The Death of Ba-Kitpo: The Inquisitive Hyena

It had been three months since the last encounter between the lone male lion and the hyena. One mid afternoon in the open savannah, the same lion, still alone but now looking quite fully grown as an adult predator, was confronted once again by, this time, two hyenas - one male, one female.  The lion almost reacted immediately with the intensity of the top predator about to face its traditional foes.  Surprisingly, the two hyenas showed a delicate and almost subservient reverence, reminding the lion of the last hyena he met months before. 

"We mean no offense", the male hyena said. "We've been looking for you for months. Our brother talked a lot about you".  That immediately made the lion relax its typical demeanor as top predator of the African wilderness.

"Why is he not here with you?" 

"That's why we've been looking for you for sometime now. He was killed just two weeks after you last saw him."

"Oh, no. What happened? You know he never did tell me his name".

"His name was Ba-Kitpo.  He was our older brother".

"Oh, and you are?"

"Boon-su, the youngest, and this is my sister, Mali-wa.  What do we call you?"

"Ha-Ri.  You may call me Ha-Ri.  So, tell me how  Ba-Kitpo died?"

Boon-Su: He was killed by a hunter.  He was shot.

Ha-Ri: Why?

Boon-Su: A hunter was stalking a great eland for hours.  When he finally got close enough to fire his gun, Ba-Kitpo, not realizing there was a hunter stalking the prey animal, came from behind the Eland, which startled it. It jumped and ran.  The hunter was so angry at Ba-Kitpo.  Then he shot him. Ba-Kitpo was hit just below his right shoulder.

Ha-Ri:  Where was the rest of your cackle?  Where were you?

Boon-Su: We were miles away.  Ba-Kitpo was by himself as he had done many times before, to hunt alone.

Ha-Ri:  That is unusual for a hyena to do, right?

Boon-Su: It's a long story why he did what he did.

Ha-Ri: Tell me.

Boon-Su: Our mother was always on him for not being what a male hyena should be. Ba-Kitpo was always asking too many questions, and at one time even questioned why there are no male leaders of our cackle.  He was always pushing our mother for answers to this and that question. But our mother grieved when Bakit-Po died.

Ha-Ri:  I am really sorry too.  I will miss him.  But why have you been searching for me?

Boon-Su: Twice Ba-Kitpo had taken us, the whole cackle, to your leftovers. He talked about how you were different and the things he learned from you. Actually, our mother got so mad at him for going on his own and of all things, to be friendly with a lion. Then he told of the unthinkable.

Ha-Ri: What?

Boon-Su: He kept talking about a creator who created all the different animals, each kind made with a purpose.  At one time mother denied him from eating with the rest of us.  But Ba-Kitpo was hard-headed about his new beliefs.  

Ha-Ri: You still haven't told me why you were looking for me.

Boon-Su: I'll have my sister explain that to you. She is also the eldest daughter so she will inherit my mother's position as leader of our cackle.

Mali-wa: Yes. I was the first to get to Ba-Kitpo after he was shot.  He was still alive.  He told me to look for you because he said you promised to explain the two questions he asked you before you parted ways the last time.

Boon-Su: Do you remember what you promised him?

Ha-Ri: Yes, but he is no longer with us, so why does it still matter?

Mali-wa: Our mother may not have liked Ba-Kitpo much but I know he was a good son and brother.  I will be head of the cackle at some later time when I take over and I too would like to learn from you.

Ha-Ri: Yes, I remember what I promised him before we parted ways. We were going to talk again, I promised, and I was going to explain why dragonflies are so weird.  Then I will also talk about humans.  He asked me why the creator, I was telling him about, created humans.  For what purpose?

Mali-wa: So, will you tell us?

Ha-Ri: Let's go over under that acacia tree there.

Mali-wa: Why did you treat Ba-Kitpo the way you did?  You know he couldn't stop talking about you and the things you told him.

Ha-Ri: I did not intend to befriend a hyena either but your brother was not only persistent  he had me believe that he was sincere about the questions he asked.  I knew he was searching for answers and I believed in his sincerity. It made me wonder to myself why he and I crossed  paths the way we did.

Boo-Su: Yes, he said the same thing.

Mali-wa: About the dragonfly, what is so weird about them?  Our mother would get mad at Ba-Kitpo every time he'd stray from hyena talk and go on about why this, why that and often he'd wander off looking and watching other animals. 

Ha-Ri: Let's first talk about what I thought Ba-Kitpo was really interested in. He, I think, wanted to know more about humans and their role in nature and in everything.  By the way, what happened to the hunter?

Mali-wa: We heard his guide reported him to the game warden. His weapons were taken from him and we believe he left the country and he cannot come back to hunt anywhere here in Africa.

Ha-Ri: Good.  I did explain  to Ba-Kitpo that humans were created to have dominion over all of nature. We, all living things other than humans, have no malice against one another because we live according to the nature and purpose upon which we were created.  Plants, grasses and fruit are there for prey animals to eat and live on and we are here to live on prey so that in the process the balance is kept. The balance is upset when there is too much prey as to render the green environment the inability to flourish. But overgrowth of vegetation is also bad if prey animals are completely removed. So the balance is maintained when there is just enough prey animals to keep vegetation from overgrowth and predators like us are there to make sure that such a balance is maintained. 

For the most part humans are good for us and the environment but there were always those who chose to do the wrong thing. That is because they are allowed to have free will.

Mali-wa: But why did the hunter kill Ba-Kitpo?

Ha-Ri: They are also capable of anger.  We do not have emotions as they do.  But you know they are also known to have the opposite of anger.  They are known to rescue and help injured animals, provide feed at bird feeders and are even shown to go out of their way to save the whales, injured birds, including predators like you and me.  But sometimes they do senseless acts.

Mali-wa: Such as what the hunter did?

 

Ha-Ri: Yes, and they do senseless acts to one another. They fight and kill one another in countless numbers. Indeed, they do countless acts for many reasons. We only kill for what is necessary.  They do sometimes just for the joy of it.

Boo-Su: I think that was what Ba-Kitpo really wanted to know.  Why then did your creator create humans?

 

Ha-Ri: Like I said, for the most part they do good work. The story of the earth, a world we all share, is still going on. Whatever is the final outcome, our Creator has not made that known.  At least, not yet. This brings us to the story of the dragon fly.  I hope to make the connection with Ba-Kitpo's first question. Would you like to hear that now?

Mali-wa: Yes, please.

