Wishing all Zoners and visitors Fine Holidays of whatever sort you celebrate --
Be it Christmas; Hanukkah; Day of Cephalopod Reflection; Dino Festivus (which involves prodigious feats of hunting and feasting for the more violent sort of dinos; some of us just read and reflect quietly in our lairs); or National Raccoon Day (When everyone who encounters a raccoon must call him or her adorable and hand over a tasty but healthful treat and then go away so the critter can enjoy it in peace); I and all reptiles everywhere hope it's a good one for you.
I am behind my time, having a house full of little critters that needed attention, mussels that needed to be cracked and food that needed to be washed in the stream...
ReplyDeleteBut a belated thank you Dino for the lovely holiday wishes.
A bittersweet year for me, but I have made it through this first Raccoon Day without Big Daddy Raccoon and I have survived. My sister keeps telling me, no way out but through - so one day at a time and I'm hanging on to that.
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the kind thoughts. Yes, I think as we get older there is much bittersweetness about the end-of-the-year holidays, just so many things have happened that it's hard to put aside. The kids have the best of it, really -- expecting their presents from Raccoon elves or Dino Claws or Octo Claus, or whichever animal-Santa is appropriate.
For me, Cephalopod Reflection is the time of year to contemplate the meaning of life. This may come as a shock and surprise to many of you, but cephalopods do not worship Cthulhu – a cult followed by readers of H. P. Lovecraft. We prefer the Tetragrammaton, ‘WAHU,’ pronounced “wah-hoo,” which has nothing to do whatsoever with holy mackerel or monkfish. Sometimes, we attend the Universal Universalist Church of CD, pronounced ‘cod,’ which has nothing to do with pious carp. Most cephalopods are free thinkers.
ReplyDeleteThis week in The Times of India science section, there was a report on spiders, specifically why the male of the species let the females eat them during sex. Apparently, when female spiders nibble off the heads of males, it prolongs copulation and ensures insemination. Not so odd, I thought. In the human species, there is also a close correlation between sex and headless males.
For black widows and orb weavers, cannibalism results in healthier babies, since head-munching the male transfers nutritional benefits to the offspring. Not so odd, I thought. How many human males lose their heads when raising teenagers.
Cephalopods also experience a close correspondence between Eros and Thanatos, since propagation of the species is our last undertaking in life. After we find a mate and exchange wows, Mr. and Mrs. Octopus irrigate the clutch without rest or food until we drop from exhaustion – and fall easy prey to predators. It’s an inglorious and ignominious end to an otherwise sublime and contemplative life.
Nevertheless, I consider myself fortunate. At least there are no rituals to raising our young, who come into this world fully programmed to survive without intervention from the parents.
It means no encumbrances such as life insurance policies, mortgages, retirement annuities, or college savings plans.
According to my human friends, they have spent a lifetime saving for retirement and their children’s education. Yet, their IRAs, 401Ks, and 529s are all underwater.
Underwater is normal and natural for a cephalopod but apparently very bad for a human being.