We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
It's probably due to the loss of small farms and hay meadows in the Eastern US. When the eastern US was mainly woodlands, they were probably uncommon too.
When I was a kid, Meadowlarks and flocks of Bobolinks were not unusual, especially during spring migration.
The grassland Western Meadowlark has no such problem.
We have had a Lab. Love them. Very hunt-trainable too, and also life-trainable. The only Chessies I have known were owned by a girlfriend's Dad. Tough as nails, bulky, unfriendly (often termed "protective") - but thrilled to chase a duck or a stick into icy water.
This 2020 nonfiction bestseller explores why people from Western societies
think and behave differently from the rest of the world. The title uses
WEIRD as an acronym for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and
Democratic.
It's a fat paperback, but readable in bits. Different cultures view reality and life very differently. There is a reason for tribalism.