See Spot. See Spot Run.

Ask any of my friends and they will tell you I'm not a real pet lover. I've always thought my lifestyle was not conducive to having a pet. They can be awfully expensive and another responsibility that just ties you down. I've often questioned people's attachment to pets as if they were misplaced emotions better given over to human relationships. I never really understood the love people have for their pets.

Then came all of the Katrina stories involving pets. People overjoyed to find pets waiting for them at home weeks after they had to evacuate without them. People kept company by pets while they waited to be rescued only to be told they had to leave their pets behind. People twho crated their pets and headed out of town, perhaps leaving behind some other valuables because they didn't have room for them. People organized to feed pets found abandoned after the storm. People organized in attempts to reunite pets with their owners. People adopting pets who had lost home and owner. People who lost lives trying to save a pet or in staying in place because they could not bear to leave their pet behind.

You know I still don't understand it, but I do see that there is something there that I need to try to understand. The relationships are real. Perhaps people like me are the reason we are so disconnected from our environment these days. Perhaps if we shared the joy for other creatures of God's creation like these pet owners we wouldn't be facing so many environmental problems.

Perhaps I need to get a pet, most likely a dog. Perhaps the words: "See Spot. See Spot run." that helped me learn how to read 41 years ago can now teach me something new.