Animals

Summary

A group discusses their experiences with animals and nature, reflecting on the emotional connections and responsibilities involved in caring for pets and wildlife.

Highlights-

🐦 Increased bird activity on balconies, showcasing nature’s beauty and joy. –

🗳️ Anxiety surrounding American elections affects global perspectives and discussions. –

🐕 Emotional bonds with pets provide comfort and unconditional love. –

🌧️ Weather changes influence outdoor activities and animal behaviors. –

🐢 Discussions on responsibilities toward pets and their well-being. –

🌍 Global connections arise from shared concerns about political and environmental issues. –

🎨 Personal stories of animals lead to deeper reflections on life and relationships.

Key Insights-

🐾 The bond between humans and animals fosters emotional support, highlighting the importance of companionship for mental well-being. This connection can help alleviate anxiety and provide comfort in uncertain times. –

🌱 Nature’s presence in urban environments enriches lives, as people find joy in observing and caring for wildlife, enhancing their connection to the ecosystem. –

🐾 The responsibility of pet ownership extends beyond daily care; it involves planning for the animal’s future, especially as owners age or face health challenges. –

🌐 Global political events can impact personal lives, creating a shared sense of anxiety that transcends borders, emphasizing the interconnectedness of modern society. –

🎉 Personal stories about animals reveal the transformative power of love and care, illustrating how relationships with pets can shape identities and experiences. –

🔄 The conversation about animal care provokes reflections on life choices and the moral responsibilities that come with caring for living beings. –

📚 Literature and shared narratives help process complex emotions around relationships with animals, offering comfort and insights into human experiences.

