My animals and I don’t always agree on everything, but we do agree on this point. So we decided to put each of our points of view on why humans are strange.

We are currently parked at Slab City near Niland, CA. This place is off the grid in a strange sense. The land was once training grounds for the military. After they left, the land was occupied by nomads and others. They don’t own the land, and there’s no water or trash services. So things have to be brought in and out. As it goes, things people need are brought in, but the trash stays. You can see that everywhere. Oh well. This place has RVs, shanties, school buses, modest structures erected by people to live in. It seems chaotic and unplanned when you drive in. However, where there are people, there is a community. Mostly you can find the community if you are willing to take the time to go out on a bike, which we did.

We ended up at a community cafe this morning. It was a rough structure, we went in for coffee, but the lady was serving breakfast. You got pancakes, eggs, sausages, fresh fruit and a coffee for $5! Not bad at all. We got some, sat down to eat. A dog sat close to us hoping for some scraps. He wisely chose Leena to do his begging. Dogs know that generosity is inversely proportional to age! He was not disappointed.

People were friendly and came by our table to chat or just to say hi. After breakfast we went to the library, not expecting much. Well, looks can be deceiving. The library in another shack was expansive. It was forever open, and there were no librarians. But you could find shelves upon shelves of books organized in genres. No library cards were needed. You could take a book, relax on a couch or table and read, or you could simply walk out with the books and return them when done. We got some books along that we will bring back tomorrow.

So what’s strange about humans here? There’s no real law and order. Things are haphazard, no rules apply. You could essentially do whatever you want here. Yet, there’s a community. There’s open mic every Saturday night. People will talk to you about their bus or their travels or their dogs. Then there’s the amazing library (complete with a beer bar) and community cafe. And although the land does not belong to anyone, yet there’s respect for each other’s space. You don’t go in a space occupied by someone else. You just go elsewhere and make your own little space!

You will say, what about all the trash everywhere?! Yes, its trashed up. But this is a minimalistic community, simply due to lack of funds and amenities. So they use far less than most of us use. The difference is that our trash gets taken away out of sight, so our towns look pretty. In Slab City the trash stays and is visible. If your town stopped collecting trash, your town would look way worse because of the extensive usage of things. People also use a lot of solar panels here, mainly out of necessity since the town is off grid with no electricity. Slab City is a unique experience.

Kylo Ren the dog: Humans are strange for sure. First, they don’t pee on bushes. They need to pee indoors. I don’t get it. Outside smells fresh. You can find a spot of your choice and enjoy the fresh morning smells. Second, they don’t let me do my job properly. I am fierce and ferocious. Ask any animal around, they will agree. I can guard my well meaning but somewhat weak masters to complete, 100% safety. But they use many different means to curb my natural pack leadership skills. Lastly, I think I could have had a wife a bit closer to my age. Truth is, my wife, Rosie, is terrifying. She puts her entire jaw around my neck sometimes, and let me tell you, its not out of love. The humans think its cute and get out their devices to make movies of us, but there’s a real war going on. Oh, Rosie wants to add to my musings. Let’s make way for the queen.

Rosie: So my main master is dad. I am so in love with him. I think he is alpha. But here’s what has bothered me from day 1. I have smelt his food and the food of the others. They eat meat and chicken, while my alpha dad gets only vegetables. What I don’t get is, why is alpha getting the worst food? Is alpha aware? He should be, he is alpha after all. I don’t get humans.

Crazy cookie the chicken: Yes, yes, a hundred times yes. Humans are totally strange. The highest on the pecking order are the thinnest. By that standard, I would be top of the pecking order (psst, I am the thinnest, sigh). Anyway, what I mean is that they have these rich people who are on top of the pecking order, but they live on the worst food. I don’t get it. The whole point of the pecking order is so you get the best of food, survival chances and comforts. But humans establish strange pecking order around pointless things. They don’t get anything tangible out of it. Hmm, odd. Now humans are big and higher up than us. I am sure about that. But then if they see us, they start giving out these silly yelps and click our pictures with their little devices. By the way, they seem to be lost in those devices. These behaviors are very unbecoming of a creature on top of the pecking order. They don’t seem to be aware like us at all. Dogs seem more sensible. That said, we like those humans. They are interesting. We vie for their attention, even though we run from them when they actually pay attention. Life’s an adventure.