Thursday 12 November 2009

Being

After four weeks of barely leaving the house, i find I have little to say. I have rediscovered the pleasure of midday naps and this has led to the discovery that I like watching the clouds from my bed. My house has huge sash windows and is perched on the side of a hill so that the opposite house sits a foot or two lower than mine. I can watch the clouds, or the sky change colour, or the seagulls soar. I particularly like the seagulls.

The way they fly is soooo, full of grace. Their huge wings change shape very slightly and they harness the wind. They soar, using the wind with pure instinct. At one ment.

It reminds me of a programme I saw on Leonardo da Vinci once. He made so many incredible drawings of machines that were never made. It was decided to gather a team and try and make some of his inventions. The one I remember particularly was the hang glider, except it wasn't a glider. It flew but was so dangerous, even in the hands of the most experienced pilot.

The machine worked like the wings of the seagulls, subtle changes in shape in reaction to changes in the wind. What made it dangerous was that the pilot could not straight away have those instincts of how to use the winds. In addition, birds can feel the wind under their wings, pilots can not, so there was no feedback. I can only imagine such a machine being successfully piloted by a computer with a battery of sensors and lightning quick reactions.

Each and every animal out there has a precise function, purpose and home. They are at one with their environment. They are part of it. Their complex inter-relationships are vital to the whole system. The salmon in the river need the trees to maintain their habitat but so to do the trees need the salmon for it is the salmon that bring nutrients back up the catchment.

Why did we leave our niche? What did nature design us for? What is it that brings us into at one ment? What was our niche? Until we discovered how to manipulate our environment and make tools, I don't think we were the most successful of creatures. Few others survive on our evolutionary branch with the closest being monkeys, gorillas, chimps et al. So not the most successful design of nature then, not really.

So I know these questions have been asked so many times before... How did we jump from being animals to what we are? and what exaclty are we? Because I refuse to believe that we are a mistake of nature, a virus, planet killer. There is something more to us.

I believe.

4 comments:

  1. *sigh* I would hope so...I would hope there's some grand lesson here that we just have to muddle through until we see the answer..then, hopefully, we'll know how to act on it.

    I think industrialization was both our greatest blessing and our greatest curse.

    I spoke to a man early this morning when I was out with the dogs...he was warning me of having seen a coyote passing by. So now I'm afraid for my coyote, he has every right to be there, is probably driven out from his wilder home in search of food, and people are going to start panicking and demanding he be 'removed'.

    Re-connecting with the Wild world, is our way to salvation, I think....


    ~love~

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  2. Your poor coyote.... I heard on a programme the other day that coyote's don't attack people. Not having coyotes here, I have no idea if that is true or not. Also saw a programme about your Brown Bears and seems they don't attack either. Why do we have to get so paranoid?

    I guess the other thing we need to accept is that sometimes accidents are going to happen. An accident does not mean we have the right to decide what should live or die. Those animals have as much right to be on this planet as us.

    I remember reading about people wanting Sparrowhawk's in their areas killed because they were feeding all the little birds and then the Sparrowhawk would come and eat them. I guess what I would say is that be proud you are supporting the ecosystemm enough that there is enough here for a Sparrowhawk because they are becoming less and less common. They have a right to exist to.

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  3. I have no idea why we are here but I definitely believe there is a reason and I don't think we are an accident at all. I read the comment about the coyote and things like that make me so mad. I live in an area that is mostly wilderness and they are drilling and building in that wilderness so now all the animals are starting to come into town more and I'm scared for the animals. They are having their homes invaded and they will probably be killed for coming into town. It's like when someone gets attacked by a shark and they all go out to look for that shark and kill it. The shark was only doing what was natural, we are the ones who went into it's territory.

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  4. I so understand what you are saying... In England we have got rid of most of the wildlife that can hurt us. Wolves and bears are long gone. Otters and beavers even struggle on. Some predatory birds have had a hard time at our hands too. Adders as well. So sad.

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