common with..I don't write, I'm not retired, I don't paint or do very artsy stuff, yet I enjoy many of these blogs. Yours always makes me think or gives great info! Thanks for letting me enjoy the ride with you!

#1Nana said...

I just laughed out loud when I remembered that I had accidently signed to follow a blog that was some guy who had a diaper fetish. He posted pictures of himself wearing diapers...in Walmart! I quickly unfollowed, but you know what they say about everything on the internet being there forever. I hope no one profiles me based on that follow!

Lisa said...

I like to befriend people who are not like me, but of course we all have to first be bloggers :)

Amanda Summer said...

haha!! that's funny, rosaria that walrus can distinguish a singer - smart pooch!

i do look at peoples blogrolls - some people are more specific in their tastes and others seem more eclectic...

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

Loved the story about Walrus! What a great dog! And what a clever post to include both a lively animal story and an insightful, fun look at bloggers. It's so true that there is definitely a community. I'm a relative newcomer and enjoying the experience immensely. I mostly follow blogs that discuss issues of midlife and beyond, but also follow some food blogs (including yours, which I love!) to learn to cook healthier meals and some eclectic blogs by long-time friends on subjects not necessarily of major interest but I want to support the efforts of people I love. Oh, yes, I do follow a political blog or two just to keep my pulse racing!

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

Loved the story about Walrus! What a great dog! And what a clever post to include both a lively animal story and an insightful, fun look at bloggers. It's so true that there is definitely a community. I'm a relative newcomer and enjoying the experience immensely. I mostly follow blogs that discuss issues of midlife and beyond, but also follow some food blogs (including yours, which I love!) to learn to cook healthier meals and some eclectic blogs by long-time friends on subjects not necessarily of major interest but I want to support the efforts of people I love. Oh, yes, I do follow a political blog or two just to keep my pulse racing!

the walking man said...

It's be easier to just ask me who I am and what I do than try to guess it from a list of places I may not have read in over a year eh?

Arkansas Patti said...

While that is so true, I have also met people thru blogging not at all like me and I find that facinating.
I have a guitar on my wall, wonder if that would qualify?

rjerdee said...

oh, you've created another metaphor for us!