Jesienna melancholia

Popijając świeżą kawę w jednej z moich ulubionych warszawskich kawiarni, na skrzyżowaniu alej Solidarności i Jana Pawła II, spoglądam przez zakurzoną szklaną witrynę na złocące się we wczesno-popołudniowym jesiennym słońcu liście pobliskich, już prawie całkiem nagich klonów, oraz na złoto-czerwone sznury cicho snujących tramwajów. Przepełniona tęsknotą piosenka Zaz, 'Éblouie par la nuit', odrywa mnie od opowiadania Kena Lin z październikowego numeru Nowej Fantastyki, i nagle nie potrafiąc się oprzeć fali nadchodzącej melancholii, wpadam w zadumę nad przemijaniem i nad żyjącym cudem tego zmartwychwstałego miasta.

ALOSZA I DRZWI

Mój szczur po prostu nie radzi sobie z pojęciem drzwi. Jak są zamknięte to je obwąchuje z ewidentną ciekawością. Gdy drzwi są otwarte to jego zdziwienie wcale nie ustaje---obwąchuje próg i framugę z zaciekawieniem; rozgląda się z widocznym osłupieniem: jak to może być, że perspektywa wcześniej nie widoczna, nagle się ujawnia? Nagła zmiana w topologii podłogi musi robić wrażenie. Ale, mimo trudności z ogarnięciem swoim szczurzym umysłem pojęcia drzwi, trzeba temu ciekawskiemu gryzoniowi przyznać godną pochwały wytrwałość.

Youth's Embarrassment - aiding the maintenance of an image of fitness.

First I need to justify my usage of the term "youth" -  having reached the "age of reason", I have the perspective of the years to make valid (i.e. experiencially substantiated) comparisons. That is all. And now to the topic at hand.
I have always felt this to be true, as when observing teen dynamics or some of my young university collegues who are still in their early twenties. In the latter case, usually when a group engages in a discussion of even something remote and theoretical, what seems to dominate is the character of the delivered statements, not their content alone. Nicely wrapped and eloquently delivered packages, with suprisingly average content. This is not an evaluative statement, merely an observation; it appears that we tend to learn how to send envelopes, before we learn what they should contain.

Last week, as I was leaving a train station, and upon approaching the stairs leading down to the underpass I noticed a group of four 18-20 year old women. One of them slipped on the wet stairs (as it was raining earlier), and as she landed on her backside - which looked quite painful - I was amazed how she started laughing unnaturally and nervously, obviously giving her girlfirends a sign that nothing had happened. Fiercely blushed cheeks however, betrayed her embarassement. Her social status as a "non cluts" was more important (and of immediate value) to her than her physical wellbeing, apparently. You don't see this kind of behavior equally prevalent in adults or the elderly. I can imagine fear in their eyes in such situations, if anything.

Why this apparently irrelevant embarassement in cases of small, physical danger? Embarassement is certainly an unpleasant sensation. It is a hormonally induced state telling us "you look less attractive (i.e. less fit)". Since our social bonds are fundamentally being shaped and often established in our youth, and also due to the fact that this is the peak of our sexual activity, it is imperative that we project an image of a fit, healthy, socially sophisticated and mentally capable individual. Embarassement tells us when we fail to maintain that image.

Nature's Complexity

Three observations. A few months ago, whilst sitting in a park in Sherwood on the bank of the Brisbane river I noticed something peculiar. The sun was quite low at this time of the day - about 15 degrees above the horizon on the other side of the river. A group of  Noisy Miners (birds - Manorina melanocephala) were gathered on the ground between where I was sitting, and the bank of the river, engaged in a peculiar hunting activity.

This is unusual for those birds, from my experience. They trotted around on the ground, every now and then flying up for a second only to land again. This phenomenon evoked my curiosity - what are they doing? They were hunting for moths and other insects of course, which from a bird's ground perspective were clearly visible against the dark background of the trees, and illuminated by the setting Sun. Hence this phenomenon - particular behavior of the Noisy Miners was contingent on the location (dim depths of a park on one side, and an open river bank on the other clearing the way for the rays of the setting Sun) and the time of the day. What finally confirmed my hypothesis was the fact that the birds always took flight in the direction of the park i.e. with the Sun - never in the direction of the Sun - toward the river's bank.

* * *

I observed something of similar nature today. I often track the Moon's path accross the sky from my front porch, as I appear there intermittantly every hour or so. There's a large tree in front of my house, which obscures a fair share of the Moon's path from the perspective of my porch. There is however one clearing among the branches, where the Moon appears for a short while, snugly framed by the little window in the monolithic thicket of the tree. I noticed today that although there would be sufficient room to construct a web anywhere among the tree's branches, a Golden Orb Spider has spread his silky net in that very clearing. 

We all know that moths are attracted to light - so the point is that the phenomenon of this spider appearing in that exact spot is contingent on the clearing, the Moon appearing there and the swarms of moths inevitably flying in that direction from the low and misty thickets of my front garden. The clearing, the seasonal location of the Moon (and it's phasal brightness) are only temporary, just as is the phenomenon of  "the spider in the tree's window".

* * *

The final, and equally contingent occurance which ties the previous observations is "the phenomenon of this post", since as I saw the spider today, the memory of the birds hunting by the river came to mind - and hence a substantial topic to write about.