“The women’s meeting is happening in November, I think it’s today, actually, in 2024. Can you believe how fast time flies? I’m really glad you all are here. Let’s do a quick check-in and see what we want to talk about. Mona, do you want to kick things off? Yeah, sure! So, in Vienna, it’s getting chilly at night, and we’re trying to decide if we should bring our plants inside. Honestly, we keep putting it off. But I did put the birdhouse out on the balcony, and we’ve got more birds than ever coming around, so at least they’re enjoying it!”In the last couple of hours, I’ve seen this pretty big bird with gorgeous blue feathers on its side, and now there are three of them, so I guess one of them is a young one. There are also a lot of titmice and, of course, some squills around. It’s really nice, and I’m enjoying feeding them—it’s great to see how eagerly they come for it. There are about six or seven of them, so it’s pretty crowded, but nice. As I mentioned to Gina, we’re really on edge about the American elections because we just can’t.”It’s really keeping us busy, you know, with all the media coverage and everything. I’ll be relieved when Monday morning comes and we finally know the results so we can move on. We still don’t have a new government in Austria; it’s just the old one hanging around. They seem to be dragging it out—maybe they just want to cling to power, who knows? It’s pretty unsettling how they’re handling things. Plus, one of the best women in the conservative party just quit because she couldn’t deal with it anymore.”She wanted to become something, but she didn’t, so she was really fed up. Still, she’s a really good politician. It’s a hassle, and these are definitely interesting times, but I’m just tired of all the chaos. Tina, I’ll pass it to you. Good morning! We had a wetter October than usual and it poured rain all night. We’re not in as much trouble as Spain, but the water has some interesting colors from all the wind. The sun has…Just stepped outside and everything has this nice golden glow. I’ve got a ton of rudbeckias, or black-eyed Susans, as some call them. There are these little birds, they’re chickadees, and they’re munching on the seeds from the leftover flowers. There are about a dozen of them in a spot this size, and they’re so small, just perched on this tiny brown thing, eating away—it’s pretty cute. Other than that, school’s hectic; this month is packed with papers and assignments, but we’ll get through it!By the end of November, it’ll practically be over, so just hang in there. I’ve been taking care of my dad for the last couple of weeks, and he’s finally back home in Independent Living, which is a big deal. He’s almost 89 and still pretty strong, but sometimes you really need a lot of help after surgery. Anyway, I’m feeling pretty tense about the American election and what it’s really going to mean for everyone. It’s not just affecting one country; it’s a big deal for a lot of people. We’re all in this together.Hey everyone, it’s me, just saying hi to Victoria if you’re ready. Thanks! So, I’ve been doing a ton of stuff on Zoom, as you all know. I’ve tried to cut back, but new things keep popping up. There are a lot of meetings I used to go to that I don’t anymore, but then there are always new ones. Anyway, that’s a different topic. Most of the groups I attend are global, so they might be based in different places.In the US, people call in from everywhere, and it’s really weird for me as an American. I’m right in the middle of it all, but what makes me anxious is everyone else’s anxiety. I totally get it, it makes sense, but I feel like I’m in the eye of a hurricane. Maybe it’s for the best, though, because I have so much personal stuff going on that I can’t take on more right now.The country is really struggling right now, but it’s been fascinating for me. I’m actually in two different Buddhist groups that are both focused on cultivating equanimity, but each group has a different teacher and a different approach. It’s really interesting to see how they handle the topic. I find myself getting emotionally triggered by what people around the world are saying, and it’s been quite an experience. I’ve come to realize that, yeah, it’s true—what’s happening is true.What happens here affects the whole world. You could say that about pretty much anything. Even the birds on Mon’s balcony are part of it. I’m getting a bit carried away here, but lately, I’ve noticed that it’s harder to cope with what’s going on right now. It feels like we’re on stage with all these bright lights shining down on us, and everyone’s watching.Simple folks like me can’t really do much to change things, so I’m just looking forward to this whole thing being over. After that, I’ll see what needs to be done, like what pieces need to be picked up. