By Georgie Bright Kunkel

What a world! A world of human beings alongside the other creatures in the animal kingdom. The so-called lower animals have become owned or managed by humans for the most part. City life has restricted the space allowed to pets that often have to reside in a small apartment or home when in years past they could roam the whole farmyard. And the role of dogs, for example, has changed from hunting or protecting one’s property to just being a precious pet.

Paris Hilton types house their miniature dogs in handbags to be taken out and displayed at the will of the dog owner. Limited space has necessarily reduced the size of dogs kept in the city. My daughter decided that she needed to get rid of her cat and so she and her husband took the cat to the new owner with interesting consequences. Her cat had not been in a car for a very long time and the cat was not happy about being confined and so became very upset, managing to wet both my daughter and her husband. After bringing the cat to its new owner they drove to my house and arrived literally drenched. They borrowed sheets to wrap around themselves until they could launder their clothes in my washing machine. Yes, that cat left its mark on them and they will never forget it.

Turning over a new leaf in my daughter’s life now consists of downsizing her home to be more manageable without the cat and many collections that have become dust catchers over the years. We all come to a point in our lives of moving forward into a new era. Things which we thought we could never live without become superfluous to our way of life. Travel requires a simpler life—no animals to care for, no complicated house maintenance and less to worry about when taking an extended trip to China or wherever.

In my life I have done extensive planning, making lists of what I wish to accomplish each year and lists of things I want to improve about my house, etc.

Lately my list includes interesting ventures that I can engage in without expending too much muscle power. I can no longer plan a long mountain climbing trip but my mind is still running on full tilt so I can engage in exciting intellectual pursuits. I love planning group activities and have one on the drawing board right now—a Karaoke party. As soon as I get the 40’s music addition to my repertoire I will be inviting friends in to sing songs like I’ll Be Seeing You or Tuxedo Junction. For some reason the old WWII songs have become jazz standards and will never go out of fashion.

My daughter who lives closest to me is researching places where I can go on Open Mike to sing or do comedy. That will broaden my activities immensely. I believe that if you don’t use it you lose it and I don’t intend to lose my talents any time soon.

It is painful for me to call an old friend and find they have moved into an assisted care residence or even that they are no longer in the world of the living. Even though I was always the skinny kid on the block I seem to have inherited “long genes” for some reason. Nothing life threatening has hit me up to this point and I want to keep it that way.

A concern is that friends don’t often visit each other anymore. I go through my address file regularly and call all those who are still around and invite them over. Being in the same room with friends beats just texting them. So if you know me expect an invitation.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at 206-935-8663 or HYPERLINK "mailto:gnkunkel@comcast.net" gnkunkel@comcast.net