Do Not Pass Pokémon Go, Do Not Collect $200

First, I'm gonna be honest and say that I don't play Pokémon Go. I'm not trying to avoid being judged for playing it, I simply don't play it because I don't have a smartphone. If I had a smartphone (and a good data plan), I would most likely play it. For a month or two. Til I got distracted (squirrel!).
That has nothing to do with the game, but more with my short attention span. I did, however, want to point out that I have no emotional connection to Pokémon Go, and I am not simply writing this to justify playing it.

But there are so many people who are whining and complaining about Pokémon Go...They post things like the photo to the right, and get incredibly judgy about the whole thing. I was going to sat about the whole "issue", but really, a game on your phone should not be an issue...it is getting ridiculous.

See, the thing is, this game encourages people to get up and go outside and interact with other people. I know people who have social issues and struggle to interact with others, but Pokemon Go gives them a topic of conversation. My sister and her fiance have wandered around their neighbourhood a lot more, taking their dogs for walks, and chatting instead of sitting on the couch watching a movie in the evening.

 Does catching Pokemon do anything positive? No, not really in itself. But does the game get people off their butts and outside hanging out with others? Yes. Some businesses are even offering discounts or free stuff to customers play PG because the game is bringing so much more business to them. I think it's ridiculous that people are so up in arms about this game, when there are games like candy crush and whatnot, where people are literally sitting on their butts, making electronic pieces of candy disappear, or shooting birds at pigs.

And honestly, if you enjoy doing those games, that's fine. Though you should be careful, like with anything, to not do them to the point that you aren't doing anything else. But this doesn't only pertain to phone games. My whole life, I've often gotten in trouble for reading too much. Sometimes it has been actually getting in trouble, because my Mom thinks I should be doing something else, and sometimes it is because I have a tough time waking in the morning because I was reading a book and didn't go to sleep when I should have.
There are times that you shouldn't play Pokémon Go. Is your friend or significant other upset about something? Do they need you to be fully present to talk to them? Put your phone away. Unless you're expecting a true emergency call, be respectful and show how much you care. Are you in church, or at a lecture where you should be paying attention and showing respect to the speaker? Put your phone away. Are you at the theatre, whether for a movie, or a play? You can catch Pokémon before the show, during the intermission, or at the end. Otherwise, respect your fellow audience members and put the phone away.
Do you see a theme here? Be respectful. Whether you are catching Pokémon, throwing birds, sending texts, or anything else, be respectful. And that includes those of you who hate Pokémon Go. I would much rather hang out with someone who is using their phone to catch pretend little monsters than with people who judge people they don't know, saying that they're stupid or whatever, just because the game isn't something that floats their boat. If you don't like games like that, don't play them. It's pretty easy. Chances are good that you do plenty of things that other people would call stupid, and I would bet that you would be hurt if people went around calling you stupid because of a tv show you like, or a hobby you have. Just a thought. There are so many real issues dividing us, I don't think we need to work on more ways that we are all different.

I saw this posted shortly after Pokémon Go came out, and I kind of love it,
because it is so perfect if you've ever ridden a horse :~P

In the Moment

Mom and I took Kita down to the creek on Sunday. It was sort of a "last hurrah". We knew while we were doing it that we probably won't have another chance to do so. We had to lift her into the Sport to drive her down there. She loves the Sport, and she loves the creek. But even knowing that, there was a point when we were getting her loaded into the Sport when Mom asked if we should even take her down. We weren't sure if she'd be able to enjoy it, or if she'd simply be miserable. But we went.

And I think it was a good thing. Kita didn't seem wildly thrilled with Mom's driving. I almost expected her to throw herself down and kiss the earth as soon as we came to a stop. She sat for a moment, looking like she wasn't sure why we'd drug her out of the house. Then she seemed to look around and see where we were.

Kita didn't want to lay down, she wanted to follow when I went to check out how shallow a section of the creek is getting. She wanted to wander right up to the edge of the creek, in a place where a stumble would mean a fall of about 3 feet into shallow water. I think she mostly enjoyed seeing Mom jump up and come to her rescue. She meandered about, and I helped her get into the water for a few minutes after she almost face-planted attempting it alone. Then she finally laid down and hung out with us while we fed the fish.

It wasn't the same as usual. She hasn't been eating well, so she didn't even try to steal the fish bread once. She didn't tromp through the water, muddying it up so that we couldn't see the fish. But she enjoyed herself as we pet her and talked to her, and took pictures of her. She looks a little grouchy in most of the pictures, but she often does when a camera is on her face. She's such a sweet, happy dog, but doesn't always show it in her expression.