Ha-Ri: Dragonflies are very unique insects. Their mothers lay several eggs near still water on a stalk of a water plant or twig.  The eggs hatch and immediately live under water as a larva or nymph.   As a larva the dragonfly lives underwater and breathes like a fish.  Immediately they become predators, eating underwater bugs, worms, even tadpoles.  They can live that kind of life for months or even years, some as long as seven years.  Then one day, they rise from under the water and cling to whatever surface they can climb. Unlike butterflies or moths they skip being a pupa from a larva like caterpillars do. They will immediately develop the ability to start breathing air. Then they shed their skin more than once until they are able to sprout wings.  Slowly gaining strength, they will then fly as marauding predators going after flies and mosquitoes.  And they are very successful predators.

Mali-wa: That is why Ba-Kitpo thought they were weird.

Ha-Ri: Not only that but imagine this. What do you think the other creatures underwater think about where the larva predator goes after leaving the water. You see, every water creature's life is limited to their environment. They have no idea what happens above their world.  They had to wonder what happened to the larva dragonfly.

Mali-wa: Could they believe the larva died and went somewhere else? 

Ha-Ri: That is probably what Ba-Kitpo thought too, don't you think?  You see, I've always wondered whether I underestimated his intelligence.

Mali-wa: That is why I miss him so much.  Now, I have a question.  What do you think if I say that Ba-Kitpo is now a different creature after his death? Is that a dumb question?

Ha-Ri:  No, it is not a dumb question. And I think you are even much smarter than I thought.  You deserve to head your cackle when the time comes.  Yes, it is possible Ba-Kitpo is transformed into something else.  Humans had believed that for a very long time. They believe in the continuing existence. As a different entity, of course.

Mali-wa: I am sure if Ba-Kitpo were here with us he would have asked the question: If your creator allowed for butterflies and dragonflies to go from one form to the other, why couldn't he have done that with humans?

Ha-Ri: Well, there are places like India and some parts in the lower Himalayas and Asia who believe in humans living different lives in succession at different times, often one after another at different places at a time. In India, some revere animals because they could be some of their ancestors or soon to be future relatives.

Mali-wa: Is that what you meant by the connection between Ba-Kitpo's two questions about humans and dragonflies? 

Ha-Ri: Yes.  Always look between the lines. There is a message there somewhere, if you look hard enough. You will after all become a great leader of your cackle.  Maybe someday we will see each other again.

Boon-Su: We would like that.  Thank you.

Mali-wa: Goodbye, for now.  Thank you so much.

They parted ways like Ha-Ri and Ba-Kitpo did before.

Yes, indeed I too would like for the reader to read between the lines. Is it too incomprehensible to think or wonder that perhaps there has to be more than just the one lifetime, the one each of us have now, because perhaps there is more to just a lifetime of twenty, seventy years for many, perhaps ninety and more for a few, in a world that so far has been around for 13.8 billion years now and perhaps many more billion years into the future?

We cannot know.  But that is like for fishes to wonder what happened to one of them that was plucked from their world by something supernatural or invisible in an instant.  But that is easily explained by the hook, line and bait.  What is hard to explain is the kind of metamorphosis that butterflies go through. They exist in two worlds.  One, the caterpillar, dines on green leaves, while the other develop the ability to fly and dine on nectar.  Then on the other hand, the dragonfly does an incomplete metamorphosis by skipping the pupal stage.  Instead they go straight from a larva living and breathing under water, sometimes for many years, eating different prey, then leave the water world, learn to breathe air, develop wings and fly. 

The answers to so many of Ba-Kitpo's questions we cannot possibly know or even understand why, yet we must wonder whether one life is indeed all there is.  

This is where I urge the reader to read between the lines.

Re-birth of Common Sense?

Are we seeing common sense making a comeback? How did we lose it in the first place?

If one needs to look back at how common sense was lost, one must acknowledge its absence, but first one must ask when and how long has it been? Indeed one finds that it started a while back.

"Sensus communis", in Latin, is not to be confused with the five natural senses; "sensus" here refers to perception, sentiments, and understanding shared in the "communis", the community of people who believe or agree with the same.

So, perception, sentiments and understanding are of course expressed and received through language.  That is where we begin to look at why and how it all started. 

Almost innocently enough, and likely driven through academia or through minority progressives and liberal ideologists, words started creeping into conversations and social media discussions where the homeless who started setting up tents along sidewalks are now "unhoused people", illegal aliens coming into the country were "undocumented citizens", ex-convicts as "previously justice-involved", etc.

Where and how did all these words originate? 

Nottingham Trent University in England - home of the highly idealized Queen's English, of Shakespeare and Chaucer and Keats - came up with a long list solely for Recommended Terminology Concerning People with a Criminal Conviction. From all their concerns, I quote just two below a list of words to be avoided; (and note the "English" spelling, like "behaviour")

• Any language that aligns the current identity of a person with their historical actions should also be avoided, such as offender, perpetrator, ex-offender, or ex-prisoner.

• Avoid terms that suggest a homogeneous group that is defined and stigmatised on the basis of criminal behaviour that may have taken place once or infrequently, or many years in the past (e.g., sex offender or murderer).

Not to be outdone, or simply mimicking the English version (above), the State of Illinois came up with its "A Humanizing Terminology Guide".

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS GUIDE

"Incarcerated Person: A person confined to a jail or prison. This term makes no claim about guilt or innocence (contrary to words like “convict”), nor does it attach a permanent identity to an often-temporary status (like “prisoner” etc.)”

Formerly Incarcerated Person: A person who has been in a carceral setting. Examples of carceral settings are prisons, immigration detention centers, local jails, and juvenile detention centers".

Note that single words became phrases, like prison is now a "carceral setting".

We need to look at these because that is where the proverbial slippery slope started.  Remember that today, unlike in the past, where words or terms and opinions took a while to disperse into society, social media  is primarily primed and driven by academia or highly educated opinion makers at the speed of the internet. 

No less than the U.N.'s World Health Organization, 2018, section 6D32P, declared that "..pedophilia is a diagnosis of someone having an enduring sexual attraction to children; this does not however mean they have acted or will act on this unchosen attraction .."

The intent, of course, is that communities may not need to know if someone known to be a pedophile has moved into their city or town. Or that, employers may not need to know of the criminal records of job applicants.

As often the case with so  many of these virtue signaling ideals of the liberal mindset, offenders seem to be better protected than ordinary citizens.

However, there is a glimmer of hope. There was a flurry of media coverage just days ago of the re-awakening of common sense - an apparent about face from those efforts. For example, quotes from several newspapers said: 

A center-left think tank on Friday released a list of 45 words and phrases that Democrats should cut from their vocabulary to stop sounding like “enforcers of wokeness.” 

