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The greatest gift is friendship
As I wind up this year’s
WannaBe offerings, it’s obvious everywhere that we’re now in the season of
Wannabe Farmer
by LINDA WEGNER
celebration. Christmas, or however or by whatever name you chose to label this time of the year, is meant to be a time dedicated to friends and family to maximize good times and, of course, great food. Pulling soups, bread, frozen berries, tree fruits and roasts from the diminishing stock in the freezer give daily cause for thanksgiving. As is my habit, I try to set the theme for each upcoming column several weeks ahead of actually beginning to write it, giving me time to muse and to think of various angles from which to expand on my thoughts. I was all set to enumerate some of the reasons for my excitement but then it happened. It, as in the horrific massacre of eleven Jews at their place of
worship. ”Why?” I asked myself, “Why
can’t we just accept each other, acknowledge our differences and in the meantime, do all we can to be friends?” That line of thinking then led me to muse on the number of folks in our neighbourhood who are out regularly
walking their dogs. Sniffing, stopping, yanking on their restraints, there’s a huge variety of breeds but all have this in common: they and their owners are sharing space, greeting one another and bringing a lot of enjoyment to a lot of folks. “Hmm,” I wondered again, “I
wonder if animals can be friends to each other.” (Other than cat and dog animals, of course.)
Out of interest, I went online to see what I could find on the subject and although there definitely are differing opinions, I thought I’d pass along some observations from Dr. Barbara Smuts, a primate researcher at the University of Michigan. Please note, these notes are just one side of the story and since the
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • DECEMBER 2018
Agriculture in the Classroom executive director Pat Tonn and student chefs from Richmond Secondary appreciate the support of AITC’s Take a Bite of BC partners, including BC Pork Producers, BC Fresh, Windset Farms, the BC Dairy Association and the BC Greenhouse Growers Association. SUBMITTED PHOTO
material she presented was authored in 1985, perhaps it’s been mis-proven. I don’t even know if Dr. Smuts still lives or if she changed her mind on the subject. Putting those questions aside, I just thought it might be refreshing to read such positive comments. First, Dr. Smuts noted that
female baboons share friendship. Then, she said, she observed a special relationship between her
German Shepherd, Safi, and a donkey named Wister. “Each dawn, after being
released from his corral, Wister would stand outside our door and bray until I let Safi out, and then they would play and wander together for hours.”
I also noted that Time magazine once featured some scientific observations of the bonds between two wild chimps – unrelated males that
hunted together, shared food and hooted their greetings over great distances when separated. After the death of one of them, the other went into a period of deep mourning. There’s more, but I must bring this to a close. In conclusion, I wish us all a
wonderful and inclusive season of celebration as one by one we make our immediate world a better place to be.
4-H BC thanks our Generous Partners & Volunteers for making National Partners Platinum Partners 4-H BC Founda on Gold Partners Silver Partners British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association
Bronze Partners Diana’s Monogramming
Central Mountain Air
Ritchie Smith Feeds/Sure Crop Feeds
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