I have this issue about symmetry. I like things to be arranged symmetrically. Neatly. In matching order. Over the years I have driven volunteers, employees and contractors crazy with my need for symmetry. When we built the first cat house on the ranch in 1999 we were still living in Seattle and weren't here when the building went up. But when we drove out, turned down the drive and saw it for the first time from 1/4 mile away, my immediate reaction was … "Ohmigod, it's off by 4 degrees!" It wasn't lined up exactly on the same north/south axis as the house or the wood shed. I wanted to hook a chain to it and jerk it into the correct alignment. I didn't, nor did I make the contractors move it to its proper place in the universe, but I have noticed that 4-degree misalignment ever since. It's just not right, if you know what I mean. (If you don't, that's okay.)
Some people have rolled their eyes when I insist our compost windrows need to be lined up in perfectly parallel rows, running east/west, evenly spaced apart. Others … well, I could go on but it's probably better if I stop here.
One person who has lived with me for a long, long time suggests my need for symmetry borders on OCD. I won't mention the source of that presumed diagnosis, but I think she might exaggerate just a wee bit. Nevertheless, there is a positive side to this — I knew you were wondering — and that is, I notice when things are, quite by chance, arranged symmetrically. It is so pleasing to the eye, so in tune with the way it should be, that I think, "Oh, look, how wonderful! I should take a photo of that!"
Which is what I was thinking when I looked over and saw this matched set of Dachshunds in the living room on Saturday morning. That's blind Callie on the left and Daisy on the right. I will admit, it did bug me just a little that the color of the throw on Callie's chair was a shade off from the throw on Daisy's chair, but as I've gotten older (much older, alas), I've learned to step back and appreciate the bigger picture symmetry and not let the details get in the way.
So there you have it. Matching Dachsunds, curled up in the exact same way, on matching chairs. The Gods of Symmetry were much pleased.
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Some folks asked why Moose didn't have "house privileges" any longer, i.e., why he was over at Widget's House and not in our home. The short answer: Just not enough room. There's only so much space in a 1,400 square foot home, and he is one very big boy. When Gabe moved in (we always keep the blind-and-deaf ones here with us) and then Willie came back, there was no more room left at the inn. It is not true that because we already had one yellow Lab (Brody) at Widget's House, I wanted to add a second yellow Lab to achieve some kind of symmetry.
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Please vote for the ranch in the Shelter Challenge — and you can
vote every day! Enter "Rolling Dog Ranch" and our state postal code,
MT, for Montana, and it will bring up our listing.
Vote in the Shelter Challenge here.
Last
year we won $3,000 in the first round and then won the $20,000 Grand
Prize in the second round, so your votes really do add up and make for
a wonderful gift for the animals here.
Thank you!
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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