“Privilege,” “Othering,” “Triggering,” “Safe space” and “Body shaming,” are among the words Third Way lumped into the “therapy-speak” bucket. 

“Birthing person/inseminated person,” “pregnant people,” “chest feeding” and “patriarchy” should also be shunned to avoid “confusing or shaming people who could otherwise be allies,” the think tank urged. 

Democrats are also warned that terms like “justice-involved” and “involuntary confinement” make it seem as if “the criminal is the victim” and “the victim is an afterthought.”

There are reasons to hope; however, there are indications we need to prepare if such optimism might be short-lived.

You see, once after the expansion of pronouns and the discontent with the definition of what it is to be just gay, more letters from the alphabet were employed to come up with LGBTIQA+.  It makes it a lot harder for any effort by the center-left think tank to navigate the rushing waters that prevent common sense from getting through.

Getting rid of certain words from the language might seem like waking up from woke la-la land but adherents to conservatism may have cause to be cautious. (Foreign readers who may not know what "woke" means may want to read up on it).

Words are not enough if the same liberal idealists insist that biological male athletes are allowed to play in women's sports and that they are allowed to use girls/women locker rooms or bathrooms.  Words do not repair psychological harm to young girls subjected to sex re-assignment counselling by school administrators without their parents' knowledge or consent. One state mandated that female sanitary products are available in boys' bathrooms in high school.

One protester's held-up poster says, "Trans can't use girl's bathrooms is like blacks can't drink from white's water fountain" - a clear reference to racism in the U.S. during the era of segregation; which rankles the fabric of common sense.

Of course, it is politics that is driving the Democrat Party's new imperative to stay away from the 45 or so words that they deem to alienate voters.  But why or how did such words sneak into their vocabulary?  As far as we can tell, such re-defining of simple words could only come from academia. 

Only college professors or academics can come up with words like micro-aggression or environmental violence or inseminated person/birthing person just to avoid referencing the use of woman or female terminology by using chest feeding as opposed to breastfeeding. We saw liberal extremism when a Supreme Court nominee refused to answer how she defined what a woman is.  She replied that she can't because she is not a biologist.  That was clearly a blunt expression against common sense. She was confirmed anyway. 

Can we still continue to expect for the rebirth of common sense, anyway? Yes, because that is the only way we can continue with our lives.  To lose hope completely is to lose faith in the human experience.  It means that despite all the craziness that had occurred throughout human history, civilization continued to raise the level of the human spirit and awareness of the presence of something supernatural and the acknowledgement that perhaps a Supreme Being's intervention is what will straighten everything that had gone crooked with humanity. That, or else common sense may once again take another leave of absence.

Hyena: "I Have A Few More Questions to Ask Charles Darwin"

It had been weeks since the hyena and the lone male lion spoke.  The lion is still by himself after the banishment from his pride.  The hyena, though a member of a cackle of about a dozen others of his ilk, would take time to be away, partly in search of food and looking to see if he could run into the proud lion once more.  The hyena was actually intrigued by their last conversation and his curiosity made him ask for more enlightenment from the lion whom he now respected more than he was prepared to admit.

Again, the male lion was startled as the hyena, whom he didn't readily recognize, approached from the front in a clear line of his sight - an indication of harmless respect  from the opportunist predator and top scavenger of the savannah. The lion did his obligatory growl that he expected to discourage most creatures he encountered; instead, it was met with a respectful and deferential response from the hyena.

Hyena:  It's me, from a few weeks ago, remember?

Lion: Oh no, not you again! Why can't you just leave me alone?

Hyena: Nice to see you too. I'm glad you're still by your lonesome. Can't find a mate, can you?  Not brave or strong enough to dislodge a leader of another pride?

Lion: What? No! I'm just not that interested in taking over any responsibility at the moment.  I'm young and I  still have plenty of time ahead of me. Not interested whatsoever, not really in any kind of leadership position right now.

Hyena: I see. Well, that's good because the two of us are alike in a way.  I too don't want any leadership role at the moment either.

Lion:  Oh, give me a break. As if I don't know that in your group, what do you call it?

Hyena: A cackle.  We call our group of wonderful hyenas a cackle.

Lion: Your cackle - I hate that description of yourselves - is headed by a female.  You have no chance in purgatory of ever leading other hyenas in a matriarchal organization.  A cackle, yes, that's a great name for one dominant female-led group. Although it's better than a "murder of crows" or "kettle of vultures", your favorite. A cackle, ha!

Hyena: Maybe, I'll be the first male to lead a cackle of my own.  Yes, if I want, I too can be a leader.

Lion: All right, have at it. We'll see if you survive when you try.  Anyway, good to see you again, but perhaps this is the last time if you stay on that ambitious path. Goodbye and good luck.

Hyena: Wait, wait. Since our last meeting, a few more questions to ask Charles Darwin came popping into my head.  I'd like to run them by you.

Lion: Oh, no.  Please, I was on my way to some leftover zebra I hid in the bushes two days ago.

Hyena: Yeah, it was still there this morning.  I had a good fill, really.  But, I don't know.  There were a group of wild dogs - your favorite, I remember - scouting for a free meal just a few miles away.  If they get to it, it will all be gone.  The good news is that you and I can hunt together for another zebra or some other prey.

Lion:  There is no way you and I will hunt together, okay? Aside from that being a huge blot on my reputation, such an event will forever destroy the well ordered system that governs this universe.  It could destroy the entire space-time continuum of creation. No, no, perish that thought, okay?

Hyena: Okay, okay.  But enough with the heavy words. I didn't understand any of what you just said. We're just having a conversation as we walk together.

Lion: We can walk silently, you know.

(Ignoring what the lion just said but still walking along side-by-side, the hyena continued on..) 

Hyena: The one that puzzles me are woodpeckers.  These birds must have the strongest beak in the entire bird kingdom, why do they insist on banging it  against a tree to get to a worm? Why can't they just swoop over a scorpion, a centipede or caterpillar that are out in the open, like most self-respecting birds do.  At the rate they are doing it, don't they get a splitting headache and blurred vision from all the hammering?  Bird brain has not approached quite the level of natural silliness that these woodpeckers have sunk to. 

Lion: Why don't you leave the birds alone.  Last time, you talked about vultures.  Don't you remember what I said? All creatures have a purpose.  They do what they do because that's what they were created to be.

Hyena: There you go again with your creation theory and creator thing.