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country and go live with Heidi in Rome, but honestly, I’m pretty lazy, so I don’t think you’d want me as a guest. The idea of doing the olive harvest sounds romantic, but I’m sure I’d end up hating it.So, that’s my update for now. It’s a bit rough, but anyway, over to you, Gout. Thanks! I’m G in Germany, and what you all mentioned really resonates with me—I’m feeling the impact of the election in the US. I just came across something really interesting: they did a brain scan of two people from opposing parties. I won’t get too deep into it, but what’s fascinating is that for one party, the amygdala is bigger, and then there’s the ACC, which is involved in processing emotions and decision-making.”Things can be unexpected, and one person might handle them better than another. I found it really interesting how the amygdala and the ACC are bigger in some people, which shows how easily we can be triggered or thrown off course when something unexpected happens. So, I’m on my way to a seminar at Chesa, run by Instant Change. The creator of it offers training sessions.”Every other month, I was—or still am—a moderator in the breakout rooms where people collaborate. This year, he decided to invite us all to that expensive seminar in Czechia, which was a real treat. I’m just getting ready, doing laundry, and sorting things out. I’m checking the weather and figuring out the train schedule, so I’ve been pretty busy with that. Oh, and I forgot to mention the brain scans they did for different political parties. So, which party has the bigger… uh, what was it?I guess I didn’t really want to get into it, but that’s interesting. I was just thinking about doing something like that, you know, taking a scientific approach that’s totally different from what most people do. I thought that was really cool. Alright, moving on, I’ll pass it over to you. Thanks! Yeah, we did the olive harvest. There were six adults and threedoesn’t take too long I mean you know I still have a little bit of a problem with a with the arms and so on because you have to stretch quite a bit but allog together it was was a very nice time now I’m alone again I have my doggy uh who is walking badly and it’s getting worse and I give him CDL and MSM and things alternative medicines and uh glucosamine and things like that to but it’s getting worse and worse so he’s 10 and a half years old so entering into maybe in the later part of life let’s say this way so whatI he heard I wouldn’t like to talk about politics let’s let’s do them what they want to do you know and then afterwards we we deal with it in some way but I heard a topic which we could do the the the importance of animals in human life you know if it’s your own animal or if it’s an animal you see outside as you say these little birds or the balcony of of monia so we could think about it what does it mean to me to you to be in contact and which level of contact UM with animals okay so who Mon oh I’m sorryinterrup monia if you could share I I wrote in the chat but I don’t think you saw it um what’s the name of the the the bird the blue bird that you were talking about that you think that you have three of them now I look it up I look a here I hair oh is that blue J I don’t know I’ll look it up I it yeah it’s a nice topic and uh I don’t we don’t I hardly ever owned well I had a battery car a gble what that was that’s all as a child and my daughter got a dog uh 9 years ago and of course this is the firstanimal that really peed because of excitement seeing me so and it’s she still is excited and now she’s getting an old lady and she sleeps a lot but she always forgets it uh when she sees me and then she jumps around and she has a a bed back already it’s a labra dooodle and they are sensitive with the back and but she loves us and and also my husband and we always like her to visit and yeah it’s nice uh because there’s so much love and she and you can know and you know this right away when she’shappy because she starts waging her tail which nobody no human being does and it would be a lot easier if people could some well not woman okay no I’ll change the topic um yeah something like wagging your tail would be great in conversations because you know right away what your mood is and she drops her tail when she’s tired or sad and yeah and of course she always gets some treats when she comes to us but I just like feeding animals and and I’m very happy when they accept what I give to them and that’s the same with thebirds because I even give them walnuts i cho them and yeah walnuts they get i cho them and sunf sunflower seeds and uh peanuts in the Shell this I have to look it up now okay I look up that bird with the blue feathers on no um uh G already wrote it in and they it is she wrote J so that’s what I thought the Blue Jays that’s what I remember from iel hair in Vienna but aren’t you bribing the animals to come to your balcony instead of somebody else if you give them the best ever imaginable things yeah I spoiled them and there hasbeen a a document ment that whenever there is something they get very good food uh then they multiply so this is why we now have six tipas and three blue JS and and the Sills yeah uh also multiply it’s nice it’s nice yeah okay um I can jump in with the bird thing because I totally the birds are the joy of My Life um but I’m doing the exact opposite to you monia that um I don’t give them anything at all because I’m worried that if I give them things and they get conditioned um and then I go away thenthey have to like start again from scratch to figure out how to um I’m not making a speech I’m I think it’s great what you do and it sounds like a lot of fun so I’m not judging it’s just for me I um I just I I want to make sure that they come regardless and so um the I have a bird bath um which was here when I bought the house and um and so that so that’s sort of the central um the meeting place where the birds gather and um it’s much warmer at your place it’s much warmer of course it’s a totally different climate the it’sreally cold and my my dilemma now is that um two of my neighbors have cats that they that are outside cats and um and I’ve tried to terrorize