Play

Watching animals and children often lead to thoughts about human nature - animals and children don't seem to put up shields like adults sometimes do, masking honest expression with cultural etiquette.  Watching Penny, a puppy, leads to many thoughts. Her happiness seems directly related to how much people play with her.  She loves tug-of-war (pulling on something while someone else is trying to keep hold of it), running after balls with others, and play-fighting.  Adults don't play much like this, unless they have dogs or kids, which is kind of unfortunate, I think, because it seems so beneficial.  It is a good release for one's energy, and helps one to relax.  E and I have been spending so much time studying lately, it's really helped both of us to take a break and toss around a ball, or to make up other silly games, like trying to catch a ball in a shoe.  Now that we started doing it, I'm not sure why didn't do it earlier!

A 'penny' for your thoughts?  :-)