[ExI] Human extinction

[Amara Graps]

Dear Jeff,

Jeff Davis jrd1415 at gmail.com :
>I have a Buddha in my garden.  He reposes in iconic serenity beneath
>the happiest lace-leaf maple you could ever hope to see, with a little
>gargoyle buddy at his feet.  I get a warm feeling every time I look at
>him.  Which, of course, is the point.


Ah hah! I have a garden statue: Mr. Happy Buddha in my back yard. He
travelled with garden statue: Mr. Dragon from the S.F. Bay Area to
Bammental to Heidelberg to Frascati to Boulder and could probably use a
paint job after these 10 years, but he's still laughing. His laughter
indicates that his travels couldn't have been too bad, with the
exception of one incident [1].

The two companions (Mr. Happy Buddha and Mr. Dragon) might be happier
under a maple tree like yours, but I didn't plant anything in my back
yard last Spring because I was sleeping my first trimester away. Plus I
haven't invested in garden tools yet because I need to buy more light
fixtures that work on the US power system first. So my backyard is a
chaos of weeds and tree-lets demonstrating that life has a propensity
to grow anywhere.

'Myrtle the yogini' (last time I saw her, she had her foot next to her
head) would be pleased to receive your partner's knitted creation. She'll
be born in the winter hibernation period, but I doubt she'll be hibernating
much after she appears in this universe. Thank you so much for thinking
of us. :-)

Amara



Reference
[1]  from my travel log: "Greetings from Frascati ...!",
21 Februrary 2003 "The Move from Heidelberg, Germany to Frascati, Italy"

[...]
The weather was cold, with snow still on the ground from the previous
snow. On the day of my move pickup, January 13, a large snowfall hit
Heidelberg. The snow didn't stop falling during the 4 hours that it
took to load the truck. And as with the move from La Honda,
California, I got a lump in my throat to watch the movers close my
life in a crate(s) and nail it shut. (four crates total)

The most memorable event in those three days (Jan 10-12) was my
struggle with "Mr. Happy Buddha". Who is that? He is one of my garden
statues (the other is "Mr. Dragon") that I've had since about 1991,
always keeping them nearby to my home window when I lived in places
without a garden. Mr. Happy Buddha is a happy reminder of the good
parts of life, then he gained an additional personality when Larry
Grey died. Larry had a key role in my decision to follow the
scientific path that I'm on now, in addition to being like a loving
family member. Since my Buddha looks like Larry, when I see Mr.
Budhha, I'm reminded of him.

My struggle with Mr. Happy Buddha began at about 9:30pm the evening of
January 12. I remembered that I had to  retrieve him from the planter
outside of my window where he had been meditating under a bush for the
last 2.5 years. Those of you who heard me complain about the
persistent Germany rain last year now might guess that Mr. Buddha sunk
a little in the dirt during this time and you would be right. Not only
sinking, but the cold winter gave Mr. Buddha a thick ice perch,
rooting him solidly in the soil. He didn't want to budge. My first
dousing of his ice perch with a kettle of boiling water didn't loosen
the grip. However a steady chipping away at the ice with an an ice
pick did the job ... after an hour.

By eleven p.m. he came free, but not before I attracted the
attention of my neighbor, who saw me doing something strange in the
bushes that late night as she walked her dog.  She came to inquire
what I was doing, and when she saw the dilemma, she went inside her
home to bring a kettle of boiling water to douse Mr. Happy Buddha too.
When she returned with the kettle, Mr. Budda was free, and I was
trying to wash off the muddy ice and warm myself at the same time. I
was freezing! We both then finished cleaning him up and I returned
inside to continue packing my flat. (I finished packing 15 minutes
before the movers arrived at 9am.)
[...]
-- 

Amara Graps, PhD      www.amara.com
Research Scientist, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, Colorado