Ouiser the shelter dog has been with us for nearly six months. Her age, as guessed by our vet, is about one year. She’s gradually letting go of puppyhood and will look me in the eyes with a mature and thoughtful intelligence. When she remains attentive long enough, I tell her what’s on my mind.
It’s mid-November. The leaves have fallen, the days are shorter, the bucks are rutty. It’s dry, bone dry, and mild. The dog takes it in with great enthusiasm, tucking tail and tearing through fallen leaves like a whirlwind, carrying limbs around as if each were a hard won trophy. Her chief concerns are the whereabouts of squirrels, the location of her chew toy, and anything that might be in her food bowl.
It’s virtually certain that this year’s world temperatures will exceed 1.5° C above pre industrial levels, a threshold established by the Paris climate accord. I assume the dog doesn’t know or understand what this means, so I explain the difference between climate and weather. “Weather is what we get every day, and climate is based on 30 years of weather averages,” I say. “No single weather event can be attributed to climate change, but as the climate shifts we get more extreme weather— flooding, destructive hurricanes, droughts, severe storms.” I saw her eyes shift from mine to a squirrel darting up the silver maple.
“As the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere grows beyond what civilized man has ever experienced there comes a raft of environmental consequences. Sea levels rise, biodiversity crashes, regions become uninhabitable, mass migrations ensue.” She raised a paw, offering a shake.
“Some impacts are subtle and fly under our radars. We don’t necessarily notice fewer birds and insects. As extinction rates grow critically high most of us are in the dark. The arctic melts but it’s not in our face so we don’t dwell on the implications. Some of us accept that things have changed but believe we’ve reached a plateau so it’s okay to continue with our indulgent, consumptive lifestyles. But as long as temperatures are rising there is no plateau, and here we are.” The dog tries to lick my face, desperate to change the subject.
Ouiser lives in a world where concerns are simple and limited. She doesn’t plan her meals, schedule her weeks, or consider next year. Before she met us she was abandoned then forcibly sterilized, but holds no contempt or vengeance against those responsible. She seems to want nothing more than to be alive and live each day with gusto.
The dog’s been tight lipped since the election. She wasn’t able to vote, unlike a lot of people who could’ve but chose not to; unlike many who voted based on deceitful ads and media.
It’s hard to know who Ouiser might’ve favored had she been given the chance. She’ll accept behaviors contrary to her nature out of loyalty to us, so maybe she’d be enticed by a campaign using fear and intimidation to rally support. She wouldn’t hesitate to terminate the last breeding pair of squirrels on the planet, so her environmental concerns may align with someone espousing climate change as a hoax. I don’t want to think the dog leans republican. If she does I’ll still put food in her bowl and recognize her value, but there will forever be a part of her I won’t understand.
There’s also a possibility she’s a democrat. A dog who loves regardless of color, heritage, or gender, who has learned there are consequences for breaking the law, who is content with freedoms with limits that benefit her life as a whole, should be on the side of democracy and individual rights Unless, of course, she fails to think for herself and subscribes to the wrong news networks.
I’ll never know her politics, but I’ll appreciate her companionship on days otherwise plagued with doom. I’ll let her show me how to enjoy a yard filled with fallen leaves when squirrels are dancing overhead and the smell of an autumn day is nothing short of euphoric. These days, I’ll grab comfort and sanity wherever I can.
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