Breaking News: Cleveland Browns Has Officially Triggered The Release Clause Of Jacksonville Jaguares Linebacker, the Sensational LB Inked a 6-Yrs $189million deal Following…..

I occasionally get emails from both new and long-time visitors to the site. I welcome them. Heck, I leave my email at the bottom of these morning Bloviations. They’re a gateway to fantastic feedback about the site and new friendships. Sometimes they’re serious, and sometimes they’re absurd.

Into the latter camp came a quick message from an old friend yesterday, who randomly wrote to ascribe deep and semi-religious philosophical powers to my dog and constant companion, Cookie. The mutt, rescued at about three months, is now four years old. She’s part-Yorkie, part-Poodle, and now apparently part-monk.

The email made me think hard about Cookie’s life philosophy, which, from outward appearances, seems focused mostly on quickly bouncing from eating to sleeping to guarding our home from the ever-present menace of our neighbor’s dog. Based on her routine, it’s not much more evolved than that.

Then I realized that Cookie, unlike her owner, lives very much in the moment. She doesn’t really seem to worry about the ramifications of her actions. She tears the squeakers out of toys, ruining them, and she’s totally alright with that. She enjoys the act of squeaker surgery for what it is itself. She lives in a state of eternal optimism, hoping that manna in the form of bacon or hamburger will drop from the heavens as my wife cooks dinner.

I root for a team that has unofficially adopted dogs as its mascot, leaning into the ferociousness of their barking. And, sure, dogs can be fierce. But they’re also unfailingly loyal, optimistic, intelligent, and focused on the now.