36 Skippy Emerges

SKIPPY[1] EMERGES

        We take up where we left off in Episode 35 with Milvus, the black kite. He was brought to our attention by Caesar, the iguana.  He mumbled, "If they would just feel the monkey and reach up and pet the monkey." Caesar was referring to a poem that had blown into the cave, so I will display the poem here…                

Found a monkey on my back
Tugged the monkey
into my lap.
Can I befriend the monkey?
If I pet him in my lap
Found the monkey on my back
gently petted him on my lap
Why do I love the monkey in my lap?
What a sap; what a loving sap

        Hummy's heart rate jumped precariously and he spoke in a deep throated voice, "I know that we have to help humans, but I have a monkey on my backhave to attend to. The monkey is my dark side, my shadow self, and my evil twin Skippy. My hummingbird ancestors fought their way here through countless generations. My heart and soul tell me that the fight was not always fair. In my brief lifetime, I have thrown a few weak chicks out of the nest with the notion that I was justified because I loved the stronger chicks more. The monkey on my back was seeing that poor little guy fall to the ground. I took away his chance at life. Skippy emerged as my dark side.”

        Myrtle, the turtle poked her head up and confessed, “I lay a hundred plus eggs and hope that the little ones make it into the ocean, but I know that many never reach the first wave. My shadow self covers that memory up.”

        Ducky quacked, “So my dark side covers up my guilt; I have watched as some of my little ones perished because they failed to keep up. I have tucked away those memories deep in my feathers.”  

        Mary, the white pelican, looked around the group and felt more deep pain than she could ever remember. She thought; Before heading back to Hudson Bay I knew that one of my chicks had killed his brother chick while I was away from the nest foraging.

        Though siblicide[2] is not rare among birds, Mary was only vaguely aware of it happening among her flock. She was becoming aware of her shadow self. Accepting the dark side brought forth both humility and a great sadness.  

        Then Mary crocked with an eloquence that could have only passed through Mom Nature herself, ”We all have a dark side which we hide not only from each other but hide from ourselves as well. If we embrace our shadow self, we are given a measure of grace that eases the pain of dreadful competition and the agony of failing to be perfect within our species.  

Hooie spoke, “Humans call it abortion. They are in conflict with each other about the right to have an abortion. But they do have an abortion out of convenience. It is not clear whether it is advancing the improvement of the species.

        Jake, the basset hound barked out, “This is getting far too complicated for me. If we all got here through process of evolution a price had to be paid. Some of our offspring were sacrificed. The souls of those embryos, those puppies and other fledglings from around this cave I can only hope to know they were sacrificed for the betterment of all. 

 I kept focusing on the word betterment today. What is betterment anyway? I am thinking about a Town called Sobriety and how far it is to the town of Serenity. Even though I see a lot of shortcuts on the way I keep seeing signs that say 10,000 hours to Serenity and 10,000 miles to Serenity. I can now see Serenity in the distance.

Suggested listening: Johannsson Essentials, Apple Music

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[1] Gary Trudeau created Evil twin Skippy because George Bush senior was so good that both Liberals and Conservatives hated him. So, George senior was portrayed as having a dark side, Skippy. George could not be that good and also human.

[2]  Siblicide is murder among sibling in the animal kingdom as in Cain and Able is among humans.

35 The Consciousness of Phil

        I don’t like to finish anything. The discussion of consciousness has gone on for a year. The animals have been patient and continue their discussions about consciousness. But they have not gone into the cave of subconscious. So, let us join them and find out why. My consciousness can wait.

                           Waiting at the station, waiting for my train.

        Myrtle, the turtle pled her case first. “My legs got heavy and even Hooie felt heavy on my back.”

        “I don’t want to put the blame on Myrtle because there was a screaming NO in my mind,” hooted Hooie, the barn owl.

        Mary, the facilitator, crooned with care,” We should tighten our circle and give Mom Nature a chance to enter and speak to us from within our hearts.”

        BillyG bleated, “Think about what Free, the butterfly said and Leda, the dragonfly buzzed in. They both completed their evolution millions of years before these people-humans began.”

        “I guess that’s why we are here. As I look around the circle all of us have completed the evolution of our species.” Sang Coqui, the frog. “But I should not have spoken from the outer circle.”

        “We can and should become a single circle now because we have all learned how to be supportive of each other,” said Mary, in her wisdom.

        “Their brains have gotten big and now they fly back and forth every day. Where did they get those planes?”, barked Bosco, the border collie.

        King suddenly called out, “Going into the cave of subconscious is like catching Mom Nature on the john. It would be too embarrassing.”

        “That’s a good point. Mom Nature deserves respect and privacy. She must do her thinking on the john,” Mira the sloth pled. “But that is not the point. I am either fearful of the cave of subconscious or it is just taboo.”

        “We need to find out why we are all so afraid of the cave of subconscious,” spoke Shazam, the parrot. “Taboo is something we shy away from instinctively, so we should just leave that alone. My hunch is that it is something far more complex but workable.”

        “I think we are stuck. I, for one don’t believe, for an instant, that it would be wise to go deep into that cave", said Andi, the osprey, “When humans developed a big brain, they also found that they could talk to themselves and get answers. They foolishly thought that they were talking to God. They went right past Mom Nature without any shame or doubt.”  

        BillyG bleated, “That makes a lot of sense. People who I do admire have a monkey on their back. That is why I butt them in the fanny; to get the monkey off their back. When I do butt them, they turn and yell at me. And the monkey goes free.”

        “If they would just feel the monkey and reach up and pet the monkey,” Cesar, the iguana mumbled.

        Milvus, the black kite, squawked, “You have just said what may turn out to be the most important utterance of in our group in months. Please elaborate”

To be continued