Where do I begin? I learned some incredible things today, albeit none of them really affect my life directly. But they reminded me of how things could be, if I were someone else, or in another place and time.
Like the wood frogs in Alaska. Here’s the thing I like about them. The wood frog can hold its pee for up to eight months. And I can’t. These days, I can barely go an entire hour without having to pee. As it is with the wood frog, they hold their urine throughout the long winter before relieving themselves once temperatures increase. The urine actually helps keep little froggy alive while it hibernates. Oh, to sleep through the night without peeing.
On another note, speaking of bodily functions. Mark Twain once said that “Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.” And he was right. Humans are the only animals believed to be capable of feeling embarrassment. That is because it is a complicated emotion that requires us to understand others’ opinions and other factors surrounding the situation at hand. I would have to advise those behavioral scientists to get a dog. I’ve had a couple of dogs who look incredibly embarrassed while they are pooping. They look over their shoulder and furrow their little brows, as if to say, “Quit watching me.” Lou is really self-conscious on this one. Oh, they’re blushing. We just can’t “see” them blush beneath those furry faces.
Still in the area of bodily functions. Rabbit can’t puke. It’s true. They are not capable of vomiting. Their digestive system only goes one way. Which explains why we have the Easter Bunny hiding all those chocolate eggs. Two reasons. They are less likely to call in sick on a Sunday. And, if they eat too much Easter candy, no matter. They won’t puke everywhere. We should hire a Halloween Rabbit.
Candy, and food in general, however, attract ants. And the world has a lot of ants. Entomologists have estimated that there are at least one million trillion insects, and only one percent of that number is ants. One percent. BUT. If you took all those ants (about ten thousand trillion) and weighed them, you would find that all the humans in the world weigh about the same. Yes. Ant weight equals human weight. And they are only a very small part of all the insects. We’re completely outnumbered there.
Yes, the world is a big place, and there is so much to learn. A vast existence, this ball Earth, spinning on cue. And human beings may dominate the planet with all our sprawling and spewing. But we are just one of the species on Earth, and there is a total of 8.7 million species. All put HERE, to live together on planet Earth. A study done in 2011, broke it down further, saying “the various forms of life on the planet included 7.8 million species of animals, 298,000 species of plants, 611,000 species of mushrooms, mold and other fungi, 36,400 species of protozoa, and 27,500 species of algae or chromists.” Those researchers did not include an estimate on the number of bacteria. But all of it was “born” here. On Earth. John Muir once said, “The world, we are told, was made especially for man – a presumption not supported by all the facts.”
So today, remember the non-peeing wood frog, those non-puking bunnies, and blushing dogs. And all of the other 8.7 million species here. It is a big place, filled with so much to know and so many to consider. I have this sneaky feeling that we are supposed to be sharing this place.
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“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
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“Before you call yourself a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or any other theology, learn to be human first.”
― Shannon L. Alder
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“Earth’s crammed with heaven…
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh
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The big place and the secret we should know.