them the best I can but um but cats are pretty impervious and um the other day I was so angry because I caught one of them I mean I didn’t catch it I saw it um drinking out of my bird bath which is outrageous cuz cats you know I mean it’s a domestic cat it can go home and drink it it’s water so I I you know I yelled and shouted and clapped my hands and it wentaway but um but I you know it’ll be back and but I realized um that that’s that’s uh because every now and then I hear these these loud scary noises and and I think it’s one of the cats that’s caught a bird and then I try to calm down and think okay you know I studied biology this is the way of the world but then I go back into my domestic um my dom MC animal thing which um uh if if if I wanted to get even more enemies than I have I would start a blog about um uh free the domesticated animals and liberate them and stop thethat whole culture um because it’s it’s well there are lot lots and lots of issues but anyway I won’t go into a tiate um but I uh it’s anyway that’s enough for now I think but I love the birds so I totally I totally resonate with what you’re saying monia I’ve even named the ones that come every single day because I know them I I recognize them this is the kitten one of the two kittens so he’s a very big Chiller of my eldest so it’s just in all shapes on the sofa um so it’s fun to get just theseimages from them having fun with the kittens and uh we have Turtles now we have I think to to get it right we have two two turtoise briek tures and one Turtle so in the water not in the sea but this uh up and um my daughter the oh oh that’s not it that’s not a j that’s a different one we have two types of Jays oh you have Stellar JS which are the ones on the image the first image and they’re a very uh awful sounding bird and the next one’s what we traditionally call a blue jay but they’re both Blue Jays they just onespecific to the Northwest can you show that or or share it’s in the chat but the people cannot see it can you in the chat yeah no no and that in the middle yeah when can share the screen if you want but it’s um I didn’t want to interrupt you no it’s fine you you just go ahead it’s yeah because it’s it’s in the chat so let me see now you keep talking and I’ll I’ll try to I’ll share that’s if that helps so that’s the to that’s the toi and then I’ll just go to our own chat because this is where it is this is aStellar J it’s it migrates up to Victoria from the northwest of the state this is the blue J more common in central Canada it’s what people think of when we talk we cannot see it well you still can’t see it even though you’re sharing the screen yeah I can see yeah but we only say the to okay yeah you have to to to switch on your screen and the different how is that can you see it we see only no the blue J I can see all of it but I don’t know what the what happened to monia where’s monia I know oh anyways I I’ll work onit I don’t want to distract because of this but it’s okay yeah go stop sharing it didn’t work go back to your turtles okay yeah and the the turtle she is she it’s a she um when my daughter was in her teens and we didn’t have the best relationship so whenever she came home she was talking to that so it was like whatever she brought to to her and and we called her otell before we knew what sex it was and and it’s like you remember ET so this this it’s a turtleneck so just telescope wise coming out andreally like so they had the best relationship so it was whenever she came into the room normally I mean turtles and creatures like that they they don’t they don’t have a personal relationship normally but this one did and and that was really really amazing and I think brought her pretty much through puberty and and I thought that was really really nice I would like to ask a turtle normally are like this and walking and you said they are in the water how are no um there is this distinction between tur turtoise I don’tknow and turtle so I think the tures are on land and the other one are um Sage or what do you call it uh damp um s shade okay and I’m talking about the one in the water and um now we are have to give away one of the the other ones because they are two males and now they they G get into puberty and they fight all the time so we had to separate them so they bite and they turn them the other one upside down and one is bigger than the other so it’s not yeah but that was amazing with my daughter to have that strongrelationship with where are they in a in an aquarium or outside no no not outside we don’t have a garden okay um so one is in an Aquarius and the others are in like for bunnies something like that so they have water but they don’t live in the water okay yeah and when I go outside in the morning I see St I see Heron I see little rabbits and you know all kinds of creatures coming uh in The Meadows and and I’ve really love that and if they don’t get bothered by me I I really love that so they they get accustomed to meso they still do their thing without being disturbed nice I really love that so those big walks in the morning yeah I while I was living here uh or 35 more years more or less um I had many many many many many animals also dogs but I notice in my own development that I have a different uh relationship now to them the first time I had a cat and she wanted to go around my neck it was many years ago 35 uh I no I don’t want that and now the cats I mean I just love them and they are also in my bed and sometimes theythe one who is sleeping