Ah my Northwestern friend, you have touched on a very valid point.
The ever evolving shared space with reality, and cyberality (if that is a new word, I want the credit). We are all a little guilty here. We go out and do things. We like to share some of the things we do with others.
But what we fail to realize is. Unlike a campfire in the woods. Where we can chat about about the day's exploits, when we return to that fire in the evening. Usually sharing our stories with like minded folks. Many that we have known for years.
Even when we want to push somebody's buttons. We almost always know, what will trigger them and how they will react. It is a known to us. Because we have seen it many times. It is like a squirrel running in front of your Jack. You just know what is about to take place.
Where the problem lies, is that due to the internet. Our campfire has expanded. There are now folks sitting at that fire that just don't belong there. They gained access, not by earning a seat at our fire. They gained it just by showing up. It's the internet. Anyone with a keyboard can be sitting right next to you telling you how do do stuff.
Sadly, many have no clue. They may be seven years old, they may have never left their urban yard. In fact they may have never taken a dump in the woods. Yet here they are, sitting right next to us, at this virtual campfire.
But Pit, wait. Folks like us share some of this blame also. We are out there doing things. We think folks might like to see. So we attempt to share our doings with them. But what we fail to realize is, some of those virtual campfires aren't ours. We just managed to show up at someone elses fire. It looks a lot like ours. Smoke rising, folks sitting around chatting. But we don't know any of them. We don't know their background. We have no clue what will set them off or how they will react.
I grew up coon hunting. So for me, I was immediately curious about your Rabbit/Jack picture. I figured it was a bird kill, because there is so much left. Other critters and there would just be some bits of fur, if that. And some hair and bone fragments in scat nearby. I have seen a Bluetick pitch into a raccoon. I have seen a raccoon pitch into a Bluetick.
What you and I both, have to realize. Is that we are in the minority these days. Sure you grasp the fact that Jacks were bread to be ruthless little killers of rodents, and small game. We also realize they excell at their task.
But you have to understand. Where you were, wasn't our campfire. It wasn't us sitting there. No sir. This was their campfire. These folks are most likely, urbanites. Most probably own JRTs. But they bought them because of that cute little trickster Eddie who romped around that Seattle apartment on the sitcom Frazier.
At their campfire, they see a cute little pocket sized, urban dog, with his little wiskers. leaping playfully into the lap of an old man in a chair. While he paitently listens to his two sons bicker and chat about their day while sipping cognac.
These people see Paris Hilton and here little pocket dogs as the gold standard.
It's not their fault. It is who they are. It's not our fault either. We are who we are. The problem is, in real life, we would never share the same campfire.
Can you imagine returning to camp one evening and seeing Frazier, Niles, and Paris sitting there waiting for you? You would know right away, this is NOT, your campfire. They would also know, you don't really fit in there.
Sadly, I think we have become the dinosaurs. We are not extinct yet. But it sure looks like we are heading in that direction. There just aren't many of us left. I watch friend's kids play ball and hunt with a Wi, they don't even go outside. Folks can't go for a walk in the woods without a cellphone and a GPS. And they can't understand why anyone needs a knife.
My solution? I really don't have one. In this politically correct world, I fit in like a Spartan at Xerxes Wedding.
In the old days. Before digital cameras and the internet. You may have taken that photo. You may have even developed it. (remember that?) But I doubt you would have walked into a room full of strangers and showed it to them.
My solution is to choose my fires more wisely. I have come to accept, that I don't understand those people at the different fires. And I also accept, that I can't change them. They don't want to change.
I get that, because neither do I. There, I said it, "I don't want to change" So these days, I choose my Campfires much more carefully. For cyber fires, I come here to this one, and two other like minded ones. That is it!
I have also increased my use of actual campfires. It is good for the soul. At least for my soul.
Actually, last night, I was sitting by such a fire. With an axe, a saw, a knife and a few beers. I had with me, my ever constant companions, an aging dog, who most likely won't see the grass turn green. And a psycho Maine Coon Cat (the feline JRT equivalent)
As I staired into those flames. I pondered on my inability to find work, and get my wife and myself into the west. I dwelled on how I will most likely lose my dog very soon. My accelerated use of what should be my retirement funds. I thought about my tiny home up here in the Adirondacks. Very modest by most standards.
I though about a lot. As one often does when he sits alone by a fire. I even had a moment of self pity. As I realized most people would view an out of work 56 year old, sitting alone, in the cold, by the fire, who lives in a tiny house not far away.
I was sure they would look at this picture as a failure. Then, I started to feel sorry for them, and life was good again.
I have used this line twice already this week. Once for a knife, once for a wife. I have never used it before that. But it seems appropriate here too. So I will leave you with it one more time.
Like the Templar Knight said to Indy as he pondered which Chalice to pick.
Choose Wisely
