2024, Eclipse, Syzygy, Solstice, fa la la...
I love birds mostly because of their absurdity. If you haven’t read these missives of mine over the years, here’s a refresher.
The ostrich has one claw on each foot and are known to eviscerate lions, run 43 miles an hour, keep rocks in their stomach, and can weigh up to 300 pounds. Golden crowned kinglets live all winter in Vermont snuggling together at night, eat only bugs and weigh about as much as a nickel. Frigatebirds have 7 1/2 foot wingspans. Their bones weigh around four ounces and they can sleep while flying. Owls have tubular eyes that are fixed in their skulls, poop bones, and can be heard for miles hooting outside my window at night, yet fly in utter silence. The bee hummingbird lays eggs the size of a coffee bean, weighs about two grams, and can “flap” its wings 200 times a second. All birds originated around 60 million years ago and are more closely related to dinosaurs and crocodiles than mammals.
I found myself at an art show in Miami last week talking to a young woman physicist who worked on the LIGO detector and was clearly delighted to be in conversation with someone who knows it exists. We chatted about gravitational waves — the bend in space time caused by a kilonova collision — and she corrected me when I said the detector observed a change the size of a proton over a seven mile beam of laser light. “It’s actually a thousandth of that number.”
So, birds are absurd. Scientists on the cutting edge of defining the laws governing the cosmos are brilliant, slightly isolated in their passion, and aware of the ridiculous nature of these aspects of their careers. Humans do crazy things.
The holidays are upon us where we celebrate rituals based on things that may or may not have occurred, but we love them and teach our kids to love them. The Christmas tree?! Why? That’s not in the holy books. Did the oil light the lamps for eight days? Astronomers centuries ago identified the solstice that is happening today. They were probably considered ridiculous by the faith leaders, or were the faith healers…
Humans include Sonny Rollins, Stephan Hawking, Taylor Swift, Shakespeare, Ghandi, Aristotle, the Dalai Lama, Brad Pitt, Martin Luther King, Alexander the Great, Churchhill, Nolan Ryan and all those northerners who dreamt up Odin and Thor and all those southerners who invented the digeridoo and Dreamtime painting and believe that land ownership is humorous. The Nazca lines have a 300 foot hummingbird drawing made around 2000 years ago. The pyramids… Notre Dame… strange human creations…
We are all weirdos. Myself especially, but please please please see us as all one group. Two eyes, a nose, a brain, legs… We are way more alike than the critters that surround us. Don’t get me started on the self-aware cephalopods that branched away from us half a billion years ago. They have brains in their arms and can see polarized light. Sharks are older than trees. But humans, all humans, are the same animal. The closest correlate that comes to mind are dogs. Chihuahuas and mastiffs are nearly identical on the dna level. We humans are all the same, with variations that are slight at most.
So, act like it my friends, especially in these fractious times. It’s the holidays, the holy days, where we speak of peace on earth and good will to Man. This is a light, fluffy missive, a holiday card about the longest night of the year yielding to the emerging light. Let’s celebrate our variety and acknowledge our sameness. We believe in different gods and rituals. We make crazy art and monuments. But at the core, we are all just large children trying to make a path through the craziness. Play with the kids. Make great food. Pause and notice.
Mostly, peace and love.
Let’s go again.
Cheers!
B Mac and Sarah V here at Havoc ground control. Who wants a tee shirt that says HAVOC on the front and Chaos Coordinator on the back?
P.S. And, as always, buy art. It hangs in your living room and says hey… pay attention. Today.
P.P.S. Please share this card as we don't have everyone's email. Thanks.
