The sun sets on another day…
Sunset was, well, it was amazing up to a point. To the west a wall of clouds rose high, and soon there will be a storm, and snow will come again. Still, colors were there, and a feeling of positivity.
I picked the wrong book to read tonight. The book was “Wolf” by Rebecca L. Grambo. It brought back a lot of memories, reminded me of things I had learned, and opened my eyes to some things I didn’t know. That part was good.
I have always been fascinated by wolves. In one of my passions I studies wolves for about a year when I was young. During that time I read many books, and spent time learning about wolf culture, history, and the history of the long past relative of dogs. I was most fascinated with the inner culture of wolves, and their cooperative nature. American Indians are said to have learned to hunt from wolves, and so are many other cultures.
I read all I could and was always interested in movies like Wolfen, and the dozens of others that were horror based. I also watched documentary after documentary including Farley Mowat’s, Never Cry Wolf. I was rarely disappointed.
When I was very young my neighbors and played a wolf record and hid from the wolves as the sounds of their voices were heard. There was no sound like it, and to this day I am in awe of the amazing wolf song, and the animals that made it. What hit me hard today was the pure hatred we have had for wolves. They only eat what they need, but as humans hunted their lands we slaughtered the wolves. I knew they were vilified but the book points out how much, and as it does it notes our systematic eradication of the once apex predatory. Few remain.
I sat tonight for a short time feeling sad for losing my dog this week, and for the loss of hundreds of thousands of wolves. In those moments I consider how lucky we are to have bonded with such a fantastic creature, and how lucky I was to have found one of the best. Anyway, Rebecca’s book is masterful, and worth the read.
So as the sun sets on another day, if only we could all be like the wolves. Protect our young, protect the pack, and have a measure of family in what we do. Sure, there are negatives, but the wolf hunted for what was necessary and made other animal herds stronger. Maybe we need to consider the same. Maybe, just maybe, we need to start thinking about how we can improve everything along with ourselves, and in the process enjoy life more than a little, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and arwoooooooooo…