Do You Have a Dog in This Hunt?

Thicke, prince of cats

 

I always considered my family from Kansas City. A town I was not born in (St Joseph hospital was closer) and only partly raised. My father was born in Iowa but Mother in Missouri somewhere. Her family was from Mexico, Missouri where as far as I have been able to ascertain her grandfather was the town drunk.

From the second grade on we were military gypsies which saved us from dying of starvation on the plot of land now under the Kansas City Airport runways. In the era after WWII there was a return to the land movement and a belief with a couple acres of land and enough side businesses you could survive without working for The Man. Mom and Dad were obviously their generation's version of hippies. We had a truck farm on an acre, chickens to produce eggs we sold, and kennels where Dad raised hunting dogs. He also showed and trained them. 

The Korean Conflict and my father being a pilot saved us from all of that. And in the second grade I was in Roswell, New Mexico at the air base. That is definitely where I fell in love with New Mexico. The before is probably why I bought a house on 2.3 acres and tried to prove to long dead mother that I did not have a brown thumb. I do not have chickens, but my sister does on her acres of land in Texas. We have both raised and bred dogs. I now have Dog Gone Park which is a cageless kennel. Debbie chose kids. I did not. I was ten when she was born. A whole other story. And this one is already way off track.

It began in my mind as justification to why the end of the world does not concern me all that much. I do not have a dog in that hunt as they say in the Ozarks. I am an environmentalist. We should not shit in or own nest. And water and drought and misuse (waste) of water is a really big issue with me. All my canyon paintings include a stream or other body of water as a prayer or spell to bring water back to the land. I am opposed to golf courses, misting sidewalks, outdoor swimming pools, and the fountains in Las Vegas. Dams and reservoirs too.

But that the population is killing off our green planet? That will happen long after I am dead. So while I find global warming of interest and read most articles on it doesn't keep me up at night. Having my well go dry because of the golf course near me. That concerns me. Seeing plastic bottles of half consumed water just sitting on benches or beside the highway worries me. There is no alternative to water. It does not come in a powdered form.

And as drought is a part of climate change or a consequence I care. Hopefully there is enough water for the rest of my life. Yours?

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