"Family can be many things..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Classic Wednesday)

Bettejo Dux has lived on the cosmic Garden Island of Kaua'i for over 40 years...

Bettejo is the author of the famed novellas "The Scam."

and recently published  "Children of Extinction..." 
Both books available on www.amazon.com

Family can be many things

Family is such a nice word, don’t you think? But, like everything today, it has a dark side. One can think of the Italian Mafia. The Christian Mafia. What a nerve. Stealing a perfectly good word.

I think all of us who love animals want them to become part of the family. A loving family. Some of us have bigger, and more varied, loving animal families than others. Mind you I’m not recommending you become an animal collector. Who needs three hundred cats in a two-bedroom house? The smell alone would not sit well. But, if the house is big enough-half a barn for an example-it’s okay to have a horse, a Macaw, an over-grown puppy and two kittens. Don’t you think?

Okay, I’m trying to rationalize my family. My zoo. It’s an enormous project but a fascinating, wonderful, delightful one. Sometimes.

I think, in so many ways, animals are much smarter than people. I mean, they don’t have any religious hang-ups. They don’t go to church. They don’t wage wars. Never knew of one animal who built a nuclear weapon. They don’t need telephones, computers, microwaves, pots and pans and hotplates. They don’t even need a Vitamix.

Oh, they do eat each other. Occasionally, but usually only when they’re hungry. There are predators and prey but they get along at the watering holes which is more than a lot of human beer drinkers do. No animal I ever knew participated in a brawl in an Irish pub. If you know of such an instance please let me know and we’ll talk about it here. Should be fun.

There is a decided scientific factor in such a family structure. Observe. Observe. Observe. Beats getting glued to the tube, except for the excellent episodes filmed and projected here on Ho’ike. Rosa and Reba stole the show last time. It went to their heads. The next morning, right after breakfast, they bounced into the cat carrier. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they saw stardom on the horizon. As their manager, I’m working on a six-figure contract with Kai and Jay and Jule. I get a whopping hundred percent of when a settlement is reached. Paper makes excellent tinder.

Reba and Rosa aren't interested in money. That’s smarter than people, too, don’t you think?

In our family there won’t ever be a conflict about the long green stuff but, of course, I've promised them the best food, shelter and playground money can buy. The only thing I ask is that they don’t eat Boots-the grown up puppy- or Duke-the noisy Macaw who has already learned to call them.

“Here Reba. Here Rosa. Where the bleep are you?”

We do communicate. Dysfunctional families don’t communicate.

I’m teaching them to sing. They have pretty voices. They eat well and bounce and wrestle and stalk make-believe prey. I don’t buy toys. They have to learn to play with long strings and flying leaves and navigate tree trunks and branches.

They are peaceful, playful, and loving.

Here is the video link:
http://vp.telvue.com/preview?id=T01393&video=205423

or http://www.hoike.org Arts and Entertainment

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