Hello World

posted by Melissa Pursley @ 6:22am, Sunday 17 April 2011.

I am assured by our wonderful technical adviser, Kirk, that "Hello World" is a necessary first blog.  Seems fitting enough from a laypersons perspective, but the motivation for this first topic is actually superstitious!  It is fascinating to me that a group so technically savvy and so logically precise share their own version of tossing salt over your shoulder when you spill it. 

I have seen what the website looks like when all of the pictures and user friendly windows are removed, and it is pages and pages of letters, numbers and symbols garbled together in seemingly random array.  But to Kirk it is an eloquent text and he understands this foreign language and he can read it as you are reading this now.  This reminds me of our life with our dogs, we each speak a different, in this case species specific language.  Both are eloquent in their own right within the context of our own species.  In order to communicate with with each other we need to learn to 'speak dog' and they need to learn to appreciate our language. 

It amazes me that the more I learn about these fascinating creatures, the more there is to learn.  Really the best among us is probably on par with a visitor to a new land, complete with a quick reference pocket guide to speaking canine.  And much like other foreign hosts, our dogs are patient and forgiving as we disassemble their elegant language in an attempt to communicate our needs.  My goal is to understand the canine culture and language.  To appreciate it for its own intrinsic value and to learn to communicate clearly within it.  It is a lofty goal to be sure, but perhaps one day I can toss the pocket guide.

Enjoy the journey,
Melissa