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Sep. 14, 2021
Accommodation
ACCOMMODATION
A dictionary defines this word in the following way:
1. A convenient arrangement, a settlement or compromise;
2. The process of adapting or adjusting to someone or something;
3. Temporary lodgings;
4. An available space for occupants in a building, vehicle, or vessel.
Our household has been evolving in the second definition for the past twelve years. Technically our accommodation process involved growing from two to four adults, zero to three children and zero to two pets. Each growth has had its reward and challenges. We are now required to avail of the fourth definition by increasing our space for occupation.
Animals have been domesticated and became friends and companions to humans for a long time. It is estimated that dogs were domesticated 16,000 years ago and cats around 4,000 years. We have been cohabiting for a long time.
Covid and lockdown has generated a huge interest in getting, having, and keeping pets. All pet charities report huge volumes of enquiries and uptake of adoption of animals.
In addition, there is a body of evidence which points to the benefits of caring for an animal, from increased physical activity, increased body strength and the benefits of their companionship from the comfort of touch to the breaking of isolation. All great reasons to have a pet.
Over the past nine years I have watched how our rescue mutt, Dobby, as he has accommodated to his changing situation and here is the result of my observations.
So, as usual, read, enjoy, pass it on and send me feedback.
Latest comments
25.11 | 22:15
Grief is experience through the mundane. Simple but powerful. The accompanying image really compliments the poem.
07.11 | 11:14
Hi Peter,
A great observation! Social media can be a scary place... I also need to reduce my time there
Hugs,
John.x
06.11 | 16:24
A great one, Peter, in the context you describe. I don't read social media myself, I doubt my equilibrium could stand it. 'The balance of his mind disturbed' yes, I think it would be.
06.11 | 15:59
Yes, gossip is a weapon of mass destruction.
In my business as well as personal life I have zero tolerance.
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And What About . . .
I have neglected this for far too long, and now it is time again. But what to write about, what poem to share? The world is packed with catastrophic possibilities. Such choices: dementia/genocide colluder or extreme narcissism in the White House; a hung parliament in the UK; the reunification of the USSR with a tyrannical megalomaniac at its head; the eradication of a race by a genocidal government in Gaza; the African continent reduced to bankruptcy and regression to male tribalism; in Ireland, even with an appalling electoral turnout the routing of the far right and Sinn Féin may offer some comfort except we face another FF/FG fiasco. Mother Nature rumbles on its rampage, raging against the human species’ abject destruction of the planet’s habitat. What the . . .
Being facetious right now is my only defence against absolute despair. So read, comment, pass it on, and send feedback.
City Walking and Cycling take 680,000
cars per day off the road
Irish Time Heading
More and more folk, cycling and walking, may
keep gases from greenhouses further at bay
This newspaper heading illustrates vividly
thousands of cyclists and walkers assiduously
stopping some cars on their journey
pushing them aside - making drivers quite surly
Mountains of metal - like scrapyards of sculpture
keep bicycle lanes quite safe - at this juncture
The new revolution is well underway
don’t get behind wheels - hear what they say:
Cars and their fumes play a very big part
the smell is quite phew don’t mention cow farts
Wear out your shoe leather walking
greet travellers with smiles while you’re talking
Force councils to make better spaces
to go out and about roaming those places
where vitamin D, and oxygen from trees
fill our lungs and our brains so we see
how to save us and this magical planet
except for some vicious old tyrants goddammit
Peter Clarke, 18th March 2024
