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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

The Ascent Of Man

Yesterday, I concluded attendance upon two days of very happy business by the bay and decided to celebrate with a reenactment of humanity's rise from the sea into rarefied heights of land and gas. We begin with a primitive life-form assembling itself from siphonous seaweed utricles and puppydog tails:
In the background, where time and tide slide back into the sea, the wet verge is lined in gulls. They watch as our specimen ventures clumsily onto a new world, a new future and history, while they peck hapless crabs apart. They screech, "Bye! Uh, you gonna finish your hapless crab?"
But the evolving creature doesn't answer. He is entranced with oxygen, nitrogen and aqueous clouds. He is giddy with gas. He forms legs, pockets, eyeglasses.

He evolves primitive and unattractive clothes, but he is happy. Perhaps he never looks down. Let us examine our specimen's habits and motives more closely.
Ah, he has found a mate. This is what really makes specimens happy. Together they find a car evolved for them on La Playa Street and check into Hotel Monaco --an establishment based less on survival of the fittest than gratuities of the most comfortable-- before Man expands his diet beyond hapless crabs. They dine at Don Ramone's, prehistoric home of the giant tusked wooly-chimichanga. This allows Man to internalize the exotic gases of land life.

Man's Ascent is a journey upward from mud-bound protolife to oceanic hiccups, then out of water into air. It is a progression marked by adaptation to rarer and rarer atmospheres, presumably continuing into outer space and intergalactic exploration. Each stage has its challenges, rewards and measureless evolutionary advancements. This essay, however, must conclude with its subject deciding to remain at this one.


36 comments:

  1. Ah, the exotic gases of land life! I was picking sprouts this morning and though space does look enticing, I'm not done on earth just yet. Happy business- I'm hoping this means happy family stuff.... :-) xx

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    1. Thanks Lisa. It does --a stable future for a very special young member.

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    2. Hearty congratulations to all! Perfect start to the New Year xx

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  2. Two happy days on the bay sounds lovely.
    I'm not in any hurry to leave this stage of evolution either but I am curious as to what comes next.

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    1. It was lovely, and busy. Hopefully all our evolving includes beaches.

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  3. Geo, that's a great smile (in that 3rd photo)
    Guess it might have something to do 'with your mate'
    Sounds like you had 2 great days!
    Great photos!
    I like how you write ...

    Have a great day ")

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    1. Thanks, Margie. I like how you write (and smile) too.

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  4. Two blissful days, perfectly captured. Thank you. Love that smile and that happy walk...

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    1. I just get real happy by the ocean. This is probably the best planet in the world.

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  5. A marvelous retreat for you both. I have seen those gulls before; I think they are stalking us.

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    1. Feathered surveillance devices --gulls are always looking sidelong at us.

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  6. A lovely capture of a happy memory. Perhaps some of my offspring will venture into space but I am staying here. My evolution has not been completed in this space yet.

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  7. You told it better than Darwin. Magnifique!

    Unattractive clothes, no, no, Geo. I love the shirt.

    I love the ocean. We all have a part of it in our DNA. I just wish I could swim.

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    1. Kind Arleen, thank you. I too love what Norma calls "shirt-jack". Perhaps it should have tuxedo tails. Are there denim tuxes? When you learn to swim, it will feel like flying.

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  8. there seems to be more gas in this ascent than my nose would appreciate... But glad you made it out of the water!

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    1. Yes, a great battle with the giant chimichanga --the stuff of family and tribal legend to frighten children around the campfire.

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  9. How fun! I often contemplate our rise from the sea! I had the great joy of volunteering in the fossil lab at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science throughout the multi-year preparation and installation of it's permanent exhibit Prehistoric Journey. Years and years later I still love to do the walk through time and think about the amazing journey life on our planet has traveled. Your journey is funnier though! I'd really love to go into space! Have a good one!

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    1. Have not been in Denver since 1958 but would love to return and see the product of excellent labor like yours. I marvel at the emergence of the endoskeleton and vertebrate template --and the return to exoskeletal space suits. Amazing eras. Amazing times still underway too!

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    2. It's all this amazement that makes life such a gift!

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  10. Dear Geo.,
    what an extraordinary and delightful way to describe lovely holidays at the sea! Typical: the male specimen draws a more or less abstract survey of the history of evolution - thus putting stress on the intellectual side of life - while the female species enjoys wind, water and crabs with all her sense, cladestinely composing a book like 'Gift from the Sea' in her mind :-)

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    1. Dear Brigitta,
      I hope the esteemed Anne Morrow Lindbergh would not have found offense in my posing as a "gift from the sea" --just as I hope Jacob Bronowski might not object to my appropriation of his book title. Norma just thinks I am silly --but, as I mentioned earlier, a wonderful business was settled, so it was not all holiday but it closed in celebration.

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    2. Congratulation! You might tell in time - and in the meantime we are glad for you both.

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    3. Thanks! In time, some day, I would love to --it's a grand story-- but for now, it's not my call.

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  11. Let's hope there is good coffe wherever we ascend to:)

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    1. Indeed. Gravity holds the cosmos together but coffee's what keeps it alert.

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  12. Hi Geo .. you evoke our beginnings and our arising on two legs from the motley shore .. our life's evolution is amazing ... while you're having lots of fun together - as you say it's what makes the specimen happy .. enjoy 2015 together ... wherever and doing what ever business ... arising from the Ocean waves .. cheers Hilary

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    1. True and true, Hilary, and the best of new years too you too!

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  13. Once again, you start the new year by putting a smile on our faces. The beach is the best place in the world; I'm glad you enjoyed your getaway.As for those poor hapless crabs? My hubby would be perfectly contented if that's all he ate. Might not be a good idea, though. He might sprout feathers, and have the sudden urge to flit around on the beach chasing other seagulls. Fighting them for other hapless crabs.

    Happy New Year!

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    1. Susan, this is why I go to Don Ramone's. They have rules against swifter diners swooping in and taking my food. I'm sure Smarticus would agree evolution is a good thing when you want a relaxed meal.

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  14. I love this! And what a breathtaking view. I was at the beach in September and I miss it already! We're 8 hours from the closest beach, sadly.

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    1. So long as we can imagine the sound and motion of its waves, the feel of its sheen and shore, the ocean is to some degree portable --but yes, I know precisely how you feel.

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  15. Nice way to show self evolution through the pictures, and love how happy you are at the end!

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    1. Kind Amy, sometimes progress is made among loved ones for which an evolutionary walk up the beach is an accurate metaphor.

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  16. As usual, I don't really have anything to say about this post except that I really enjoyed it! And I'm jealous of the sun and sand.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed post, Lori. On bone-chilling inland days like this, I too envy San Franciscans --but they pay higher taxes for their weather.

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