Here's a lesson for the moment from most of our pets these days. They're not worried about tomorrow, or next week, or next month. They're just fine sheltering in place. Social isolation isn't a big deal. They know how to get their rest right now for any excitement or challenge to come. They respond well to kindness and give us human beings all of it that they can, and more than we likely deserve. When they're happy, or content, they wag it clearly. And: They know how just to be.
Now, don't worry, I'm a philosopher and I already know all the rejoinders in the minds of some readers that will begin with the ever useful word "But," and then detail all the many differences and disanalogies and responsibility asymmetries and obvious dependence relations between diverse domestic species and us that make them, as readers, resistant to a little whimsical reminder or two from the world of the pet. But ... to anyone who thinks that way, I'd recommend you just go out onto the porch and lie down a bit and take a nap, Ok? Good boy. Good girl.