Lion: As to be expected, you are just one incorrigibly slow learner; perhaps one that will never ever learn, at all!  Like I said, every creature was created with a purpose.  Each created to be good at what it does.  For example, worms that bury themselves into a tree could be harmful to the tree or they use it to hide as they develop to become mature insects that will be even more harmful to other trees or insects.  The woodpecker is the one to get to them by using their beaks to strike against  the tree trunks at twenty times per second. Their entire anatomy - you do know what anatomy means, right?

Hyena: There you go with your condescension again. Yes, I know anatomy, and physiology even.  So, please go on.

Lion: Don't be so sensitive. Okay, I just wanted to make sure I am connecting, okay?  Where was I? Okay, the woodpecker's anatomy is such that their brain is encased by a spongy bone structure that  also acts as a shock absorber and strong neck muscles to provide striking power to their beaks and at the same time acting like a restraining elastic belt on each rebound from the strike.  This all happens at breakneck speed, so to speak.  It is one of the marvels of creation, paved by the wonders of successive improvements that took thousands, even millions of years to achieve.  But in the Creator's eyes, time was merely a blink.  And you know what, woodpeckers have no competition from other birds that can't get to the worms behind the tree bark. You too is a product of those many improvements.  You have one if not the strongest bite in the animal kingdom.  You scare me actually.

Hyena: So, okay I got that. Now, why is it that your creator did not make me more pleasant to look at - your own words by the way?  You're a predator, but why are you pleasing to look at? Muscular and an attractively domineering look, a well proportioned physique and a mane of beauty.  While, in my case, my front legs are longer than my hind legs, which makes me look like a pygmy giraffe from the shoulder down, but with a short neck and one twentieth the height.  Why?

Lion: I see.  Your sensitive nature again. Well, your menacingly unpleasant look only a hyena mother can love has a purpose. 

Hyena: Yeah?

Lion: Look, you are for the most part a scavenger that is very good at it, and not quite the hunter you think you are. Will the other predators be scared away from the prey they fought so hard to catch  when you and your cackle approach if you have the look of a gentle fawn or innocent face of a rabbit?  One quick look at you, with a face like that, and more often than not they are likely to give up rather than defend their dinner, right?  You were the one who described the vulture to have such an ugly head. Well, there you have it. Even us lions are known to give up when ten, twenty of you show up to crash our dinner.

Hyena: Maybe that's true. I defer to your wisdom but is that fair?

Lion: Look, surviving, especially here on the savannah, is not about fairness.  It is all about the last meal.  Who ate yesterday, last night or this morning gets to do it again later and will continue to do so as long as they can, until it is no longer so. Fairness does not have a role in the equation of life where the answer is always zero. Think about that.

Hyena:  Again, that's much too deep for me.  How about snakes?  How do you defend what they do?

Lion: Is that another Darwin question of yours?

Hyena: Snakes have been bugging me too.  They used to have four legs, I'm told. Then they lost them and what's with the long body that slithers.  They are clearly not fast movers.  No arms to hold down their prey, they don't chew, they swallow whole whatever creature they catch. How do they enjoy the eating experience?  They're not likeable.  Not with the flicking fork-tongue.  And what's with the hiss?  Oh, and what's with the rattle on some of them.  It's a puzzle that they still exist at all.  What say you?

Lion: You know ignorance is forgivable, it can be tolerated even.  But questions like that and why snakes exist at all are mightily beyond the pale. And, of course, I forgive you.

Hyena:  The insults again. And why do I ever want to continue to talk with you? I was looking for you for weeks because somehow you seem to know a lot and you have all the right answers for everything and I respect you.  This is what I get.

(That's the hyena's trump card - flattery, and the lion is always softened by it.)

Lion: You knew that I didn't mean to be insulting all the time but here you are.  Well, I apologize.  Okay?

Hyena: I accept.  But you can make the apology more sincere by just answering my question.  You know I can't get Darwin to answer. Be the bigger lion, okay.

(Another hyena trick that works)

Lion: Okay, we can talk about snakes but before I get to that, don't say that you are puzzled that snakes continue to exist at all.  I will have you know that they are one of the most successful species that ever lived, specially for one that you pointed out to not have any hands or feet. Have you heard of a place called Florida?

Hyena: No, but I'm sure you do and you will tell me right about now.

Lion: Burmese pythons, a species of big snakes, not native to Florida, are now the dominant predator in the area. It is threatening to kill off many native species there in such a short time from when it got there.  And it is even threatening the very existence of what used to be the dominant predator there - the alligator.

Hyena: How did the python get there?

Lion: Probably a few humans who had their pet snakes  got too big to keep, and they released them into the Florida swamps or some other wild areas around. The python adapted well, reproduced and preyed on the local wildlife that were defenseless to the invader.  Before people realized it, the snakes had become the top predator.

Hyena: That was irresponsible for humans to do, right?

Lion: Often, it is that.  You see, they are equipped with bigger brains by the Creator to have dominion over everything on this earth.

Hyena: Please, let us not get into that again.  Must everything go back to your creation thing.

Lion: Look.  You and I do not harbor malice towards each other, or towards all others. Humans .. why don't we go back to your question about snakes. 

Hyena:  Forget the snakes.  Keep talking about humans.

Lion: What? You had these questions in your head and now you want to know about humans?

Hyena: Why did your creator make humans?  You were the one who said we, all animals, do not hold malice against one another.  Each one doing what it is meant to do.  But humans that you said have dominion over us get to do something like releasing snakes into their land? 

Lion: Look.  Humans have done a lot of good, okay.  Do you know that humans created this area that they call a nature preserve so as to protect us from the abuses of other humans? This huge area is protected to preserve everything to its natural order.  They did that.  Every now and then, like those few humans in Florida, some of them abandon the use of their brains and common sense to do something like they did with the python. Now, they're doing everything they can to correct the mistake by going after the invading creatures.  But it is a losing battle.  I think.

Hyena: Now, you just made me think of another question to ask Darwin. Actually, a question to ask your creator too, you'll have to agree.

Lion: Look, we're here.  The zebra, or parts of it, is still here.  I'm starving from all the talking.  Let's eat before the scavengers show up. Oh,  one of them is here already.

Hyena: Who?  Where?

Lion: I meant you. You are here, aren't you?

Hyena:  I'm still full from this morning. Wait, you just insulted me again, didn't you? Notice how much of the zebra's good nutritious parts are gone? I've been digesting them for sometime now.  But go ahead, please.

Lion: No more questions, okay?

Hyena: We can talk about  humans.

Lion:  That will be for another time.  Why don't you go and let me eat in peace?  Goodbye.

Hyena:  Promise? 

Lion: Promise what?

Hyena: That we'll talk again. Oh, and I need to know why dragonflies have such a weird lifestyle.

