Expect Symbiosis and You Will Receive It

My neighbor Vi said “I never saw that before” I looked to where she was looking. “Saw what?” She is seventy-six and delightful. “That!” I looked again, but saw nothing odd. “I don’t see it,” I told her. “The cat and the dog,” she said. “It is like they are friends.” “They are,” I agreed. Shark the cat was weaving in and out of Lucy’s legs. Lucky was standing perfectly still, but occasionally would give Shark a friendly whisker rub. “In all my days, I never saw a dog and cat get along like that!” I smiled and said “I have always seen cats and dogs get along.” Her eyes popped wide. “You mean other cats and dogs?” I nodded. “I always expect them to, and they have never let me down.” “Well, I will be,” she said. We live in the woods where symbiosis is common. Opossums and raccoons come up to eat while the cat watches. One time my husband said, “Look at that.” A pregnant mouse was eating off one side of the cat’s plate while the cat ate from the other side. Last week my husband saw Sophie, our dog looking at something in the living room. It was a live mouse eating a cracker crumb. Sophie was sitting less than a foot from it, fascinated. Probably hoping it would drop the rest of the crumb. When my husband threw a heavy book on it, Sophie looked up as if to say “What did you do that for? We encourage love for all animals and they give it back to each other.