animals, Family, pets, Uncategorized, work

Raison D’etre

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Our tortie cat loves anything related to eggs or chicken. She was a hobby farm kitten before we got her, and we suspect she was exposed to eggs and poultry.  Any time she hears eggs being cracked in the kitchen or finds out that we are preparing a chicken dish, she is a constant pest. She steals eggshells out of the sink and bats them all over the house.  She fishes eggs out of bowls on the counter and rolls them on the floor.. Her favorite prank is to steal chunks of chicken off our plates or serving dishes. She rolls around provocatively on the counter in front of us whenever we have chicken out, in what we imagine to be an attempt to charm us into giving her some. We call it her chicken dance. Stealing chicken and being charming are her current reasons for existence.

Other of our animals have had definite life goals. Our terriers lived to have fun and investigate anything new. Our current grey cat lives to chase paper balls. I think my raison d’etre is still tied up in my work, but I am beginning to think about other things to live for.

What have your pets lived for?  What is your raison d’etre? How has it changed over the years?

36 thoughts on “Raison D’etre”

  1. For my two dogs it boils down to cheese and snuggles. That’s about it. If they hear something that sounds like the plastic wrap around cheese, smell something that might be cheese, or suspect I have brought cheese into kitchen, they are there. And they are not shy about their begging if cheese is involved. Even when I tell them that no, this one is expensive “good” cheese and only humans get it, I still get the big brown eyes telling me if I really loved them, canines would get the good stuff, too. And when that fails, they can be aggressively snuggly – especially the white one.

    Me? I am kinda with the dogs about the cheese… but also doing what I can to make the world a little easier, a little kinder. Two of the things I am most proud of (besides my daughter) are communities I helped build out of what were essentially meetup kinds of groups: one at work and one related to work, but for locals here working in roles like mine in tech. At their core they are about helping the person next to you – whether that is to learn more or to provide some support or just be in community. It makes my heart happy. Maybe I should try this for cheese lovers. Hmm…

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  2. I had a lit prof at the U whose Raison d’etre was to make us pronounce that term, and all French terms, as the French do. Raison det. It is stuck in my head that way. If I use the term, forgetting how it is pronounced here, people Correct me.
    Clyde

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    1. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone here pronounce it. I would have pronounced it the way you spell it. How do people around you say it, if they say it?

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        1. Lol… I thought this was gonna be a fun song and it took me about four or five repetitions before I realized no it’s just a pronunciation guide. DOH

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  3. Rise and Live for “Raisons”, or Raisins, or Reasons, Baboons,

    LIke Renee, a lot of my raisins are work-related. I trying to transition to something different now. I applied to UMN extension to become a Master Gardener. My interview is Monday, on-line, of course. So tired of Zoom. I will work part time as long as I can, but it is also time to mosey on to other things to engage myself, and gardening is a great bet. I would like to volunteer at the Arboretum in some of their programs. Master Gardener is a great way to do that. It is also a part of Extension Services which has played a role in my life and that of my parents and grandparents since it was established. This winter in AZ, I will cross the street to the community garden and volunteer there, out in the open air.

    Our Bootsy, at this point, finally got that drainage tube out. Prior to that grabbing it with her teeth and pulling on it was her goal for several days. It must have caused her discomfort or pain before it came out. Now she has moved on to more traditional dog purposes, such as begging for treats. She also loves eggs, pill treats, or any little scrap on the floor. We will try the first little walk today to determine how far she can walk. On walks, smells are the reason. She will walk with nose to the ground, sniffing out any human or beast who has gone before her.

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    1. Good luck. Two women here I know are master gardeners. Took a lot to achieve as I recall, but they loved it. I don’t think they kept it active for very long.

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      1. Because of pandemic issues, the entire program and training is online. I will work on this while in AZ. It is demanding, but the online resources should make it more accessible.

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  4. We had a neutered female half Samoyed huskie we named Eleanor, I forget why. Four years later we acquire a neutered male cat we of course then named Franklyn. They ended up Ellie and Franklyn. Ellies one true purpose was to worship Sandy. She was not allowed anywhere except in the kitchen, back hall, and kids’ bedrooms. But my kids soon reached the age where they shut their bedroom doors. Franklyn was allowed in all of the house; who was going to tell a cat otherwise. They were good buddies and often wrestled. When Franklyn got too rambunctious, Franklyn would sit three feet beyond the stoop which dropped from the kitchen into the living room and sit there and lord it over the dog because she was untouchable there.
    If Sandy was not in the kitchen Ellie would hang her sad head over the stoop and stare at Sandy. If Sandy was in our bedroom, the utility room, or the bathroom, out of Ellie’s direct sight, the dog would track her reflection in the glass of pictures in the hallway. It was all sort of pathetic as well as funny.
    Franklyn’s one great thing in life was tuna, which she was fed every two to three days. She knew the sound of the hand can opener coming out of the drawer. She could tell it from the sound of anything else coming from any drawer. She would hang her paws on the edge of the counter, she never went up on the counters, and meow impatiently for the can to be opened and given to her. We had a large mowed backyard but it had woods on both sides and then the woods behind that, a large area of forest. If Sandy or our daughter, stepped outside when Franklyn was not in the house. and said Tuna, not having to yell it very loud. the cat would charge form wherever she was.

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  5. Part of a message from our daughter: We drove around . . . to gawk at the fancy houses and our favorite was that a house had a huge Trump display and the house across the street with a sign with an arrow pointing at the Trump display that simply says “never.”

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      1. Mine, too. It’s great. I have seen 3 #45 signs,and many,many Biden/Harris. This used to be a GOP suburb that in the last 4 years has rolled over to Dem. The most notable indication is that Dean Phillips is now the House Rep. He defeated our GOP marshmallow, Eric Paulson who represented no one but himself.