Lion:  Yes, be careful out there.  See you later.

P.S.: Again, I only ask for the reader to extract nothing more than their sense of humor when reading this musing. On the other hand, one may want to read between the lines from the perspective and viewpoints based on one's own philosophical experiences and ideals. Of course, we don't know if animals talk; but then again we don't know that they don't ether.  You see, information is a huge part of any creature's life, including our own.  In fact, the very existence of all creatures depend on how they process and use information.  Who are we to disregard what and how information is exchanged within species or between different species? 

We can ask too how many of you out there - dog and cat owners - who do talk to your pets and claim that your cat or dog actually understands what you're saying? Just something to ponder when "you have a moment or two to spare".

Of Mice and Men & The 1971 "Universe 25" Experiment

My apologies to George Steinbeck who wrote the novella, "Of Mice and Men", in 1937 about two American migrant workers during the depression. Then there was that 1971 bold experiment that involved mice, but except for that, the similarities end abruptly between the storyline of that novella and the famous (or infamous) 1971 laboratory observations.  However, both spoke profoundly to the conditions that did and could describe the trajectory of the human experience on one hand and the fate of civilization on the other.

Bold indeed, but I leave it to the reader's interpretation or criticism. However, one may either agree or disagree with what I write here because the reader will have to admit that there is little room for neutrality on the results of the experiment.

Pictured below (lower left) is a photo of John B. Calhoun who conducted the experiment.  His first experiments were with rats in the 40s and 50s; two decades later he used mice, using the same parameters, more or less.

John Calhoun created a rodent utopia, a perfect environment where the inhabitants were provided everything - plenty and never ending supply of food and water, temperature controlled living conditions that can only be described as heaven in a laboratory.

"Calhoun designed "Universe 25" as the ultimate rodent Eden. It was a 9ft x 4.5ft box, divided into compartments with ramps and tunnels leading to food, water, and nesting areas. Importantly, there was no shortage of resources—plenty of food and water, no predators, no disease. The only real limitation was space and social interaction".

He started with eight carefully selected healthy mice - four males and four females. 

"The mice population doubled approximately every 55 days. They thrived, reproduced rapidly, and for a while, everything looked like a furry utopian dream". 

Then by the 315th day the population reached 620. That was when things started to go wrong.

Everything went wrong indeed but even when viewed independently or applied generally, the conclusions were either indicatively comparable to the human conditions or not at all.  That was and still is the point of debate.

You see, "Despite ample food and water, the sheer density of mice led to a breakdown in social structures. The dominant males became increasingly aggressive, attacking subordinates and failing to protect their territories.

Some male mice, instead of fighting for dominance or territory, withdrew completely. They stopped interacting with others, grooming themselves obsessively, refusing to mate, and basically living the rodent equivalent of a hermit influencer life". 

However, beyond the physical boundaries there was something that caused the mice's behavior to devolve spectacularly downwards.  "Eventually, the entire population died out—not from starvation, not from predators, but from complete social dysfunction".

We can see why critics of the experiment simply attributed the problems to overpopulation.  Among humans, urbanization or increase of population densities, whether it is Rio de Janeiro, Calcutta, Manila, or New York city are analogous to the experiment, in that the 40 square feet of area that limited the movement of the mice population is similar to urban centers being restricted to the finite geographic definitions of the cities; however, it is not just attributed to the natural perimeters but are due to the fact that centers of employment or availability of work was the main cause of the concentration of people.

The entire mice population in the experiment perished not from disease or external causes but from their inability to reproduce due to what the researchers identified as maternal breakdown or infant neglect by females "overwhelmed by the constant presence of other mice, abandoned their young. Some became aggressive, even killing their own offspring. Birth rates plummeted, and nurturing behavior broke down completely".

Just recently Elon Musk  said that "overpopulation is the most nihilistic lie ever told", falling birth rate could end civilization. On Oct 3, 2024 according to his earlier concern he declared on social media that declining global fertility rates "will lead to mass extinction of entire nations."

"The Rise and Fall of the Mouse Empire", the experimenters said, has a parallel equivalent in the history of humanity.

Four years ago I wrote, "All The World's A Stage (Apr. 7, 2012) and I quote, "and all the empires of men merely players; they have their exits and their entrances .. referring to the emergence and collapse of empires at various places around the globe in just the last four thousand or so years".

It was a quick look at history where, "the world's a stage for human conquest after conquest, followed by collapse after collapse - disintegrating into ashes in one place, followed by birth and emergence in another".

I quote once more from that musing, "About 2,300 years before Christ's birth was when the first "formally" recognized empire began. The Akkadian Empire arose from the region we know today as Iraq. As trajectories of empires go, that empire collapsed to be followed by others but always from another region.  The Hittite empire came into being in what is now Turkey, in 1600 B.C. The Assyrians from northern Iraq took it all back about three centuries later. Around that time, or maybe two generations later Rome was founded in 750 B.C."

Persia, what is now Iran, had its turn but not for very long, when Alexander The Great put an end to it but the lull lasted only for so long. You see the pattern. "For it was the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome" that summarizes the fate of all that followed.  The sun did finally set on the British empire, Spain had a good run and then here we are today - America. So far, it had far exceeded the average shelf life of all prior empires.  So far, but can it hold on?

Looking back again, we found that every empire that emerged and collapsed not once did one ever came back to regain its power and status.

I am writing this as a cautionary tale, not in any way a dreadful wish or condemnation but a plea for a re-examination of how and where this country used to be and perchance a fervent and hopeful prayer for the restoration of the values that made it great - a serious look at how  to break the curse of the 250-year average shelf life of all preceding empires. 

The good life as we typically define it is always relative to how others measure up. We've come up with the term, "standard of living" as a gauge upon which we measure what  a good life is and what is not but it begs the  question,  "compared to what or with whom?"

A lower middle class life in this country is easily far above the average upper class in many regions of the world where car ownership, a home with indoor plumbing and reliable utilities such as water and electricity are examples of privileges denied the general population. That is the reason that families and individuals are willing to leave their homeland to come here even if it means starting over mid-way through middle age or even older. Indeed, viewed from the lenses of the third world perspective, America is comparably utopian.  

America, not unlike those that preceded it, emerged from the strong values of generations of men and women who strove to free itself as a  colony, to create a nation, and achieved economic and military dominance that twice saved Europe from two world wars, and much of Asia during the Pacific war that ran concurrently with WWII. It was quite a feat.

