A passion that came late in life for me is one that pertains to animals. This came when Meeza as a toddler would swoon as she sees a cat crossing by and when it became obvious that she loved to linger in pet shops. I was curious and completely enamoured at how my little angel at the age of three would not sleep because a kitty was stuck in some hole in our old garage.
My own childhood differed in a sense that we were not attracted to cats and rabbits as much as our children, nephews and nieces are. Our idea of having pets was staring at lovebirds in small cages and waiting for those pecking moments to happen. And, I would not count those times when we had bats which to me looked like half bodied humans; and the baby python which we found dead after it was provided a rat for food. Apparently, the rat was more of the predator than the prey. We caught frogs and toads and in one attempt, my sister fell down a ditch and broke her arm.
Well, back to this passion found late in adulthood. Though I have never been served foie gras or seen one, I shudder at the thought of ducks being fed through tubes in their necks just for their much prized livers. I lament at the ugly deaths of those stray animals lost on our roads. This passion also comes with awareness of children's books portraying violence to animals. One book which has a deceptive book cover, shows animals being cruel to other animals. This is one part of the book:
Knock, Knock.
"Who's there?", bleated the goat.
"It's me.", said the donkey.
"Off with you, I'm a fighting goat. My two big horns will rip your coat!"
I suppose that teachers would unlikely explain the act of skinning a donkey. My old pre-teaching, pre-parenting self would gladly play with the semantics of it but Meeza would have despaired. The old adage - parenthood changes you - is for real!