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      2. Four years ago I saw a few Trump signs here or there – not in my neighborhood, but elsewhere in St. Paul or West St. Paul. This year I haven’t seen a single one. I’ve spotted a couple of Jason Lewis signs, but although you might expect there to be an adjacent Trump sign, the Lewis sign appears as an only child. In my immediate neighborhood, the one neighbor who had Trump bumper sticker four years ago has gotten a different car, and its bumper is unadorned.

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        2. Neighborhoods in Rice County are plastered with Trump signs and other Republican candidates. Much of rural MN supports Trump. I’m glad you all see the other signs. Even blue Northfield is heavily splattered with Trump signs.

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  6. At Solstice last year we were given some Blue Wilderness trout treats for the kitty. Nimue really really liked them so when I ran out of them in April I ordered some online and when they came they were chicken not trout treats. It didn’t matter – she liked them too. By the time I needed more, Petsmart was open and this time I bought salmon because I thought “fish-cats”. She doesn’t like the salmon. If I put down two chicken treats and one salmon treat, sometimes she will deign to eat the salmon. But if the salmon outnumbers the chicken then she will only eat the chicken. It is so very strange. Luckily Guinevere thinks that kitty treats of any kind are just fine.

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  8. I’m really discouraged how many farmers are big tRump supporters. I drove about 20 miles today to pick up something and the whole route had his signs. Came home another way and it was good to see Biden signs that direction.
    And interesting.

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  9. I wouldn’t say Slush lived for cantaloupe, but he always gobbled it when I gave him some. Also things like cooked broccoli, cauliflower… and butter.

    My raison d’etre vacillates between getting constant approval (love) and helping others (love) get through this thing called life.

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  10. dogs live for their afternoon walk and the punchline is a dog bone they get when they get home. they start anticipating the 6-7 afternoon walk about 430 and getting fired up about any movement by humans who might be ready to go early
    the two cats sleep separately and one hangs out downstairs so she ban rest as the other wants to start the day about 430 every day with that persistent low meow that sounds like a cat in heat. 430 every damn day
    fish are happy to see me about 7 every morning

    grandson is always happy to see me. i am honored to be his favorite part of life. we sure have a nice time together.

    my reasons for life are family and a fun challenge at making the leap to new business model that makes it possible to win by sitting at home in front of a screen with analytic abc’s

    fun stuff,
    cooking music sports travel will be my rewards as i slide into use if time away from the office format that the pandemic has all but done away with .
    isn’t it incredible that target has been able to do tremendous things while keeping their office closed until at least june of next year to be safe. that would have been unthinkable 25 years ago, maybe 10 years ago,
    i am looking forward to finding the best ways to stay healthy active and on track and learning new ways to enjoy my last 40 or 50 years

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  11. Son noticed an injured cat hanging around his front door. He put out bowls of water and food, called animal control, and now kitty is at the humane society. He seems to be a lost and injured cat magnet. What a good raison d’etre.

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  12. Singling out a raison d’etre is kind of like asking what is my favorite anything—I just don’t think in those exclusive terms.
    It’s easier to say what isn’t and has never been my raison d’etre.
    We could call it my priority. Work has never been my priority. Money has never been my priority. When I was working in advertising, the way I could advance in the business and increase my cache and hence my perceived value would have been to accept a position in an agency in a major market— California or New York or Chicago. Headhunters would contact me seeking to place me in positions in those markets. I never was willing to subject my family to that kind of disruption. In that sense, my raison d’etre was stability and security for my family. All my choices were consistent with that. In addition, my parents and Robin’s parents were nearby. One of my grandfathers died when I was four and one lived elsewhere and died when I was ten. Only one of my grandparents was around long enough and near enough that I was able to know her. I didn’t want that for my kids.
    For myself, my raison d’etre is following my curiosities and keeping my brain occupied. It’s harmless enough and doesn’t impinge on the stability and security of my family.

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  13. Our two cats adopted us. My husband and I were happy living without pets. After I had to gave up my beautiful Annie, (dog) after my first marriage ended and I needed to return to full time work, I told myself I didn’t deserve to have the love of another animal. Annie trusted me and I failed her. The pain of rehoming her haunts me still. So when Willow a thin black and white cat kept appearing on my patio morning after morning, and when my husband (2nd) and I arrived home after being out this cat would appear on our door step we tried to ignore it. Then one day I caught it eating bread I had put out for the bird. My husband bought so cat treats and I would give it a few. Little by little the cat trusted us. She wouldn’t let you touch her, she’d lash out. After a year we discovered she belonged to a lady who lived five doors down. She had two young children and didn’t have the time to look after her cat as well. Willow (we named her) moved in and lived happily. Then after four years our second cat appeared in our garden. A big brut of a cat, who always carried battle scars. He was very friendly but unkempt with mattered fur. I found him curled up in my compost heap one winter. I built a shelter around him and took him food. He eat well enough. I discovered that Brutus as we named him belonged to the same lady who once owned Willow. When I told her about Brutus she didn’t want to know. She didn’t have time, but she would come in the afternoon to see him. She never came, and I continue to look after him. Come the Spring and to our amazement Brutus survived. He spent more and more time with us. I cut the mattered fur out of his coat and when he let me I groomed him. He returned home to her but when her boyfriend kicked him out Brutus returned to my compost heap. Then one day the lady moved away taking Brutus with her. My husband was upset when he heard ‘I hope she looks after him better than she was’. A day later Brutus was sitting on our doorstep much to the disgust of Willow. She spits at Brutus and doesn’t allow him anyway near her. So we now have two cats who share our lives but have to be kept apart 😂🤣😂 we love them both.

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