with me has decided not to do the her Kaka uh outside but here and that’s I don’t like it so for winter I have to think about it but um then I had I had sheep and I had once I had a donkey and I’ve had geese and and ducks and hens and and rabbits and everything so it was I did it in the sort of a farmer but I wasn’t really able to to be a farmer because I created some relationship you know that’s inevitable and so I I like to eat the Lambs but after a while maybe 15 years ago I decided tosell them all it’s it’s not you know it’s always not nice and now I have only the dogs and the the cats and also there I I see a difference before I didn’t like to touch dogs because they’re dirty cats is different cats are clean I had a very dirty white cat but the stereotype says cats are clean and now I really I love to touch also my dogs before they I go to bed I say good night and so so so it is a journey from this to embracing and I like this and I really feel a connection to these animals whichI probably couldn’t feel with uh with birds in the same sense because they are far away my telephone is ringing I mute myself and you go on and I let it ring unless until it will stop I’ll fill in for you for a bit there Heidi that was just my dad calling to let me know he fell last night like but he’s okay I’m like okay um yeah so I I grew up with uh turtles we had both the little turtles that you put in the water and then we had tortoises which we normally found by the side of the road and took home as apet which you’re not supposed to do but we did and they made great pets because they wandered around the house they didn’t make a mess but occasionally one of them Charlie used to fall down the stairs which was rather traumatic but he’s in a shell he’s like he’s fine so um then we had bunnies and uh then dogs and uh and then horses so uh those were those were my animals growing up uh horses I think have a different sort of Personality uh later we had a dog of our own and uh he was lovely and a good Guardian becausemy husband moves away and it was good to have a great big black dog dance through the door um and to walk through the woods it was helpful and uh so we miss our animals you know they’re they’re part of our family I get to work with therapeutic coures now who are very magical with very challenging kids and adults but for now uh my my animals are ones I can’t touch anymore so um I can’t touch the birdies um even though the humming birds are very very social and they they Buzz around your head if ifyou’re haven’t changed their food or if they just want to come say hi they’re very uh social but then we have our our water animals so we have our our seals and our killer whales and dolphins but I don’t have the touch of animals anymore and it’s something that I miss and so I have a teddy bear when I really need it but that’s about it but I think animals are special and I’ve always thought that dogs were super special because uh in English if you flip the word dog around it’s God and it’s almostlike you have this heavenly creature that is not judgmental and is unconditionally loving and and can help you but yeah so enjoy your petting what you can Heidi yeah thank you that’s funny that it’s God in English in German it’s not but maybe it’s the messenger of God new new turned around that’s funny so I would be interested yeah we talked a little bit about it what does it do to you to to be able to communicate and or to have or to stroke uh animals what does it mean to you is it important in what way is itimportant we have already collected a little bit of these things but I want to just Point again to this aspect i’ say it has to be calming I mean it’s hard to be fanatic when you’re petting a dog or a cat or something that allows you to pet it even even a dolphin it’s calming there’s something very calming about it and I don’t think that we touch enough as a society so if you’re not getting multiple hugs per day that last long enough to let the serotonin kick in and if if you don’t have touch other than your own touchit’s it’s nice to have something that’s alive and responsive and you know unconditionally there for you and you can talk to it and it won’t won’t argue it’s not true my dog sometimes argu when she doesn’t get food in time or when I’m out with them and I take too long in a restaurant or something then she comes and says come on come on go okay I’ll give you that Max used to uh be angry with us when he was uh if we were out too late he would he would go ra ra and complaining yes that was definitelycomplaining yeah they do complain because uh our Luna is her name uh when I withdraw my attention from her and talk to somebody the else she goes so she wants or my attention she wants the energy I guess so uh yeah but they uh they don’t argue as right yeah it’s it’s from the first moment it was sort of unconditional love which you don’t get anywhere else I’m not sure it’s I mean I don’t want to be divisive but I think I mean from an anthropomorphic standpoint maybe it’s considered unconditional love but from a biologfrom a biologist’s perspective it’s not at all that it’s um condition conditioned Behavior it’s you know a domestic domestic animals rely on human beings for food and shelter and um treats all kinds of things I mean even what treat treat but also even no but also even um you know if they have difficulty with childbirth and things like that um you know and thats are there to to um mediate and and so they can successfully give birth it’s it’s a