October 13, 2009
A report on the life of Constance – Chemical Woman
Early snows and very cold weather mean that I need to swathe myself in warm clothes and heavy boots before leaving the house with Alf the Wonderbeast for our usual morning walk around the perimeters of Sanctoriam. Alf is pleased because the snow makes it possible to see the movements of even the smallest creatures as they hurry from grass clump to tree trunk. The skies are grey and the snow is falling straight down. We greet Red Tailed Hawk – she is huddled on the bare branch near the top of the Victorian Willow on the east side. She dips her head in acknowledgement, but stays very still with snow beginning to gather on her shoulders.
When we get to the great council tree Tacama, I ask him, “How did you know that the snows were coming so early this year?” His branches are mostly bare and he looks like middle winter. He sighs and says nothing, so I continue, “Willow hasn’t dropped a leaf, and now she and her relatives are bent down under the weight of the snow”. I knew Tacama would respond to that – because of his great age and huge trunk, he does tend toward pompous instruction upon occasion. “Willow has no wisdom” he says, “none of the willows have enough patience to put down their roots below the mud in the wetland and now look at them. They are bent in every direction, and because they are so eager to be the first to leaf out in spring, and so prideful about being the last to drop in fall, they have broken limbs all over the place.” I am getting cold and ready to move on, but Tacama is just getting warmed up to the subject. “Now me, I have always held my leaves to the philosophy, ‘Come late and leave early’, and look at my trunk. . . I was here long before any of the rest of these trees, and I’m going to be here long after everything else is gone.” Before he can continue, I thank him, wish him well and hurry on.
Yesterday we had to make a trip to the Great Dispensary for more chemicals. As we drove down the road, Alf said, “I wish I could go in – it’s really dangerous for you with the kingdom so saturated with the Viral Armies of H1N1s.” I reminded him, “Remember what happened last time when I transmorphed you into human form and you went in for me. . . you were still hardwired to respond to ‘Fetch’ and ‘Come’ and. . .” Alf interrupted me, “Who knew that awful woman would say to her kid, ‘FETCH me some eggs’ in such a strong voice.” I continue, “and when you went over and picked up a dozen in your mouth, she panicked and said to her son, ‘COME. Here. Now.’ You went right toward her and she started to scream.” Alf sighed hugely. I went on, “Of course, it didn’t help that you morphed into such a big hairy human, and she got you very nervous and you started to pant. . .it’s a good thing you brain waved me for help and I could get you out by telling the Dispensary Security that you had an odd condition that caused some strange but harmless behaviors upon occasion.” Alf said, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” I kindly reminded him that it was my fault that I hadn’t developed a better shield for him, and by then we were in the parking lot and I was putting on my blue WalrusNose FilterAll. As I got out of the car, Alf told me to hurry, breathe infrequently, and keep my eyes as close to closed as possible, “The Virals are really, really thick down here, I can see them swarming” he said as he poked his nose out of the window. I assured him I would make haste, which I did, and so far, so good.
The Abyss has deepened a little since my last report, so a greater array of chemicals are required to keep my balance. I await the inoculation which will help defend against the H1N1 Viral danger. Hopefully that will take place soon.
Constance – Chemical Woman, reporting on two days of her life living on the Edge.