Day #195- dire wolves and Pyrenees Mountain Dogs
April 9, 2025
When I awoke, the dire wolf
600 pounds of sin
Was grinning at my window
All I said was, "Come on in"
(Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia)
It’s a great song, but it’s terrible advice.
Today is the 195th day since Helene and the 79th day of the current administration. There are wolves at the door and they’re dire AF. The jury is still out as to whether they were genetically modified in a lab somewhere.
Don’t invite them in. We don’t need to make it easy. Sometimes “get lost” is a better response when someone comes calling.
Juno is a Pyrenees Mountain Dog (Chien de Montagne des Pyrénées). In the States they’re called Great Pyrenees Dogs. Pyrs for short.
Some folks who’ve been around for a while have asked if Juno misses the beach. The answer is no. Before he was here, he missed the mountains. When it’s cold outside we can barely get him to come in long enough to feed him. As soon as his meal is done, he’s back at the door, ready to go out. “Thanks for visiting,” we tell him as he exits. “Don’t forget to write.”
He is happiest when it snows.
Pyrenees are an ancient breed, evolving from white mountain dogs in Asia Minor roughly 11,000 years ago. Incidentally, that’s only about a thousand years after the dire wolf became extinct. Pyrs migrated to the Pyrenees Mountains, located at the invisible line between France and Spain, around 3,000 BC.
The Pyrenees Mountain Dog is a classic case of nature running its course. No bioengineering necessary.
They are livestock guardians, and there’s no one better suited for the job. They won’t tell sheep where to go, but they’ll make sure they get there safely. Wolves and bears beware.
They tend to sleep a lot, and they let baby lambs or goats cavort on and around them as they do. Pyrs conserve energy. They think running yourself ragged is for idiots.
Pyrs think. Anyone who has ever tried to train a Pyr knows that obedience is not in their nature. Cooperation perhaps, but not obedience. If they don’t see the logic of your request, they simply ignore it. Using force always backfires. I wouldn’t recommend it.
See, for hundreds or thousands of years, Pyrs guarded sheep alone. They lived with their flocks and each other and relied on their own wits to see them through. Their independent thinking is an evolutionary trait.
Pyrs wander. Knowing what’s out there is also an evolutionary trait. If it’s your job to protect, it makes good sense to figure out what you’re up against.
The two we had before Juno once got out through an open gate and ended up at Walmart, six miles away. There was a sheriff car with an open door, so naturally they jumped it. “Take us home please Officer,” they said, as if it was the most logical thing in the world. Turns out they were right. They didn’t want to shop at Walmart.
Pyrs tend towards being nocturnal, and they bark. A lot.
Some folks think they’re barking at nothing. Some folks are wrong.
The Pyrenees bark is the greatest tool of their trade. It’s a warning. It says to coyotes and bears and mountain lions and wolves, “I am here. We are not accepting visitors. Think twice about stopping by.”
It’s the opposite of inviting the wolf in through the door.
“If you come here there will be trouble.”
Some trouble is indeed good trouble.
I am reminded of Cory Booker beginning his record-breaking speech by saying, “I rise tonight with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able”…
I am reminded of Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock and Senator Jon Ossoff co-sponsoring a budget amendment to ban DOGE from cutting Social Security benefits. The amendment was voted down by Senate Republicans, but they had to put their names on record to do so. The dirty deed got done anyway, but it wasn’t easy.
For more than six hours, Senate Democrats forced vote after vote in what’s known as a “vote-a-rama,” essentially saying, “If you’re gonna destroy every damn thing, you’re gonna have to sign your name on every line.”
If a big bad wolf is here to tear down your house, you don’t have to hand them a sledgehammer.
Whatever you do, when the dire wolf comes calling, don’t invite him in.
Love and light y’all, in good times and in dire…
Per the Cambridge Dictionary: Dire (adjective). very serious or extreme. Synonyms are dreadful, ghastly, horrendous, horrible and horrific
Of all the money someone could just give us to sit here and write all day, they decide instead to play Gawd by engineering a ferocious creature. I know logic and good sense isn’t popular these days, but dang how hard do we have to be hit upside by a metaphor until we get it?
I want to be Juno’s baby goat, just hanging around and bothering him while he sleeps. And when I get tired I can just curl up on him and snooze.
So Pyrenees are independent thinkers, do you think we could get people to do that? Love, light & kindness we need more.