Peaceful Easy Feeling

--The Magpie, Claude Monet

And you may look the other way.
We can try to understand,
The New York Times' effect on man. 
--Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees 

I don't stay out late, don't care to go
I'm home about 8, just me and my radio
Ain't misbehavin', savin' my love for you 
--Ain't Misbehavin', Fats Waller 

Had the cub thought in man-fashion,
he might have epitomized life as a voracious appetite,
and the world as a place wherein ranged
a multitude of appetites, pursuing and being pursued,
hunting and being hunted, eating and being eaten,
all in blindness and confusion, with violence and disorder,
a chaos of gluttony and slaughter,
ruled over by chance,
merciless, planless, endless 
--White Fang, Jack London 

____________________

Happy New Year, 2014.

Standing on my front porch at 0600 the world of nature vibrates with life and the struggle for life.

At night we feed the wild animals, and the turkeys, deer, coyotes, foxes, raccoons and opossums come up to eat at the kitchen door steps. Every day. My apples, figs pecans and pear trees draw the wildlife, and it is pleasing that they gain sustenance from them. Even the maligned coyotes eat the pears and pecans. I'm no E. O. Wilson, but I respect the insects save for wasps, as Lisa is very reactive to their venom. Even rattlesnakes are left alone unless they enter my house perimeter -- a Ranger professional courtesy.

The ubiquitousness and variety of life is beyond my comprehension, but I will relate one small tale that reflects the mysterious abundance of that universe:

Lisa picked up a small sponge on the porch to use in the kitchen when she noticed two small spiders living in it. They debarked into the sink, and with much effort she finally got both spiders into a glass to repatriate them outdors, but here is the kicker: When she laid the cup on its side anticipating they would run out into the yard, they instead ran to one another and embraced. These were two little lost spiders subject to the brutality of the world and instead of scurrying away, they held on to each other. Isn't this what people are supposed to do?

Somewhere there is a message for all of us. What does this have to do with RAW, you ask? We need to stop and ask, and try to find the center of our humanity and respect life, even that of a spider. Life is all around us and this should be our focus. Cruise missiles surely would not spare two small spiders, and they will not keep people in alive in Syria, either.

Nor is it our concern.