Sunday Thoughts

I have a friend who stopped watching tv network news years ago. Well, decades ago, now; she said back then that what got reported was always violence and horribleness, and that it made her depressed. 

It’s hard not to get sucked into the conclusion that the world is a violent and horrible place.

It’s widely accepted (as far as I know) that humans can learn a lot from animals. And it’s certain that they learn a lot from — and about — us. You can probably remember instances where you learned from your pets, or your livestock, or the wildlife around you. You can be certain that they have been watching and learning from and about you.

Sometimes animals pick up on cues that disturb them. 

I heard something on the radio while I was driving yesterday. It was about an experiment, but I’m just going to tell a part of it. People who were participating in the experiment (no one died and no animals were harmed) were asked some questions.

1: If you were walking past a pond, and you saw a child drowning in the pond, would you jump in the water to save the drowning child?

Over the years, I’ve met a lot of babies. Lots of newborns, some not quite so brandy-new. Something that always amuses me is the way people see physical resemblances to others, usually family members, in babies. “Look!” someone will say, “he has his daddy’s nose!” Or, “Those ears — she’s got your ears!” (not mine; someone else’s who was there...)

Now, I’ve got to confess that, to me, most babies have a kind of blob-like quality, definitely humanoid (I can tell they’re not puppies), but lacking specific identifying characteristics, like daddy’s nose or grandma’s ears. 

Maybe it’s because I never had a blob — I mean, a baby — of my own. 

Around the turn of the century, I took a trip to the Middle East. It was in October, my favorite time of year to travel. In October, the weather is milder, the tourist crush is largely dissipated, and I can often plan to be on vacation for my birthday.

On my birthday, my group was scheduled to travel into the Negev region of Israel, an area of about 4700 square miles covering the southern half of the country. My group was headed to visit with a tribe of Bedouin, nomadic people of the Middle Eastern deserts.