renaissance naturalist: 2014

RESURRECTION

On NPR I listened to an interview with poet/author Jason Mott about his 2013 book The Returned. A new TV series, Resurrection, is based on the book and aired on ABC last night. It is about people who come back from being dead, not vampires but resurrected people. As with all resurrections, the people return at the age they were when they died. (Actually, if one thinks about that, why does that have to be explained? Naturally they would return at the same age they left (died), unless the body continues to age after death, which is not likely. But it could make for interesting twist on the TV series.)

Jason Mott related that his idea for this storyline came from a dream experience (I guess one could say he dreamed it up…hahaha!!!). His mother passed away when he was in his early 20’s, maybe 22; he is now mid-30’s, maybe 35, and still misses her very much. One night he dreamed that he came home and his mother was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him. They sat for hours, talking and talking. It was so comfortable and real that he thought when he woke she would still be there in the house. After waking, though, she was not there, but he continued to ponder his dream. He was 22 when she left/died. He was 35 when she returned. She returned expecting to see her 22-year-old son, with all his 22-year-old thoughts, actions and expectations. But he was 35 and had moved on from the 22-year-old version of himself.

Jason Mott said from this dream he fashioned the storyline for his book The Returned. I think maybe he watched the Japanese film, Yomigaeri, and then had the dream about his mother, as his book bears a striking similarity to the plot of that film!

Then I too started thinking about his dream. The mother was expecting the 22-year-old son, but he had now advanced to a 35-year-old son. The person, as she knew him, was no longer that person. But that scenario is not limited to the resurrected. Frequently, it is what parents do to their children and children to their parents. Often, both keep each other in a snapshot of time where it is hard for the parents to let the children grow up, and it is hard for the children to let the parents grow old.

And it is not limited to families. It can happen in any relationship where growth or just plain change is stunted or stifled. Often people do not realize that they are framing someone in a snapshot. And they can only stop this “framing” when they recognize it of themselves, for if pointed out by another, they would shake their head in disbelief.

And what’s my point? That we can either remember, not remember, or change our memories of the person in the past. But we should always be acknowledging who IS the person of the present.

So, in the NPR interview, the question became, “If a loved one could come back to life, would you want them to?”

REAR WINDOW

Just as L. B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) viewed clandestine scenes from his rear window…I embrace a rear window view into our wooded yard abounding with faunal shenanigans (in this sense, meaning high-spirited bahaviour!). And just as “Jeff” Jeffries becomes familiar with and photographed all the tenants of his apartment courtyard, I take note and photo log the who and the how many of what delve into our woodland. And lastly, as Jeffries, I too sometimes make assumptions based on the conclusions of the camera lens.

A week ago in the “courtyard” a pair of squirrels balanced on a tree limb, performing 10 minutes of foreplay, followed by 10 seconds of sex, after which they adjourned to a neighboring side branch to quietly rest. What I viewed and termed “foreplay” was their act of facing each other and huddling close, and then licking each other all over. Licking eventually exploded into serious, quickly acted out, sexual deeds.