This weekend I watched a number of TV programs, and they informed me that having a dog helps prevent heart disease, and the same goes for gardening. Some research out there provides a causal link that says people who garden having less of a chance of heart problems and stress in general.
I can see why someone would try to make that claim since there is a therapeutic aspect of gardening. And you can get some low-impact sort of exercise, I guess. But what about the weeds? They don't create stress. But possibly anger? I look down at my rows of lettuce, spinach, shallots, and carrots, and I think, "I just pulled some of you bastards a little while ago."
Obviously, I should have sprung for a bagged mower, so I could put grass clippings in between the rows. That's a veteran move my dad used in his garden all the time.
But to dogs. I can see how they reduce stress, but then again, these studies don't account for the constant picking up of poop or the barking. I'm a dog lover--don't get me wrong. Darby has been a great dog for us, so I'm not saying I dislike my dog or something.
A couple of programs the kids and I watched were on Animal Planet. They featured certain breeds, and one of shows focused on my favorite: the English Springer Spaniel. Loyal, smart, obedient, easy to train, great with kids, those dogs are my favorite breed. No contest.
During the program's talk about the breed, they discussed how a Springer is being used in a suburb in Ontario somewhere for harassing geese from public parks and golf courses. It was fabulous. They showed tape of that Springer running all over the place to chase off geese, swimming after 'em, flushing those honkers to somewhere else.
Darby isn't a Springer. She's half beagle and half either Black Lab or German Shepherd, but she has a hatred for birds like that dog in the show. She protects the backyard from any bird landing on the ground. She don't play.
Since I've been taping Looney Toons on Cartoon Network for our viewing pleasure, I've been reliving cartoons from my childhood. There are benefits to this. Today Quinn ate a whole big carrot for a snack while saying on occasion, "What's up Doc?"
But Daffy. I prefer the Duck to the Hare. In particular, I enjoy the old Daffy Duck cartoons before he started getting paired with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. In the older cartoons, he was more of trickster figure and perhaps slightly lunatic with all the hootin' and hollerin'.
Later on, the Duck got made into a vain, cheap, and self-centered character. To a degree, he compares to the Jack Benny character Benny created for his show.
Take care
clowns.
