This afternoon the little one and I went in our local jewelry store to have the chain on her necklace fixed.  It broke during recess.  While we were waiting I noticed this bobble headed ring holder.  At night I take my rings off and usually put them at the base of this tree lamp on my night stand.  But then the darn cats bat them around because they like shiny things, and they’re mischievous.  So I was delighted to discover this wolf to hold my rings!  He’s not just cute; he’s useful.  I found myself thinking of the first breeding wolf pack in 100 years they have just discovered in Australia; ONE HUNDRED YEARS!  The wild gray wolves have, somewhat miraculously, returned to California for the first time since the 1920s!  And 30 years after the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl wolves are thriving in the radioactive dead zone.  I cannot say enough how vital wolves are to this planet; witness the return of Yellowstone.  But man must stop killing them at every turn.  It sickens and saddens me.  I tell my little one often that good always wins.  Saint Mary Magdalene was commonly believed to be a whore for centuries.  Recent history has revealed the vicious lie and she has been absolved, although many remain unaware.  In much the same way, I believe we have a long, world-wide, misguided history of hating and destroying wolves, once man’s best friend.  I pray they, too, are on their way to being vindicated.  The American writer Will Durant said, “Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”  Just last year a new species of wolf was discovered that had been hiding in plain sight:  Africa’s golden jackal.  I was thrilled to learn this and fervently want our wolves to be allowed to not only survive but thrive.  I live in hope for the discovery of more wolves:  both in places and in species.  Right now I am elated with my own new discovery … of a ring-tailed wolf.