There are rumors of a coyote raising her pups on Bernal Hill. I dreamed about her before we moved. Very strong magic, said Jamey, to dream of a coyote. There have been actual sightings of a black bear at Point Reyes: notices were posted at the Palomarin Trail we hiked with Christopher last week. (Hike is a bit of a strong word: it probably wasn't three miles to the beach and back. But I did climb the hill with a plump toddler in the Kelty Base Camp, which is not to be sneezed at.) Last night I dreamed I met the bear beside a creek. I was scared at first, but it turned out to be very tame and cuddly, with dense soft fur like Bebe's. Not cuddly like a toy: dangerous but kind, like a very big dog. It put its muzzle in my hands.
Finally, a lion has attacked two horses around Felt Lake, where we used to keep Noah. The big fierce predators are coming back. I find it oddly comforting, like the herds of taki around Chernobyl. This is what the world will look like after we are gone. I am reading Bill Bryson's Short History, which is full of asteroid strikes and hypercanes and the Yellowstone supervolcano, a bit like Mike Davis but on a cosmic scale and without the existential despair. Bryson makes these observations about life: life wants to be. Life doesn't want to be much (look at lichen). From time to time, life goes extinct. Life goes on.
Posted by rachel at May 05, 2004 12:55 PM