Читать книгу Rover - Barry Blackstone - Страница 10

In the advancements of mankind, we have lost something irreplaceable: the wonder of life. With the urbanization of the city swallowing up the utopia of the country, we have lost the simple awe and quiet inspiration that comes from walking along a brook with a dog, working in a barnyard beside a Rover, and whistling with a bird as your ‘best friend’ barks in unison. With our over dependence on technology, we have lost the excitement that comes from living on a farm and in a field, on a hill and in a hollow (my boyhood home was located in a hollow). Today most people are surrounded with traffic not trees, streets not streams. Their only stimulation comes from the manipulative media who glorifies the glitter and glamour of urban life verses country life. Malls have replaced meadows, neon lights have replaced night lights, and the telescope has been replaced by the television. Unless it is video or VCR, people rarely wonder at the sights they are seeing, and there is still something wonderful about a dog without a leash!

I am thankful for the wonder of a boyhood with a dog. On my family farm in the 1950’s and 1960’s I had a childhood and a dog. Today before most boys are teenagers they have become old and aged, critical and cynical and that happens without a dog. They have been robbed of “The Wonder Years” by the sensual, sinful and sordid society they live in. As for me, I lived in the sweet solitude of a rural ranch isolated by distance and dignity with a dog. No perverts there to prey on the innocent, just wonderful examples of manhood (On my visit to Perham for my father’s funeral I met again one of those men-Woody Doody, my little league coach now 85 but still a ‘gentle’ man) and womanhood, whether family or friend, teacher or preacher. No pimps there to plunder the purity of boys, just helpful bus drivers and janitors, coaches and church leaders and a dog to play with and be protected by. No wonder I had wished that my children had grown up a bit slower (I think this today again as I watch my 39-year old die of cancer), for I fear they lost the wonder of childhood even though I tried to teach them ‘the wonder of it all’ without a dog; they had plenty of pets but no dog, no dog like Rover and I see the results today, especially in my son.

I am thankful for the wonder of a backyard. For most a backyard is only a few feet of lawn between their house and their neighbor’s garage; so it is with me now, but once upon a time I had a backyard behind my barnyard; acres of pastureland and woodland to roam with my dog, and to call home. My lot wasn’t to escape into the “tube”, but into the trees. My world wasn’t a fantasy of mechanical gadgets and technological games, but of forest and field. For most kids today the backyard is the backroom and a Nintendo. Hemmed in by walls, their minds can’t develop properly the ability to wonder. Granted, the modern day child can handle the control mechanism of a video game with exceptional speed and dexterity, but they soon get lost in the real world. I learned little of Mario, but the mysteries and the majesty of lakes and larks I learned to wonder at through the companionship of a dog. I simply ask: “Which uplifts most?” Who is really in touch with life? Where is inspiration in this? No wonder we have a generation so deep in despair; they need a dog; the time saving and tremendous help of our inventions does not compensate us for the stress and strain they add to our life and lifestyle and living.

The tragedy today is that most wander, not wonder. That is why a backyard with a dog is so important! I believe the psalmist hit the nail on the head when he said: “Our fathers understood not thy wonder in Egypt . . . ” (Psalm 106:7) If the people of Moses’ day had missed the wonders of the plagues and the miracles of the wilderness wandering than it is not hard to believe the ‘wonders’ we are missing today. You know by now I am of the belief that part of the problem is that not enough people have a pet like Rover or Eddie!