When Will I Be As Smart as My Dogs?

Wife 2.0 and I have two beagles and I have recently come to the conclusion they are smarter than me.  I work long hours at a job that is at times very tense and very difficult. The beagles, Ralph and Mocha, lay in the shade in the backyard unless the weather is bad, when they move indoors.  I struggle with chronic issues, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, etc.  Ralph snores and Mocha creates a terrible odor and I swear they giggle about it like we did in Jr. High. 

2.0 and I pay the mortgage, Ralph and Mocha sleep anywhere, the yard, the crate, on each other and in my favorite memory, with a recently deceased skunk still fully possessed of its delicate fragrence.

2.0 and I purchase the groceries and Ralph and Mocha seem to prefer the contents of the cat box to the $7.00 kibble. 

So, you can easily understand why 2.0 and I thought the beagles were stupid.  We were reminded of the story of the Grasshopper and the ants: 

The fable concerns a grasshopper that has spent the warm months singing while the ant (or ants in some editions) worked to store up food for winter. When that season arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and upon asking the ant for food is only rebuked for its idleness. Versions of the fable are found in the verse collections of Babrius (140) and Avianus (34), and in several prose collections including those attributed to Syntipas and Apthonius.

Instead of making us feel better, 2.0 and I suddenly realized we were the ants feeding the grasshoppers, FOREVER.  Unlike the grasshopper in the fable, our grasshoppers (the beagles) will never see the error of their ways.  They subject 2.0 and me to a lifetime of servitude.  When they aren't happy with the service, Mocha makes that smell and I SWEAR they look at me and laugh. 

I may never be as smart as my dogs.

See you next time 

"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. New American Standard Bible (©1995)

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