Despite my constant complaining about the cold lately, I don't think it really sunk in that it is winter until just now, when I noticed the big icicles hanging off the roof outside my window. Its a blizzard today - a NorEaster. The work crew still showed up like clockwork bright and early. I was already in the bath. Today's bath was wonderful - long long long just like I used to take them. I've been sick these past few days, but a few hours in the heat has made me feel almost new again.
It also felt like old times because I found some of my Scientific Americans to add to the bath shelf. This is an extremely important addition to the bath time library. Even more crucial, I think, than the much favored Paris Review. Stepping away from poetry and culture, today I lent most of my focus to babies and Fracking.
Did you know that until recently, experts believed babies were dumb egomaniacs that could only understand the present moment and themselves existed? Well, it turns out that now experts have discovered that babies not only smart, but also are keenly aware of and continually conducting experiments on their environments. Apparently, a series of fancy tests reveal these little love bundles are extraordinary statisticians (better at recognizing patterns and adapting to new ones than adults). These tests show all kinds of fascinating things - more than I can go into or remember in my little blog. But my favorite piece of information was that babies believe that every plant and animal and maybe even object has its own essence, regardless of how much the object/person/animal is changed. The article did not explain this, but I am anxious to see that study. I'll admit I suspect its true...
The reason that experts used to believe babies were dumb seems to have rested entirely on a baby's lack of ability to communicate. Once scientists started looking at actions as well as language of babies, thats when all these big discoveries occurred. It is shocking to me that this approach was not thought of earlier. It reminds me of how my science books in college all said that animals aren't able to think or remember and only live in the moment on instincts. Usually the text books (and professors) also said animals don't understand language, and this is another evidence of their limited brain. Anyone who has ever spent much time around an animal, and isn't lying to themselves in an attempt to justify eating meat, will be able to attest that this is all hogwash. First of all, animals do communicate and many have sophisticated language systems. Some can even speak our language and most can learn to understand a lot of it (which is a lot more than can be said of us - has a human ever learned another species' language?) Second, it is clear to me that most animals do have long memories and just as rich an emotional life as we do. They remember the building that they had a bad vet experience five years ago, they show appreciation for loving acts, and they also scheme and think constantly. You should have seen the look on my cat's face when he was trying to get around a rule he knew he wasn't supposed to break. There are also amazing stories of animals problem solving and saving people in complex situations.
Ah well. Maybe someday we'll have news about the discovery that animals are smart and aware too. As the baby article pointed out, adult human brains tend to get stuck fairly easily, and once an expectation is established about a pattern, it is often quite difficult for adults to recognize, acknowledge or explain any deviation/new pattern.
I'm not sure how, but I think this limitation is related to the extremely insane idea of Fracking. I'm no expert, but so far the evidence I've read and even the testimonials from industry and the EPA members in their pocket seem to indicate Fracking has extreme risks. The sheer amount of horribly dangerous chemicals that will be pumped into the ground and then held in these "containment ponds" right near our precious drinking watersheds just cannot be safe. This seems obvious. But the Frackers say it will be ok, because the chemicals will mostly be under rock, and they will make good liners for the toxic containment ponds once the chemical water comes out. Well, even the experts agree neither of those precautions are foolproof and there is still a strong chance our drinking water will be contaminated. There is also substantial likelihood (apparently) that the chemicals will come up at the top end and get into our drinking water because of the pressure and the unsealed shapes of the concrete hoses (something like that). Eeks. What a nightmare. The worst part of all is that the justification seems to be that Fracking can get us enough natural gas to last...hopefully...40 years??? Are they kidding? We have alternative sources of energy that are not that dangerous and can last much much longer than that, why would we possibly instead pursue this option which just buys us a tiny bit of time and may cost us our most precious natural resource?
Focusing so much on Fracking began to make me feel ill again so I pulled out an old trick from my much laughed at "spiritual bathing" book. Baptism. Thats right. Almost every religion has a version of it. Little known is the long history of self-baptism in most traditions - even Christianity. I like to do self-baptisms from time to time for a variety of reasons. Today, it was a no frills get healthy one. I rested my feet against the edge of the bath, held my nose and sunk deep down to the bottom, resting my whole back, body and head on the porcelain base. I let all thoughts go, and just rested there for as long as I could. Thanks to all the old opera training and all the yoga breathwork, this was a long time. The longer the better, I think, with these baptisms but even a quick dunk helps. When I emerged, I felt new again, reborn and healthy. One more dip for good measure and then I looked at the snow and just felt joy.
Well, wish me luck keeping up with the new me. But if I slip into sickness or stress again, no problem - just a little plunge ought to set me right in no time. You too can try it out - any old bathtub will do, just try to stay down as long as you can. And breathe deeply when you reemerge, opening your eyes and noticing the world around you as if you were a baby.
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