But today, it faces a challenge not coming from the outside but from within itself. And like all empires that preceded it, it is approaching the "Universe 25" phenomenon that plagued the Roman and Greek empires if we must pick examples.  Italy and Greece used to be the seat of those empires.  We see only traces of their past grandeur in much of the world today but what is left of the original homeland are facsimiles of their power and influence.

Politically, America is now a divided nation.  Socially, it is being challenged from conserving its original ideals by new liberal ideologues who want to fundamentally change the capitalist-based system to a socio-economic equity focused system. It is so perplexing that the new breed of liberal politicians want to change something that had worked for over two centuries into something that is almost anathema to everything that made this country into a benevolent superpower (remember the two world wars it ended).

Empires always failed from within as soon as their population reached the zenith of affluence, overabundance of leisure from the privileges of the haves, followed by a precipitous breakdown in social ethics and behavior. 

What John Calhoun wanted to convey from his experiment was that human societies behaved not far too differently from mice that were provided everything as to have found little else to do with their time that used to be spent foraging for food, building their nests, protecting their territory, raising their young, etc. Socialism as proposed by a few politicians will only exacerbate it.

Calhoun concluded from his observations that mice, as with humans, when the sense of purpose, the activities to attain a goal is lost to the ease with which the basic needs are fulfilled, the mind is left to wander aimlessly.  He used terms to describe mice to have suffered from maternal breakdown, loss of nurturing behavior that led to complete social dysfunction, which seems to describe purely human flaws.

Critics, of course, will be quick to point out that such conclusions are a stretch.  Perhaps.  But we will have to ask, for example, why the rise in teenage hooliganism, blatant crowd-shoplifting only occurs in densely populated major cities like San Francisco, LA, and Washington D.C. but not in urban towns and farm land areas? Clearly these phenomenon do not happen in third world countries where excessive leisure time is absent.

What Calhoun pointed out further was that when overpopulation is not saddled by lack of the basic necessities (as with the mice experiment), coupled with family breakdowns, erosion of moral foundations, societal permissiveness, social media immersion, human behavior will sink to its lowest level.

Again, there is plenty to argue about or debate over.

Well, staying with goal as outlined at the top of every musing I write, I leave a lot of space "between the lines" for the reader, so you can take the time to ponder with me some of the un-ponderable and the whimsical and lightly thought provoking issues you did not have the time to consider but now you may want to look into because you have a moment or two to spare ..

"..It Can Repair Just About Anything".

1. Apology - "An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything". 

Lynn Johnston is a Canadian cartoonist, born on May 28, 1947, in Collingwood, Ontario. That makes her one of the earliest baby boomers, born right after WWII, just like many of the readers of this blog, not based on actual statistics but based on the readership of the subject matters of my musing that are popularly read;  I will have to assume.  So, she is a smart 78 year-old lady, seasoned with wisdom and real life's experiences.

Lynn Johnston is best known for her cartoon series, "For Better or For Worse".

The quote says a lot, perhaps, even says it all. 

The only thing I can add to it is what I wrote on March 28, 2019, "WE Should Know Better - Marriage Primer No. 1" - one advice I highlighted was about pre-emptying any apology before the need for it happens, I quote below what I wrote then:

Anticipation is better than preparation. Preparing for a defensive position after you did something wrong is exactly that - you are being defensive. But anticipating that you will somehow do something wrong and you are found out (and you will be) is being proactive. The best ever strategy ever put out by one honorable man is that of a husband who each morning  before ever doing anything is to look into his wife's beautiful eyes, long before make up and blush-on were applied, and say, "I'm sorry". At the first instance he did that his wife naturally asked, "What for?" And his answer, "For everything I will do wrong today". Since then the ritual worked like clockwork. It was better than clock work. It worked like a charm.

And perhaps, going along with Ms. Johnston's metaphor, like glue, we need to use it while it is still fresh before it begins to dry up. Unapplied glue left to dry loses its utility and so a delayed apology loses its depth and meaning, perhaps even its sincerity.  However, it is still better than none at all.  

2. Opportunity - "If Your Ship Doesn't Come in, Swim Out To It"   

The quote is attributed to comedian Jonathan Winters.  

There is not much we can add to that as an inspiration towards going after a dream that seems out of reach but that when opportunity is within sight, it urges us to swim out to it.  If I may, I would like to add to it this: But first, make sure you know how to swim.

Indeed, one does not go to engineering school without a good grasp of math and physics; or to medical school without a chemistry and biology background and an aptitude towards the nature of physiology; or, aim to become a teacher without love and patience towards children and young people, but you get the picture. That could explain too why sometimes, one may not get to the ship.

That ship represents just about any dream conceivable to man and woman; the water in-between is every conceivable hindrance and roadblock that  is shallow enough for one to wade through, but be mindful that when it gets deeper, one must be prepared to swim.  In school, we recall that among our classmates a handful seemed to have waded through easily or swam capably even as the waters got deep but there are those among us who had to try a lot harder to get through algebra or geometry or history.

I would like to make Jonathan Winters inspiration to say:

"If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it; just make sure first that you know how to swim".

3. One Wish

One day along the seashore, a young man, named Charlie, found a lamp.  As he cleaned it of the mud and sand with his hands, a blue smoke came out and a genie appeared. He thanked Charlie for freeing him out of the eight-hundred-year old cocoon that was the lamp and offered to grant him one wish (as every genie story goes).

Genie: Well, young man make your wish please. But first, unlike most genie stories you've heard, I am restricted in my ability to grant a wish and it must adhere to the principle of "Zero-sum-game."

Charlie: What?

Genie: I'll explain as we go along. And you notice too that I don't go by the usual three wishes.  Just one, please.

Charlie: Okay, I wish for one trillion dollars.

Genie: Okay, but before you make it your final wish, "Zero-sum-game." means that the one trillion dollars will be taken away from, say, for example, one company that employs a thousand workers. It will go bankrupt in an instant. Families could suffer.  Or, that trillion may come from several big non-profit organizations combined, from whom disaster stricken areas or orphanages for children will lose their funding.  Instantly, as well. Now you know what "Zero-sum-game." means, right?

Charlie: What kind of genie are you?

Genie: You picked my lamp. So, live with it.  And by the way, I have no way of knowing ahead which or what is affected by your wish. 

Charlie: Well, at least give me some parameters, okay?

Genie: That is about as simple as I can make it. You're not showing some kind of compassion, are you?  You want a trillion dollars?  Go ahead and make it your final wish.

Charlie: Okay, I wish for ten more wishes and that is final!

Poof, the genie was sucked back into the lamp which instantly disappeared.  In its place was one page of parchment the size of an ordinary bond paper but made of a leather-like material.

