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The Cast of Characters
Prairie Pug: The Main Character
My name is Prairie Pug. I live in a Big Wide Open Place. I live with Merry who married The Rancher and we all live in this house on The Ranch. It is very quiet except when the wind blows or the coyotes howl or the bullfrogs on the river croak. Well, when the Cowboys herd cattle and bulls fight this can be pretty noisy, too.
This works well as I’m quiet, observe, listen and explore within my “yard” which is everything inside the cattle guard, more than a couple of acres.
I am soft and white, called “fawn” but my fur covers a tough hide. That is, I don’t take things personally like Merry who has thin skin. And, she doesn’t have a black mask, as I do, to hide her feelings.
I know my Place and my Purpose; to be Merry’s friend; to listen to her and absorb some of all of this “feeling” she does. I’m here for The Rancher, too. We maintain mutual respect which mostly involves ignoring each other. This works very well, though sometimes we do end up sleeping together. We both snore, so it’s not a problem.
This works well as I’m quiet, observe, listen and explore within my “yard” which is everything inside the cattle guard, more than a couple of acres.
I am soft and white, called “fawn” but my fur covers a tough hide. That is, I don’t take things personally like Merry who has thin skin. And, she doesn’t have a black mask, as I do, to hide her feelings.
I know my Place and my Purpose; to be Merry’s friend; to listen to her and absorb some of all of this “feeling” she does. I’m here for The Rancher, too. We maintain mutual respect which mostly involves ignoring each other. This works very well, though sometimes we do end up sleeping together. We both snore, so it’s not a problem.
The Rancher: Authority.
He wears The Hat. This Hat works for a bigger Hat, his father’s, who delegates to The Rancher to run the Big Wide Open Place. “Boss Man” is what Merry calls him but don’t tell him this. He is a bit bossy. He’s old school, button up Levi’s-no big rodeo buckle for him. He answers the rude questions about the size of his herd or acreage with a polite, “enough to keep us busy.”
In the house, his leather slippers are on and he can relax, at least as much as one can do with a backyard of thousands and thousands of acres. He enjoys his friends from Kansas City and invites them to visit The Ranch often. He’s very good at cards, the business kind that you don’t show. Sometimes he’s dealt a bad hand and it gets hot and windy. Everyone heads for cover for there’s nothing anyone can do to control this.
Mostly, his hat is revered for as many reasons as there are people. It is not always that he is revered because people are loving or faithful but because of the “structure” of this Ranch System. Some just have to wear a hat all of the time and his is a very hard one to wear, to receive, or to pass on to another. There is always a bigger hat. It is very scary when the hat blows off the Rancher’s head. Yet Prairie Pug and Merry see the Rancher with his hat off and his hat on, in and out of his house, Two Ranchers. Most of what Prairie Pug sees is good. There is a great deal of love and trust in their hearts.
In the house, his leather slippers are on and he can relax, at least as much as one can do with a backyard of thousands and thousands of acres. He enjoys his friends from Kansas City and invites them to visit The Ranch often. He’s very good at cards, the business kind that you don’t show. Sometimes he’s dealt a bad hand and it gets hot and windy. Everyone heads for cover for there’s nothing anyone can do to control this.
Mostly, his hat is revered for as many reasons as there are people. It is not always that he is revered because people are loving or faithful but because of the “structure” of this Ranch System. Some just have to wear a hat all of the time and his is a very hard one to wear, to receive, or to pass on to another. There is always a bigger hat. It is very scary when the hat blows off the Rancher’s head. Yet Prairie Pug and Merry see the Rancher with his hat off and his hat on, in and out of his house, Two Ranchers. Most of what Prairie Pug sees is good. There is a great deal of love and trust in their hearts.
Merry: The Heroine
Merry married The Rancher, beginning her “adult” life in the Big Wide Open Place. She was from Kansas City, or as The Cowboys say, ‘Back East’ which makes Merry laugh. Merry laughs a lot, always looking for the fun in the work, the project in the pudding, and the people in the project. Sometimes she’s not sure what the point is or what point she’s trying to make, but only that her mother’s “friend” told her not to point.
She begins most days with positive intentions seeing the best in people. She’s a bit naive and gets daily reality doses which crush her temporarily. The people and places with whom she practices life on the ranch are few & far between for it is an hour’s drive to dog food and dry cleaners where she takes The Rancher’s white shirts. When hurt, she gets quiet, then lashes out, making her hurt more. So, mostly she just makes stuff with her hands…food, pictures, poems, letters, paintings.
Prairie Pug helps Merry to have someone who loves her in that middle time, when she is stuck, Unconditionally and No Matter What. After a ‘dark moment’ passes, Prairie Pug is victim to benign neglect as Merry climbs to her next creative endeavor. For Prairie Pug, it’s a welcome relief and often preferred to Merry in High Needy Mode. Prairie Pug, Merry and The Rancher are A Team.
She begins most days with positive intentions seeing the best in people. She’s a bit naive and gets daily reality doses which crush her temporarily. The people and places with whom she practices life on the ranch are few & far between for it is an hour’s drive to dog food and dry cleaners where she takes The Rancher’s white shirts. When hurt, she gets quiet, then lashes out, making her hurt more. So, mostly she just makes stuff with her hands…food, pictures, poems, letters, paintings.
