Magdalene’s Bootcamp Experience

Brk day 177

Brk day 178

Brk day 179

Brk day 180

Why is it.... that between humans and cats, we are able to easily forgive each other time and time again for our offenses. Not a word has to be spoken or a plea ever made. It is automatic. “You pooped on the rug. Again!?!?! Ok, well..... that’s alright. It happens.”
Or “You stepped on my tail. Again?!?!?! Ok well.... that’s alright. It happens.”
And we move on. With patience and acceptance.

But between humans and humans things always seem to get muddier. Maybe it’s all the talking that gets in the way. Or our cognition gone awry.
Instead with humans it’s “You did that thing I don’t like. Again?!?!? When will you finally listen to me and stop doing things I don’t like?? You should have this down by now!”

We think another human should know better, that a cat is just an animal and can’t help it. But maybe most humans don’t know better. We are also animal after all. And even if trained, accidents are still bound to happen.

Whether literal or metaphorical, the cat or human in your life will eventually have an accident and poop on your rug again. Perhaps it’s patience and acceptance...... increasing the accident tolerance. Not expecting an animal to be anything more than an animal.

Magdalene Bolton wrote:
Whether literal or metaphorical, the cat or human in your life will eventually have an accident and poop on your rug again. Perhaps it’s patience and acceptance......  Not expecting an animal to be anything more than an animal.

I think many will agree that few animals, if any, can come close to the judgementalism and guarded well-wishing of most humans, although culture may well play a role here.  So that aspect that we feel in our bones when we are greeted by a dog or get leg rubs from a cat just, for the most part, often seems more genuine and unladen with contingencies than considerations from many humans.  Perhaps because of that, we are more quick to forgive them transgressions that we would not allow with other humans.

Secondly, and more speculative, is the possibility that we experience a twinge of guilt at seeing the poop on the rug or that pee across the floor.....as in "It's our collective human fault that we domesticated you to the point that you are not free physically (if caged or house-bound) or cognitively (if so impaired by breeding that it can't act on instinct to poop outside the nest) to remove yourself to a more typical place to defecate based on your evolution and therefore I forgive your soiling of entryway mat....".   That sort of thing, but operating more subconsciously.  Accepting to a certain extent that domestication might be considered a two-way street, in the case of human-to-human interactions, we are less forgiving since we both belong to 'the domesticator', not the domesticated.....If that makes any sense.

Finally, that aspect of not being attentively listened to and considered is a discussion all its own and runs very deep through our childhood days (“You did that thing I don’t like. Again?!?!? When will you finally listen to me and stop doing things I don’t like?? ....") and again, may vary considerably between cultures and households:  https://pairadocks.blogspot.com/2021/01/children-direly-need-to-know-that-they.html

Good musings, Magdalene,......

Interesting subject to philosophy about: why is it easier to forgive a pet than to forgive a human? Thank you for helping me think on that subject!

Brk day 181

Super curious about something in your new water hydrant photo.....

In the close-up that I've clipped below, I can't see the adjusting nuts that would allow for 'fine tuning' of water flow in case mild leaks develop, which is not uncommon.  See the photo immediately below that for location of the adjusting nuts above and below the pivot bar.  I'm not able to imagine how your hydrant level pulls the plunger rod up and down, but it may be the angle of the photo.  If time permits, could you snap a photo of the spiggot head from the rear (i.e., the opposite side that the spout is on) with the handle in the up position?  Just curious as this seems to be a knock-off of the Merrill Anyflow hydrant head from some years ago.....their newer models are of a slightly different design.  Thanks!

Edited to add a photo of our own hydrant.....currently non-functional as it's still frozen up solid til the ground thaws completely. :-/

Brk day 182

John- I’ll do what I can to get another photo for you tomorrow!

Brk day 183

John- here’s the photos you asked for