Nature, Human and Otherwise

[Peg Herring]

Yesterday I was angry at the world, as readers may have noticed. Today, although most of the same problems exist, I have a better attitude for three reasons.

First, I got a request for a complete from a publisher for my MS, Her Highness' First Murder. Few writers fail to be cheered by someone in the pub biz saying, "This is good. We'd like more." The nature of publishing today being what it is, that's a HUGE step forward.

Second, I spent an evening with some great people. I direct a choir of around fifty amateurs, and I always leave our practices invigorated, even though we work hard. If you aren't a singer you may not understand, but for those who love it singing, whether it's the physical act or the emotional release, is a great mood-lifter, better than any drug your doctor can prescribe.

The third factor came straight from Mother Nature, and those events are always the best. I walk every day on our property, and yesterday as I entered a small woods I heard something crying. It was an animal, not a bird, but it was above my head. Looking up into the trees, I was surprised to see a large, maybe twenty-pound lump about thirty feet up. I moved closer and could finally discern that the lump was a porcupine, apparently asleep. The noise continued.

I moved again and was even more surprised to see a second lump, a little smaller, on another branch. A second sleeping porcupine. Finally I located the source of the crying. Twenty feet down from the two nappers was a third critter, very much awake and in distress. He'd come to the last of the tree's branches and couldn't figure out how to get down the trunk. He moved back and forth in misery, looking down at the ground and complaining. Finally he "screwed his courage to the sticking place" and dropped his rear end, scrabbling for a hold until he could let go and descend. He backed ungracefully down the tree and waddled off, unaware of the chuckling human who'd seen the whole embarrassing episode.

The moral of the story? Along with the bad comes the good, for every nasty person there are many, many good ones, and even Nature's creatures, who operate from instinct and not emotion, make bad decisions and have to back out of trouble. Shakespeare and the other greats instruct us about life, but Life itself gives the lessons that last.

[Jess]

Enjoyed this post, Peg. I've been in a real funk myself and searching for something to yank me out of it.
Hey, congrats on the request for a complete. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. ~jess