Ponerable things...

Some things I've been pondering about these summer days.

How does my cat know I'm cleaning his litter box? He always comes while I'm doing it to try out the new litter....

Why do people walking on the canal prefer their ear pods to the sounds of birds, bullfrogs, the wind in the trees and the gentle murmur of the moving water.

Where does the water in the canal come from and go to? Is the water sad that it can't flow into the sea?

How many words does my dog understand? I have a partial list: he knows the names of 3 of our friends (John, Jack and Sherry) and will bark and look around for them when we say their names in his hearing. It's the same for our children's names and 'the girls'--which is what we call our three granddaughters. He knows "upstairs" and will go there when I say it downstairs. He knows "big bed" and will run to our room when we say that. He knows "bye-bye" because when I say that he'll come inside with me. He knows "bowl" because he'll look in it when you tell him too. He knows "drink of water" and will go over to the nearest sink when you ask him if he wants one. He knows "bathroom" and runs to the front door when we say it inside or begrudgingly go down the steps of the deck to the back yard when outside. Other than that I'm not sure what other words he understands--well, 'sit' and 'down' and 'leave it', he knows of course. I had a list of about 30 words I was convinced our Puli from 27 years ago knew. You could tell Finney (named for Albert Finney) "get your ball and put it in your bowl" and he would. Our current Puli, Bela, isn't nearly that smart. Or maybe he's more stubborn.

I ponder why I, an English major, didn't know the meaning of "temerity" when someone asked me?

I wonder what it would be like to be inside my dog's brain, or my cat's, or a conservative Republican's, or my wife's.

If Jesus were here today would he go to church?

Why do I feel a bit bad when I kill insects?

How come I like iced tea but not hot tea? I like both hot and iced coffee....

Why can I often access a random and weird fact and not always remember people's names?

What's it like to be dead? Or, not yet born?

How can it be, over the years, that I have played 7472 games of Hearts on my computer? (I've won 3628--48%!) maybe being able to win has something to do with it....

Why did I have a dream the other night about wearing a clerical collar when I haven't worn one for 12 years or so? What's that about in my inner life?

How can anyone be against the Affordable Health Care Act?

What causes 'freezer burn'?

How come some finger and toe nails seem to grow faster than others? When did I stop biting my finger nails?

Nothing earth shattering, just stuff like that....