Contemplation; A Gamey Throne

Coolish, sometimes sunny day.  Nice breeze from time to time.

A Gamey Throne

I have my own bathroom.. nobody else uses it.  It needs to be cleaned.  I'll get to it.  Meanwhile, today, I am playing James Joyce's "Leopold Bloom,"  sitting on my "throne" and thinking.

There is a little ant that lives in my bathroom... I see him scurrying around, a small creature in what to him must be a large universe.  This is a "piss ant"..  Texans like President Johnson liked to call people that he didn't think much of (like Robert Kennedy) piss ants.  And, I've heard it said in the music from the "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"  when telling folks how insignificant that business building was.

Dear Mr. Piss Ant, where's your mama?  Where's your daddy?  Are  you all alone in this big world?  Do you like your simple, single life?  Where do you sleep?  When do  you sleep?  Do  you sleep?

Do you eat?  What do you eat?  (I'm afraid of the answer.) 

Elaine thinks that I should "squish" creatures like  you.   Why?  As far as I can tell, you are not harming anyone.  You don't own a gun... you don't kill people.  Do you know I am here?  I know that when I bang on the floor hard, you stop and start running in a different direction.  So, you must have good ears.  And your eyes must be good too, because I don't see you bumping into things.

But, do you have a working brain.  Descartes said:  "Cogito, ergo sum."  If you think, do you know that you have a reality?  How small can your brain be?  Does the size of a brain mean anything at all?

Man has a pretty large brain..  most whales have larger brains... especially the Blue Whale, whose tongue weighs as much as a bull elephant.  And that same elephant has a large brain.. and scientists have found out that besides "never forgetting,"  they also mourn the loss of a relative or friend.

This reminds me of the story about the flea who married an elephant.  He spent all of his life digging a grave for when his wife would die.

I like to think that little creatures have working brains..  we know that mice do..  butterflies?  Do all of the world's creatures have brains?  What about the creatures that live in our guts?  Billions, maybe trillions of bacteria call our bellies home.  This was not really considered a possibility until not many years ago.

I just read about a doctor in a teaching hospital in Vienna who was concerned that 80% of the women who gave birth in his operating room died, while those who had babies at home had only an 18% mortality rate.  Why?  And then he thought it through and came to a conclusion that we, in our enlightened age probably would think of right away.

The interns studying at his hospital were attending cadaver class just before the start of their birthing class, where they delivered babies.  This was a while ago, when germs and infections were not very well, if at all, understood.  These interns would come into the birthing room without washing their hands and in stained clothing.  Aha!  This was the problem.  Germy creatures causing infection.

Once the doctor started requiring his interns to clean up before birthing, the mortality rate dropped to the 18% average.

Johns Hopkins doctors were also in the forefront of sepsis (is that the word?)

Back to our little friend... Mr. Piss Ant, do you have bacteria in your gut?  Do you get stomach aches? Do you have a version of the flu?  Do you think about dying?  Perhaps this is only a human thing, although I just read that chimpanzees and elephants may, indeed, think about dying.  I also read recently that goldfish miss their owners when they go on vacation.

And, Mr. Piss Ant, do you see me... this giant on the throne... am I your God?  Do you pay homage to me?  I did not study biology or anatomy in High School or College.. so I do not really know how you are put together... somewhere in the back of my mind, the word "thorax" lingers...

If you have a sophisticated brain.. do you know or care that two black holes have recently collided?
Do you know about Manteen?  Hillary?  Donald?  Bernie?..  You are so lucky not to have to "live" in this mad world that is so external to your reality.  For my part though, I love the world I live in, even though I can't say that I love or like a few of my fellow humans.  On the whole, though, my world is a playground and I hope to keep playing in it for a little while longer.

So, Mr. Piss Ant.. I hope that you do, indeed, have a working brain and are aware that you are having a good life.  I surely hope that I don't accidently step on you and destroy your reality.

Your friend, Prepop.

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