"YOU NEED TO GET A DOG," THEY SAID

Against my instincts, I was talked into taking a dog a few years ago for the first time in my life. His name was "Bear." It lasted six days and I gave him back to his owner! "Bear" craved more love that I could give it. He needed a whole family, taking turns, to meet his constant need for affection. 

Even though "Bear" seemed to somehow know how to keep me company, tell time and read books, I couldn't take it after six days! "Bear" would follow me from room to room, sit in the middle of the room and just stare at me until I moved to another room! No matter when I set the morning alarm, about five minutes before it would go off, "Bear" would enter the bedroom and put his nose close to my ear and pant until I woke up! One day I came home and he had pulled a book off my bookcase and chewed it up! It was a book about "loneliness!" 

It would have been impossible to keep him, especially when I started travelling a lot with my work doing priest retreats and convocations. Not only could I not have a pet, I could also not have living plants without bothering others to water them while I was gone. As far as I know, I don't have anything in my condo that needs to go to the doctor, needs to be fed or watered or needs to be picked up after, except me!  Presently, I own a few plastic plants and two stuffed animals (sheep) that people gave me. So far, I love the freedom they bring! 

Not just dogs and live plants, but even plastic plants can be problematic for me. I had an artificial plastic cactus at one time, but I had to throw it out! An old German lady (Wilhelmine), that I used to rent an apartment from, would clean my house every few weeks. She thought the cactus was real and watered it regularly without my knowing it until the planter that the plastic cactus was placed in began to give off an awful rotten smell. I could not find the source of the smell for quite a while! Cacti need little water and plastic cacti need none! She had to learn the hard way!