Pet Expo

I think the term "cat lady" described my day at the pet expo. The pet expo show-cased a building of numerous cats and cat competitions, cat and dog booths that gave out samples of food and pet adoptions.  Outside, there were different dog shows that one could view. There was a jumping dog competition, which meant they measured the distance the dog could make by jumping into a pool of water. The other show was called Jump!, which was this group that trains dogs to do cool frisbee and jumping tricks (I thought maybe I could train kaiah to do them...) So you're probably wondering why I'm writing about this 'cause who really cares, right? Well I care. I care because I went to a place where only a certain population goes because they love their pets so much. I entered the cat center where cats were being show-cased and many show-cased with ribbons attached to their carriers for placing in certain competitions. I immediately thought this was a huge joke, why would you set up a cat carrier on a table and shove your cat in there and show it to thousands of people?? But as I stood there, staring at this cat, I realized that it had nothing to do with a competition. It merely had to do with how proud these owners were, how proud they felt that they were the owners of these animals.  They wanted to show people how wonderful their bond was to these creatures and in return ask for nothing but the joy of 8 hours showing that to strangers. We all desperately want to create bonds with people but we oftentimes fall short and create these "bonds" with material things, things that shouldn't matter to us.

I've been house-sitting for the past 12 days. Eddy, my new canine friend I looked after had the spirit of a puppy and the energy of a toddler. He somehow got into my things and tore up my favorite underwear, yes I have favorite underwears... My first reaction was to get extremely angry and take my frustration out on him but then I caught myself--I found myself idolizing something that was materialistic, something temporary that had no meaning. So I picked up the pieces, said a farewell to my bird underwear and then it made a new home in the garbage can.

"Cat lady" can be a term often used in a negative connotation but after the pet expo, I don't see it that way, I see a full heart that has so much love for those creatures. I never have been a fan of cats, and still am not, but something I do have in common with cat lovers is that I understand what unconditional love means with a pet. And if I could, I would show case my dog so everyone could see how lucky I am to be so loved.