Thank you for Animals (66)

Thank you for my dog, Suzie.  Thank you that I have so many names for her. Thank you that every time I look at her my heart just overflows with this undeniable feeling of love.  Thank you that even though it's been nine years, sometimes when I see her, it's still like I've just seen her for the very first time.

Thank you for the way that people's voices change and go into that weird register whenever they talk to animals.  It makes my brother's voice seem softer.

Thank you for red pandas. They are such cute creatures. Thank you that there are people out there who take pictures of these animals so that everyone else can enjoy them.

Thank you for the way tumblr and google images allows me to look at animals whenever I want and remember how much I love them.

Thank you that I have a love for animals.  Not everyone does, and I feel sad for those people.

Thank you that even though I am a dog person, I can appreciate cats too.

Thank you that I think frogs are cute and beautiful, despite the fact that they have very bulgy eyes, and are fat and slimey.  If they weren't frogs, they would not be cute or beautiful, but because they are frogs, this is what they are.

Thank you for all the weird different sounds that animals make, and how distinct they are.

Thank you for baby animals. Thank you that just looking at a baby animal can make a person feel better.

Thank you for the sacrifices that cows for us.

Thank you for the sacrifices that chickens make for us.

Thank you that as a people we are becoming more aware in some areas about animal cruelty, and that some people are doing things about it.

Thank you that some of us are learning to be better animal stewards.

Most of the time we don't think about where things come from or how animals were involved, but thank you so much for when we do.  Thank you for when we question. And thank you for when we decide to do a little better.

Thank you for how many different animals there are.

Thank you for how many different kinds of each different animal there are.

Thank you for mythical animals like dragons and unicorns, and the way they evoke a sense of wonder.

Thank you for cryptids like the Loch Ness Monster, or Sasquatch. Or the Chupacabra.  They add a sense of mystery to the world.

Thank you that we don't have all the answers about animals yet.

Thank you that we keep discovering new things.

Thank you for odd animal facts like that slugs have weird noses.

Thank you that I find these odd facts memorable, and can repeat them, so that others may benefit from my very useless knowledge.

Thank you for that story about owls I heard, where if one owl's mate dies, the other will just turn their head to face the trunk of the tree and wait to starve to death.  It's so sadly romantic. And it just shows that animals feel.

Thank you that animals have personalities, and they are different.

Thank you that animals have agency.

Thank you that animals can learn.

Thank you that different animals connect differently than others.

Thank you that people have favorite animals.

Thank you for that Big Cat show that my roommate Grace used to love to watch while she ate lunch.  Thank you for the times that I sat down with her and watched.

Thank you for the river monsters.

Thank you that for every scary animal, there is an animal that makes you feel safer.

Thank you for the way each animal contributes so differently to the world.

Thank you for hamsters, and bunnies and the other rodents that give good name to rodents, and make you think, "I wouldn't throw out all the rodents if given the opportunity.  Some maybe. But I would not throw out all of them."

Thank you for my brother's love for animals.

Thank you for my newfound appreciation for aquatic creatures. Even fish.

Thank you for belugas and dolphins and other creatures that just seem PLAYFUL.

Thank you for the way some animals add an element of danger and excitement into the world.

Thank you for birding as opposed to bird shooting. Thank you that there are people out there who jut get this profound sense of enjoyment out of just looking at birds and hearing their calls.

Thank you for the way that animals can be used so effectively as metaphors.

Thank you that there is just so much to know and learn, and there are so many fields and each one becomes specialized, and even when it become specialized it still has so much left to explore.

Thank you for capybaras.

Thank you for flamingos.

Thank you for monkeys, except chimpanzees. 

Thank you for chimpanzees, because sometimes it is good to not like everything.

Thank you that even an avid bug hater such as I, can find enjoyment in lady bugs, roly polys and butterflies.

Thank you for the way that I feel life is sacred.

Thank you for the people who film animals and post videos on youtube.

Thank you that everyone has different childhood experiences with dogs.

Thank you that for every odd creature, there is an odd human who finds it fascinating.

Thank you that even people not in the church feel this sense of obligation to try and take care of earth creatures.

Thank you for how incredibly soft a rex rabbit can be.

Thank you for how incredibly forgiving a pet can be.

Thank you for when an animal can act as a better example for a person than people are willing to give credit.

Thank you for the curiosity of kittens.

Thank you for the old souls of cows.

Thank you for the compassion that some animals show towards humans.

Thank you that instinct is so often good.

Thank you that I now question whether or not an animal is completely driven by carnal things.