Charlie read the writings:

"Your one wish for ten wishes was granted and they are listed below, arranged alphabetically. Be aware that the list covers your one and only one wish.  Contrary to what you might have thought, it will not cover for the ten wishes to be fulfilled".

Charlie: Wha-a-a-at?

At that point an old man came by.  He said, "What's wrong young man"?

Charlie responded, "I feel cheated.  Look", he showed the parchment to the old man.

Old Man:  Ah, you too got caught in a technicality.

Charlie: "What do you mean?"

Old Man: You see, and I found this out later, the genie can only be freed completely if your wish had abided by the "Zero-sum-game". You see, if you wished for something that was good for you and there was a corresponding bad thing happening somewhere else, the genie will be free.  Your wish to have ten wishes did not call for "Zero-sum-game" to be enforced and that it had no corresponding bad to anyone or anything. Then you made it final.  So the genie went back in.  He has to wait for who knows when. 

Charlie: I don't get it.

Old Man:  Trust me.  I encountered the same genie a long time ago.  Like you, I wanted a wish that had no ill effects on anyone or anything.  I wished to live forever because I did not want anything bad to happen to anyone or anything. As soon as I made it final, the genie went back into the lamp.  Until you found the lamp again.

Charlie: How long ago was that?

Old Man: This month is my eight hundredth anniversary of living. I watched thirty two generations of people come and go - born and died.  So, you see, I should have opted for the "Zero-sum-game" policy. But, like you, I too had a conscience and a dose of compassion.  So, I will live forever.  I will probably see the genie go through it again but happily he failed to be free because of all who'd rather be compassionate.  But you know, I am always rooting for the decent person who finds the lamp so the genie goes back one more time into it.  You are a good man Charlie.

Charlie: Yeah, I guess so.

Old Man:  And don't forget.  You have ten wishes to work on your own, so you have your whole life ahead of you. I know you can do it because you are a decent man. Goodluck and goodbye.  

The old man turned away and walked along the water's edge as the sun was setting over the horizon right about over his right shoulder.  Charlie smiled.  He knew he did the right thing.

P.S.  Many scientists and philosophers will have us believe that we inhabit a "Zero-sum " universe.  Energy to matter, matter to energy, back to energy to matter, light versus darkness, good versus evil in zero sum equivalence on either side of the equation, if, say, light - darkness = 0, energy - matter= 0, etc., because matter can be converted 100% to energy, therefore, when one is subtracted from the other, the answer is zero. Likewise, since total darkness is the absence of light, the equation is the same.

Should we then forget or ignore that a Supreme Being can modify the equation lopsidedly, because where God is the source of infinite goodness, the equation becomes, good - evil = ∞, where good (∞) minus evil (any number, no matter how large) will always be equal to ∞. You see, in math, infinity minus any number (no matter how large you will imagine it to be), the answer is still an infinite number.  We see it around us - there is so much more goodness than bad in human behavior.  That is because God must have willed it to be so.

".. And The Lawn Mower Is Broken"

 

It is a funny quote from James Dent.  Although it can be a  subtle metaphor for life, it can be insightfully profound as well. For instance, it can mean, taking the good with the bad. Although for most husbands, specially those lounging on a hammock under an oak tree, a broken lawn mower in the garage, snoring to "a midsummer night's dream" (apologies to William Shakespeare implied), are all taking good with the good.

Unfortunately, in a case like this, where one "good" is allowed to persist for weeks on end will all be blown away one day by one letter from the homeowners association (HOA) about a violation of the by-laws on yard maintenance. Furthermore, hammocks are prohibited in the front yard. 

HOA, love them or hate them, strikes when least expected. They are the inveterate spoilers of suburban life, the subdivisions' dreadful interrupters of spring and summer. They come armed with phone cameras, plying the streets with eagle's eyes for the slightest irregularity in how the picket fence was repaired, or the driveway is no longer pristinely unblemished as the original concrete, thus requiring the services of a power washer. 

But did you know that HOAs are mostly inactive in the winter time? But not long after the last frosty morning of spring when bees and butterflies come around to pollinate the flowers, HOA marauders too drive around like wasps and hornets armed with an encyclopedic memory of the association's volumes of regulations and by-laws. 

And so it is then when husbands must move the hammock to the backyard and either fix the lawnmower, or risk the hefty fine and the ire of the HOA board. Either  way, it's a choice between hurting one's back or the pocket book. Husbands, given the right financial circumstances later in life, are well advised to outsource  the chore to the professional lawn service providers.  

You take the good with the bad.  The good with HOA, to be fair, is that if not for it, who will prevent homeowners from painting their homes bright-red orange or avocado-green or turn their driveway into a car repair bay, or let their front yard become a natural habitat for creatures great and small, or what started out as a weekend yard sale is extended into a mini flea market? I exaggerate, of course, but HOAs are the necessary guardrails to the proverbial slippery slope.

Now for the serious business of life's perfect summer mixed in with a broken lawnmower.

Life, if we've learned it well enough, is not always layered with perfect circumstances because it comes constantly sprinkled with just the right amount of not-so-perfect ones. The latter is just as significantly important if only to remind us that we do not inhabit a perfect world.

Our lives will always come with hopes of spring and perfect summers but we must expect and be vigilant of the  broken lawn mower. 

For three decades I have enjoyed playing tennis. As to be expected of a sport of stop and sudden go, from side to side, forward and back, coupled with the march of time, I've encountered my share of broken lawn mowers. Injuries to the wrist, elbow and ankle, and other seemingly unrelated visitations by aches and pains. That brought me face to face with the orthopedic doctor one day. I knew he was serious when he said, "Let me ask you this, how much do you really love tennis?".  Although I knew he was leading the conversation one particularly dreadful way, I still replied that I love to keep playing that when my wrist got persistently injured, I switched to playing lefty to which he interrupted with, "Listen, that's the wrong answer, because if I have to do surgery on your Achilles heel and tendon, the next time you see me when it gets re-injured, the surgery I will do is not so you can keep playing but just so you can walk.  I suggest you find something else to stay fit". That was one big broken lawnmower.

I was surprised at myself, however, that by the time I reached home after the thirty minute drive, I got over it. Then I decided to take up swimming, learned the proper way to do it and now I swim  1000 meters freestyle, non-stop in 30 minutes.  (I may have mentioned in my earlier musings that I was doing it in 26 minutes, but now I realized I was swimming in a 25 yard pool and the Garmin wrist watch I started wearing confirmed it. There's a huge difference between a thousand yards and 1000 meters - 40 lengths vs. 44, 20 laps vs. 22.).  But then that motivated me to swim the longer distance; "just because".