Prairie Pug helps Merry to have someone who loves her in that middle time, when she is stuck, Unconditionally and No Matter What. After a ‘dark moment’ passes, Prairie Pug is victim to benign neglect as Merry climbs to her next creative endeavor. For Prairie Pug, it’s a welcome relief and often preferred to Merry in High Needy Mode. Prairie Pug, Merry and The Rancher are A Team.
Mumsie: Manners
Mums represents Civility, Social Decorum and Old World Ways. These were originally intended to treat the person in front of you with Respect and to Welcome Them, making them feel comfortable with their ways as well as Mumsie’s. It is called ‘Manners.'
Manners can be applied anywhere, whether it’s a conversation with another on common ground or in someone’s home. Sometimes the individuals are on uneven ground. Then, the purpose is to hopefully find some point of connection while also showing another’s ways that are unique to the world; sharing.
It’s gracious and daring and full of potentially different outcomes and interpretations within a family or group context. But in principle, it’s quite a good thing. Mumsie.
Manners can be applied anywhere, whether it’s a conversation with another on common ground or in someone’s home. Sometimes the individuals are on uneven ground. Then, the purpose is to hopefully find some point of connection while also showing another’s ways that are unique to the world; sharing.
It’s gracious and daring and full of potentially different outcomes and interpretations within a family or group context. But in principle, it’s quite a good thing. Mumsie.
Pete: The Son.
Pete is Prairie Pug’s friend that she meets in the Fast Lane of Prairie Dog Town much different than The Ranch. Prairie Pug can move quickly when corralling the pens, when the UPS truck arrives and when keeping other Cowboy’s dogs off her property. But, it’s only on paws, so a bike leads to quite a speedy life.
Pete is Cosmopolitan. There are all kinds of things in Town that are not a part of The Ranch; tennis, tea, the marketplace of Stuff to view and buy, private clubs and the public street. Pete is encountered in the “Real World,” not within the confines of The Ranch. Pete’s friends remind Prairie Pug of The Rancher’s KC guys who visit.
Pete, possibly a re-Peat, seems very comfortable in his Mother’s Home where she has lived as have many Prairie Dog generations before her. He is affable and very much a gentleman. He welcomes the odd newcomer minus the misstep when he first mistakes her for a Pig. Prairie Pug brushes herself off after the fall, jumps on his bike of ‘two stones and a twig”, more importantly brushes off the comparison and zooms into this first adventure off The Ranch. It’s a bit premature, but that’s how youth is.
Pete is not only a character he is a Character who knows his role and will re-appear in later stories as different characters, revealing more of the role: Son.
Pete is Cosmopolitan. There are all kinds of things in Town that are not a part of The Ranch; tennis, tea, the marketplace of Stuff to view and buy, private clubs and the public street. Pete is encountered in the “Real World,” not within the confines of The Ranch. Pete’s friends remind Prairie Pug of The Rancher’s KC guys who visit.
Pete, possibly a re-Peat, seems very comfortable in his Mother’s Home where she has lived as have many Prairie Dog generations before her. He is affable and very much a gentleman. He welcomes the odd newcomer minus the misstep when he first mistakes her for a Pig. Prairie Pug brushes herself off after the fall, jumps on his bike of ‘two stones and a twig”, more importantly brushes off the comparison and zooms into this first adventure off The Ranch. It’s a bit premature, but that’s how youth is.
Pete is not only a character he is a Character who knows his role and will re-appear in later stories as different characters, revealing more of the role: Son.
The Concept Prairie Pug: Growing Up
Prairie Pug lives on a Ranch. Not really knowing from where one came can be a problem in the domesticated Canine World. Yet Prairie Pug, like most knowing animals, pretty quickly learns her Purpose. She came to the Ranch to be some kind of friend, listener and companion to Merry. Merry had vaguely mentioned others before Prairie Pug and seemed a little sad. But, all that mattered was that they were now friends and had this time together.
That’s mostly what Prairie Pug does, she listens. And watches Merry and her husband, The Rancher, do their work. They base their lives from a Ranch where they live, in a house in the middle of miles and miles and miles of land with only The Cowboys. The wind blows and blows…They work hard and hang out together.
To tell you about Prairie Pug also begins with telling you about Merry and The Rancher. This is where she learns about relationships and the ranch, and about the land and nature. They do work together. The stories that Merry tells Prairie Pug, the people and animals she does witness, and the place and purpose that puts them there is her classroom before her own life begins. Yet, she has a very specific purpose from the beginning.
She fulfills this role much as children serve in their parents’ marriage.
That’s mostly what Prairie Pug does, she listens. And watches Merry and her husband, The Rancher, do their work. They base their lives from a Ranch where they live, in a house in the middle of miles and miles and miles of land with only The Cowboys. The wind blows and blows…They work hard and hang out together.
To tell you about Prairie Pug also begins with telling you about Merry and The Rancher. This is where she learns about relationships and the ranch, and about the land and nature. They do work together. The stories that Merry tells Prairie Pug, the people and animals she does witness, and the place and purpose that puts them there is her classroom before her own life begins. Yet, she has a very specific purpose from the beginning.
She fulfills this role much as children serve in their parents’ marriage.
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