September 12, 2008 – The more disconnected many Americans are from nature and animals, the more they seem to yearn for both. That’s why so many people tell me my life is perfect, because I am close to nature, and to elements of the animal world. It’s hard for suburban and urban Americans to have those things in their lives, and I believe people need the natural world, need to be close to animals – otherwise they are what the analysts call “existentially lonely.”
  A life with animals and the natural world is powerful, but of course, it is no more perfect than any other life. It simply addresses one craving, and ignores some others. If that weren’t so, then 90 per cent of Americans would live in rural areas, rather than the other way around. People may grouse about their lives, but not too many of them really want to live on farms, I don’t think. Or would even like it.
  I love the small things in my life, as well as the larger ones. I love walking out to the garden and seeing a chicken pop up. People love all kinds of animals, but I don’t. I don’t love sheep, and I don’t love chickens. They seem one-dimensional to me, elemental eating creatures. But that’s just me. I can’t love a chicken. I do get a kick out of their industriousness, though. They are rarely off the clock.