it’s a very curated experience to be a domestic domesticated animal so I don’tknow about the unconditional love part in the sense that um if all of that’s withdrawn from an animal like I I have friends from South America who say that the the greatest danger in South America is not the snakes or the gangsters or the drug Barons but the packs of wild dogs that um you know the the animal that that that were domesticated and then became rejected for one reason or another and then they become feral um but they you know it’s it’s it’s a it’s a complete reversal from being you know these warm fuzzycompanions all of a sudden they have to they have to become really aggressive because they don’t know how to survive otherwise and they’re all these packs like I friends from Peru who said that um in the big cities it’s it’s terrifying I mean you’re just walking walking down the road minding your own business and and I have a friend in Turkey who tells me the same thing that she said that um it’s become a big problem now that um the animals and that’s part also part of the issue is like responsibility if you oncesomething a creature depends on you then it’s kind there’s kind of a responsibility that you maintain the care because otherwise you know it’s it’s um because the domesticated pets are like you know they’re they’re well a lot of people hear you know when you walk down like do a beach walk or something um people hear that the latest fashion with these tiny dogs is that they’re they don’t even walk they’re in um they’re in uh you know they’re pushed in a Kinder vagen um and and the and recently I was I waswalking at the beach and I and and there were like suddenly there were like 30 people gathered around this this lady who was pushing a kinder vogen and I thought oh I’ve got to see the little baby was all excited you know because when you see a crowd you think oh it’s something really exciting and so I kind of you know pushed my way through the crowd and looked in and there was this tiny like a Chihuahua that was all it was in a little outfit and it had a little you know little outfit and a hat and it was hadsurrounded by blankets because it was a cool evening and um all these people were oooing and eyeing you know and I thought okay you know that’s that’s her that’s her you know grandchild or baby or whatever um anyway now I’m waxing pical again so I’ll be quiet and this opens another question for instance when my dog gets worse with walking and everything will I suppress her or will I invent something that she can still go out or something maybe this kinderen I I don’t think I will but you know umthis this gives you really problems in in deciding what do you do when do you stress the animal will you wait until It suffers and and and dies by themselves I had several cats I had to to put down because especially the white cats they had cancer from the Sun and um they one of them the the ears went were were cancer and it with one the lip went away and she couldn’t eat anymore and that was the moment when I decided to to suppress her so when is the moment that you do it or don’t do it wait oh sorrythe word you’re using the word suppress do you mean what we would say in English to to put her down to put her to sleep yeah euthanasia euthanasia is it’s like Su we say suprema in Italian so oh okay yeah cuz supress I was thinking of like I mean yeah okay got it thank you yeah and I had other cats which seemingly didn’t have a a pain and they died by themselves and that was good I had another one very nice cat and he was crying for pain and I couldn’t go to the vet and I went to the pharmacy and they didn’t give me pain medicationand so since then I have um the shots for of pain killer for in case it should happen again because then you really get into emotional trouble when things happen with these animals and it’s not to to underestimate when you get into relationship close relationship with the enemies it’s it’s beautiful but in these moments it’s really really difficult really difficult for me with our Turtle oo um I mean I inherited the the Turles from my children so they were not mine so they were this one was a foster uh turtle from from a studentfrom a friend from school she didn’t want to have her anymore so okay and now the the kids are gone and I still have them and and this is sometime I mean we I already found a place somebody oh I would love to have one and okay so we separate the men the youngsters and I can feel that for me I have to know where they go I have to know that they are in a good new home and uh and I don’t even know if I can get rid of otello because um I mean I have her for 26 years now or TW yeah 25 years now and it will beanother many years and and it doesn’t feel right to give her away this is like there’s a responsibility and uh I don’t think you would call it affection because you cannot caress it you cannot hug it you can just feed it and clean it but um yeah so what Victoria said there is a responsibility you cannot yeah you can put them in a p but it’s a it’s a Spanish one so they stole it somewhere so it’s not made for this weather and the others neither so so you have to so if you have one you you are responsible like The LittlePrince salute yeah I had a um a friend who was a um well he was a friend he was an acquaintance but a very famous artist in Los Angeles um who uh actually I met him in vien originally but uh but anyway long story short he was very very very famous artist one he’s probably the most famous artist