A New Year's Day
Wow, Christmas seemed to disappear very quickly! I look around me today, on the first one of 2024, and now no vestiges of that day remain.The decorations are neatly packed into two vintage tubs that came with us on the long trek from Sechelt to Chilliwack.
There is a sigh of realizing the joy of being close to family at this point. I still miss the wonderful friends in Sechelt, but I know they are still there. It just remains at their point to devote energy to getting settled here.
Christmas, wherever
We used to travel every Christmas, used to find joy in seeking out remote islands, and living there for a while. That was good, especially as we now have those wonderful memories.
But now we’re entering a different time of life, with different health issues, and different age. Probably many others will be doing the same today.
After all, this is the time for New Year's resolutions. Usually, the aims are pretty high, and this can be a trap in itself. I believe in allowing yourself a lot of leeway in these goals. That way you can at least succeed, in part! That helps to reinforce belief in your own abilities.
So instead of confining yourself to success of an ultimate self-improvement goal by a definite date, how about starting on it, and assessing your results through the year? After all, starting is good, much better than doing nothing towards whatever it is, right? Life is unexpected.
The guest
This morning I approached my easy-to-clean, immaculate white shower. But wait, something sullied that sheer white perfection. Was it dust?
On closer inspection “it” turned out to be a very spindly-looking Daddy long legs. I marvelled briefly at the fragile-looking, long legs and minuscule body before turning on the water. The long legs was going to be just fine, as it was at the non-pressurized part of the shower.
Beyond myself
I used shampoo and body wash soap. The water was comfortingly warm. Then the thoughts started crowding in.
I was thinking about the masses of humanity that are displaced because of war. How do they manage? No soap, no washing facilities. No food, no beds. Nothing that could give them the comfort of having any type of home.
I cannot even imagine their grief, despair and sadness. The women especially. They always seem to come off worst in these situations. Would the world actually be better off with women in charge? They have a thing about their menfolks getting injured or killed.
Other thoughts intruded. I wondered whether the daddy long legs was actually a daddy, or a mommy? Hard to tell.
I do know though that daddy long legs, although related to spiders, are actually related but not actual spiders. Also that the dads actually completely care for their infants. The moms skedaddle after the babes arrive.
So there goes my theory about women in charge.
After my shower I toweled dry. I had resolved not to get side-tracked from the daddy long legs in its precarious position on the slippery wall. But to my disappointment, he/she had gone! Just like that. But wait, no, there was indeed a lonely trace of the creature.
Daddy long legs have a way of voluntarily discarding a leg to marauding attackers.
 |
| Apologies for the lighting Image via VickiW. |
They have eight, and can’t regrow them, so this is a sacrifice indeed. If I see this particular one again, I’ll be counting the legs. Speaking of which, those legs look incredibly fragile, and definitely much longer than a normal spider has.
Their tiny pill-like bodies have those outrageously long legs all attached in one place to them, and they only have two eyes. So they’re not particularly well designed as far as self defence goes. Their long legs make a convenient hold for birds, if they happen to venture outside.
I'd happily keep lots of them in the house, as they eat all kinds of decomposed matter that they probably can see more than me. ( I’m legendary for not being the best house cleaner, and we do have quite a bit of carpeting.)
So it was a sad thing that this particular daddy considered me a predator.
A blend
New Years are times of sad and glad, all mixed up. We went out for dinner last night with our neighbours. Just before it was delivered to our table an ambulance arrived, right on the opposite side of the road.
There we were, eating delicious food. For the next hour or so, obviously the paramedics were busy working frantically to resuscitate two folks lying on the ground who’d overdosed on drugs. Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile these things.
I want to thank all my readers, all over the world for reading here. I’m hoping you’ll all have the absolute best year in 2024.