To the casual bystander, it would have looked like Kita was hating the whole experience. But, knowing her, we were certain that she was enjoying it, though it wasn't easy for her.

After we came up from the creek, Kita wasn't ready to go inside. So we moseyed our way down the lane, which she has always enjoyed doing, and hasn't had the energy for recently. She went out into the hayfield to roll in the grass, and Mom and I (and Marius, who had joined us for this part), sat with her while she lolled about in the grass.

We've known for a while that Kita is on her last legs, so to speak. She had a stroke last fall, and we thought she'd die then. She rallied well during the winter, and she and I went hiking in the snow a lot. She and I share the same feelings about snow (that it is absolutely wonderful), so we had a lot of fun during the winter.

Now, as Kita is really doing poorly, it seems that every time we go for a bit of a walk with her, there's a bit of  "I should have done this more while she could walk". The other night, she couldn't walk all  the way down the lane, so we sat right at the top of the lane, and watched the fireflies. I had a moment of wishing things were different, wishing that I could go back and do more with her, and it almost ruined the time that we were having right then. But she didn't seem to mind. She was happy to watch the fireflies with me, and didn't seem at all bothered that we couldn't walk down the lane.
I realized in that moment that she isn't thinking about the things we've done or not done. She loves us, and doesn't hold a grudge for the times that we were gone all day and really didn't spend much time with her. She is happy with what is happening, even if it's less than what we used to do. She didn't say, "Oh my goodness...if you couldn't be bothered to take me for a walk when I could walk, don't bother now." She enjoyed it. And we enjoyed it. On the one hand, we were saying goodbye. On the other hand, we were doing what we've always done with Kita, even though it took us a lot more effort, getting her into the sport and keeping her from plummeting into the creek.

From my experience, no matter how much time you spend with anyone that you love, when it comes to the end, you wish you'd done more. When you see that they are no longer able to do what you've always done, you want to do those things even more. It's no longer something you take for granted. But you can't live with those regrets. You have to live in the moment, like a dog does. Appreciate the fact that you've done those things often enough that the loss of them leaves a hole in your life. We've taken Kita on enough of these walks that we knew, even when she was having a bit of a tough time, she was enjoying herself.

Viewmaster

I don't agree with most of you. No offense, I just don't. I'm too conservative for the liberals, and I'm too liberal for the conservatives. I usually refer to my political leanings as "firmly middle of the road". Not meaning that I am wishy washy, but meaning that on some issues, I'm am very conservative (abortion, gun rights, etc), and on others, I am liberal (immigration is a big one here).

But see, I have my views, and I realize that you have yours. I want to respect you, even if I think that your actual opinion is bat-crap crazy. But can I ask you one favour? It would be brilliant if you didn't attack me for my views. I understand passion for an issue. I understand that we get excited when we talk about stuff. I understand that we read comments that others are leaving, and they get us fired up. Or we see that it seems like everyone else is using harsh words and sarcasm to get their point across, so we think that's the only way to do it.

I like to read the comments sections of blogs and articles. Well...let me clarify...I used to like to read the comments sections. It's interesting to see other people's views and you may learn a different way of looking at things. But now, most comments are attacks on the character of people who don't think exactly the way that you do. Someone posts an opinion that is not exactly in line with your own? Compare him to a Nazi. Someone asks for clarification on a point made in the article? Ask if she's about to go join ISIS.

And this is not only on political posts. Don't like an ingredient used in a recipe you found on Pinterest? The maker of the recipe must be a homo-phobic, racist scumbag. Because of course someone who creates a recipe for spinach lasagna, despite the fact that you hate spinach, must be one of the worst humans in the world.
We've created a society where we can't chance offending anyone, and people are so easily offended that in normal conversation, we have to walk on eggshells. We have lost the fine art of healthy debate
and discussion. At one point, those things were about learning the another point of view, and gaining knowledge. Now it is about trying to prove that you are right. You have to so closely guard your words that it is like you are speaking through a filter. Does this person agree with you about abortion? How does that person feel about gay rights? Hmmm...the only thing you have in common is a love of dogs? Stick to that. But don't mention pit bulls, because they're scary...With so many filters, it's amazing that we talk at all.

I miss the days where we'd get together with friends, and we'd debate every subject under the sun. Sometimes the chats would get heated, sometimes voices would be raised, and we'd actually be properly annoyed with each other. We all had very strong beliefs, and none of us believed exactly the same as everyone else. But at the end of the day, we respected each other, and we were friends. That's what is missing so much in the world. Respect for the views of others, and a commitment that our relationships are worth far more than proving that we're right 100% of the time.