of from the West Coast in the last 50 years or so and uh I met him in Vienna somehow we got talking about elephants and um oh that anyway I’m digressing but that had to do he had an exhibition at the um well Mona knows itthe mock the museum for anant and um and I’m I’m passionate about elephants and he turned out he was too and he said you know I live in the canyon in Los Angeles I have a huge amount of land and he said I could easily um have pet elephants I’ve got enough space and he was you know he was very successful so he had plenty of money to feed the elephants and everything and then he said something that at the time really impressed me he said I said well why don’t you get an elephant oh because he said he said his wife is an artistalso he said we don’t have any children and the Elephant would be our child and this would be the greatest fulfillment for us and um and for me it was like a fairy I thought oo I wish I had an elephant I said I’ll come and visit your elephant in Los Angeles and then he said the lifespan the average lifespan of an elephant is 100 years and he said I since I don’t have any children I would feel guilty um you know taking on an elephant as a pet and then what happens when I die and then the thing that hitme like a ton of bricks is that he was he wasn’t that old he was maybe only 70 he died last year sure enough and um totally unexpectedly and and immediately that whole experience came back to my memory of and this kind of admiration that he had that sense of um like moral responsibility um what happens to me that if I have this animal that relies entirely on me for its um I mean I’m sure there could have been a range their elephant sanctuaries and stuff but but that that was for me a very poignantreminder of this this sense of responsibility um because he was he had everything that otherwise that was necessary he had the land he had the money he had the passion so anyway it was interesting yeah on a smaller scale it’s also when we die who is caring for the animals I mean I did the course of uh after after I go Solutions or something uh and she there was one uh one part of it decide who needs to take care of your animals when you are going you know and that’s yeah because then you cannot even I meanthe dog has only 10 years or 15 years and maybe we we still are alive after 15 years doesn’t need to be an elephant with 100 years but it’s more or less the same the same question you know I and unlike children they don’t it’s not like they eventually become adults and look after themselves where you can die knowing that they have a future it’s it’s uh it’s it’s it’s like in that sense it’s like looking after my mother had a close friend who um had three sons and the youngest one had Down syndrome and she got ready years inadvance because she doted on him of course he was because he depended entirely on his parents to make sure that he would be in a place where he would be happy when she and her husband died um and it’s kind of like that that someone that can’t look after themselves um whether you know animal or human there’s there’s that sense of uh responsibility well I’d like to get to a uh a more cheerful mood because G reminded me the turtle story I don’t know whether you’re familiar with the author may he rest in peace because hewas yeah uh Terry pret do you know Terry preet oh I write it in the in the blog because he wrote uh one of my favorite he have I have all his books he so he has an enor he had an enormous kind of intelligence and humor and one of his books uh is called small gods because dog and God but small gods of a God who is reborn as a turtle and he isn’t used to being that small and being a turtle and how he tries to get influence again it’s just it’s a it’s a hilarious book so uh I write it in the chat it’s I would reallyrecommend it if you want to be in a more cheerful mood uh to read that okay that’s what I wanted to say actually for many many many many years since I was a teenager I was collecting Turtles from all over the world so like wooden Stone whatever uh so PE and even people when they were on vacation and wanted to give me something they were looking for a turtle from that region or wherever they went so I have a quite a it’s not that extented because I I gave some away but um yeah I have a collection of ofturtles and I think that also brought my daughters to to the turtle thing and um since the landlords uh um father had um lung cancer and couldn’t we couldn’t have any furry or feathery um and the kids wanted to have some kind of an animal so we and then this this uh girl didn’t want to have her Turtle anymore so we we went into that but it was for me it was this um my brother when when they did come some kind of yeah um Consulting uh family Consulting my brother had to uh draw the family and my father was a donkey he wasan a monkey and so all kinds of and I was the only not mamal so he he he was uh drawing me like a turtle so uh so dates pretty far back this this total affection and and and then I I heard that um the um people from Australia the natives they they say that uh a Australia was on the on the back of of a turtle so that’s the there creation story so all kinds of ter pre world is for elephant standing on a turtle and the turtle moves through space and uh it after many books you you find out where it is going to but it’shilarious so they have this is what you were talking about yeah okay maybe some his uh books are also on YouTube there are some cartoons cartoon