That is how I turned  the broken lawn mower into "good" because swimming is something anyone can do almost at any age.  I'm glad I did and my Achilles heel and other troublemakers of physiology never bothered me once.

Now, for the biggest broken lawn mower in our life. My wife was diagnosed with Parkinson's almost three years ago.  As can be expected, not only is it such an overwhelmingly hard and difficult burden for her, it has affected everything around us.   And we're reminded again that the ticket price to living longer is to grow old; but not without the challenges, yet we must realize that whatever is thrown at us, the alternative presents a grimmer picture.  The pain of movement, the slowness of ordinary motion, the frustration and helplessness when and where ordinary chores we took for granted that we could no longer do are enough to show us some imperfections to expect from lives long-lived. 

My wife, like everyone with Parkinson's, was dealt one seriously "broken lawn mower".

But you know what, there is so much good to take with the bad. Just ponder for a moment about the inconveniences of living longer today and how we are able to cope with them, because we live in the 21st century. It must  be the envy of those who dealt with them just fifty years ago. And to be living where we are today, in a country blessed with so much, presents plenty of good with a few bad.  This is not just ebullient optimism, it is about confronting reality head on. For a minimum copay, insurance paid for a motorized scooter, a wheelchair and a four-wheeled walker  for my wife. By just imagining how and what it must have been like fifty years ago, some of the burdens of today are partly assuaged.

Do we miss the travels we've enjoyed and rue all the unrealized plans to travel more?  Yes, but while we missed all future travel plans, we too missed, rationalizing justifiably now, the stresses of the airport experience, the tedium and drudgery of air travel. It all balances out, if we must take the good with the bad, that with the joy of "being there" are matched by the inevitable rigors of "getting there", both ways, going and coming.  Don't get me wrong, we do cherish those experiences but are forever mindful that we were years younger then and the experiences remain in our memory, now a little hazy, but the photo albums are always there to reminisce with total clarity. My wife over the years has kept over twenty photo albums all meticulously chronicled and labeled, neatly arranged at her library. Afterall, all the travels we've had now reside only in our memory and the photo albums. You see, every world traveler, no matter how seasoned or how they fabulously planned their trips, each and every experience is now a memory. We cherish those as best we can. 

We can still travel through YouTube and TV specials, practically anywhere we want to go in the comfort of our living room. TV can bring them and  all those we planned to do  and then some, at the click of the button.  Machu Picchu, Iceland or the Angkor temples in Cambodia to name a few we haven't gone to are available for streaming. What I'm saying is that the mind will overcome  broken lawn mowers of unfulfilled  travel plans - limited only by our desire to explore from our armchair. 

Do we miss going to the movies? Yes.  Do we miss having to drive, the parking, the randomness of where we get to sit, etc.? No. The only thing to miss is the big screen.  The sound, with today's technology, can be replicated by 5.1 stereo surround, tuned to your living room's listening area, if that is truly what one desires to be important; but a 55-inch plasma or LCD screen five feet away from your seat should be close enough for the big screen experience. Set that aside and we find that at home, we can pause the show for a bathroom break or snack. We find that old movies we watched again are better understood because certain parts of the dialog that Marlon Brando used to mumble are all made clear by closed captions.  The broken lawn mower of not being able to go to the movie theater is easily fixed where popcorn and drinks do not cost an arm and a leg.  And  you are no longer at the mercy of the randomness of the availability of vacant seats or hostage to who sits next to you, in front and behind you, because you are in your favorite seat and location of your choice and the bathroom is no more than twelve paces away, the refrigerator even closer.

We miss going to the stage theater too but then again there are choices  at our leisure either through paid subscription or YouTube. And you can walk out anytime the show is not to your taste. That is not easy to do at the live theater, not until intermission, anyway.  And don't forget the bathroom privileges of watching the show at home.

How about going to  restaurants to eat out.  At our age, do we really miss that?  Again, like in traveling, the last restaurant meal you had, no matter how sumptuously prepared and presented, are soon memories the following day you wake up. Depending on one's inclination there are quite a number of ways one can replicate a dish, given time and motivation, through one's own home cooking. That may sound overly ambitious but retirement presents ample opportunity to the adventurous and the willing. And again, YouTube, the cooking channels and recipe books are there to help.

The least I can do today for a household of two is to embrace the chores that my wife used to do thousands of times during her able days. She did it  for four, with two growing boys, when she managed the household with a lot less financial wherewithal than now.  One may look at it as a challenge to be grasped with the enthusiasm of a new hobby or simply a fervent desire to make good, "you promise to be true in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health". My wife had done much of her share in advance when she faced  higher degrees of difficulty and a much lower family budget to work with while I now have the privilege with so much more financial leg room to move about.  

There are obviously more words to express but the reader gets it.  So. I will end with a simple example.

Every now and then my wife and I would go for breakfast at one of the local restaurants nearby.  Almost invariably, she chooses her one favorite - "Yogurt parfait".  Presented in a fancy bowl with all the trimmings, the "Frenchy" sounding  restaurant (so named because the franchise root is New Orleans, Louisiana) is "licensed" to charge what eating out costs.  Restaurant dining, while now a  hustle to do, has become as rare as a double rainbow to us.

One day I researched how yogurt parfait is prepared.  Well .. below, based on what I read  this is how I prepare it for her besides pancake or French toast, pan-de-sal topped with fried egg sunny side up, oat meal - choices from the menu I offer her each morning. And this is exactly what the Frenchy restaurant has, sans the fancy bowl and presentation; at a fraction of the cost. And she gets to choose the yogurt.  She has options on what flakes to put on top. 

There are, of course, many examples that will far exceed the limits of one musing but it is well understood that one must embrace caregiving to a spouse as a simple act. However, it is one to be embraced for the nobility of the partnership and standing by a promise made by both because it is where necessity ends that kindness is profoundly given and felt.

We found too that gratitude to the Higher Power must be expressed in every way instead of dwelling on the question of why. We are thankful that I am relatively healthy as to make caregiving not only something to be embraced but acknowledged as a blessing from God that we can care for each other. I found that there is so much to be grateful for than there are answers to the question of why. This has made us closer to each other and every morning prayer at breakfast gives us the necessary support and inspiration instead of asking why.

Broken lawn mowers are part of the realities of lives long-lived. We must realize soon enough though that if we view life as a painting, one may have to squint hard to spot the broken lawnmower sitting at the corner of the garage - a tiny part of the landscape. 

(P.S. 11/08/25, I now swim the 1000 meters non-stop in 28 minutes)