characters but and also people uh with actors some a film a movie with actors um I was just wondering because I really delved into a movie the last couple of days could we talk about our favorite movie no I wanted to to finish the call to what if I you could um think about your animal what would you be what who are you I think gal has said that would be a a turtle she would be a turtle nobecause she is designed a turtle by your brother would you yeah I I don’t know anymore if if that still valid but uh for many many years I was like this this hardly dare you come out and then it’s it’s fine and then if there’s anything just yeah so I think I was that for many many years in in my family um yeah we are almost at the end and so I wouldn’t open another topic now and I don’t I don’t watch movies so I I personally have no favorite movie but we could take it as another topic well withthe with the animals so what animal would you like to be Heidi um it’s strange but I think a sheep because I like them so much yeah well we I once did that um in a seminar and I was I somehow I turned to a shaff everything else going down but I also tend to a cam or dramaa mhm through the water without water for a long time and then coming to an oasis and filling up and then going again through the desert so yeah and Victoria well it’s interesting because I was thinking I mean I’m obsessed with elephants but um but Idon’t know if I’d want to be an elephant so it’s an interesting question I think I think I yeah if I were going to choose to be an animal it would be um it would be some kind of aquatic bird because I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of being able to fly and fly really high um and I love birds anyway um and but at the same time I love I love the ocean more than life itself and I love water and I love swimming um I guess if I had to really choose I’d probably choose a whale or something um so Icould spend more time in water but but I love the idea of F whales can’t fly so it’s a tossup oh some some really make big jumps yeah yeah there’s it’s so I def to compromise on one end or the other the water or the air but I love um both what about you Gina um I actually went to fetch my turtle which was a gift he’s very beautiful even and I put the uh put the symbolism in because the friend who gave me said keep the ch turtle by your door to protect the house um but if I was to be an animal it’s hard for me because I think I’dlike to be the horse because the horse is strong and goes fast and could be very self-determined and not easily controlled and I think I probably would qualify as that but if I was to really have whatever I wanted it would involve the same dilemma as you have Victoria I have flying dreams all the time and so I’d have to be a pegasus oh well now if you get into mythical animals some that that expands The Horizon the possibilities yeah just just say it I love the idea of Pegasus yeah we actually have a a brass Pegasusin our backyard it’s full all brass and it’s about two feet tall and so I have my I’m exposed now to my animals now you know you know that the the carish if what’s their the word CR crin yeah they just flew over here the last two weeks or so so beautiful I I really like whenever I hear that sound I go outside and have to look and and then you have like hundreds and hundreds are they cran ORS no these are CR yeah okay yeah yeah they come from Sweden or somewhere and this is the right time and and I love it when I see them so theyyeah we have herens and the herons I never really realized that herens lived in trees until I moved here uh so that was a bit new to me but we have lots of herens and because we also our neighbor also has a pond sometimes they go by and they come by but they are up North from us but we also have a lot of uh American B bald eagles here um yeah so we have quite an assortment turkey vultur but yeah the herand Victoria what Victoria oh Victoria you’re talking about Victoria of British Columbia I thought I heard myname we we have a plague right now of turkey vultures I don’t know why or how and there’s a huge number of them I thought they were crows but they were much too big and then I I zoomed in with my camera so I could see them up close and they were turkey vultures so I don’t know maybe there was some kind of what but is it in German do you know it in German oh um well you know they they eat dead only dead um ga ga G gu yeah yeah let me look it up um turkey vultures I see we could go on and on and on and on with thetopic but since it’s dead we we let ended at dead yeah Tron gu it says they even have Tron guy apparently so um I have another meeting at 10: so I have to go but I love this this was fun a closing for a long time I wanted still to tell you why I choose the Sheep not because I’m completely dumb but because I I never would have called would be called anymore if you see I have something but that’s not true Heidi because I I lived in Australia for six years and the poor sheep when they get shorn they’re freezing it’s so awful andthen you have to put coats on them and it’s all very unnatural so anyway I won’t go into another I love it that you said sheep I immedately thought I thought of you petting your cats and I thought I would pet you if you were a sheep you would be my she I did and it was a nice time and I love the the smell of the sheep oh yeah and the oil the lanolin oil that that soft oh fabulous okay ladies have a good time in two weeks bye bye by you have to close it Jina oh I