Comments on: The suburban path to enlightenment

By: mig

mig — Fri, 04 Jun 2004 11:58:27 +0000

They are wild here so I try to leave them alone, but they are a bit endangered I think, or at least protected, so we put out food for them plus if any miss the deadline for hibernation we let them spend the winter in the cellar. They are very cute in a clumsy way, but they are also filthy little evil-tempered territorial rodents that will cover every square inch of the cellar habitat you provide them with shit before finally deciding to hibernate, and if you happen to have two the dominant one will drive the other one out of his house and take it over, then do it again the following day (the German name for them is “Stachelschwein” which translates as “thorn pig” or “sticker pig” and the Japanese name for them is “hari-nezumi” which translates as “needle rat” and is one of my favorite words). And if you follow someone’s advice and get them live mealworms for fresh protein they won’t eat all of them and the mealworms will crawl away and infest your house, at least your cellar. Hedgehogs have a bit of an odor, at least their shit does, and they are prone to flea infestation and other parasites. Milk gives them diarrhea at best, and can kill them I’ve heard. They would be, I suppose, the equivalent of possums (only cuter) here as they are spread all over the roads in May, when they emerge from hibernation (although this year I’ve only seen a couple like that).

By: paul

paul — Thu, 03 Jun 2004 23:22:14 +0000

I’ve always secretly wished for a hedgehog for a pet. Are they any fun, or are they the equivalent of rats or squirrels if you are in an area they are native to? I hear they have a bit of an odor. But they are so cute..

By: scott partee

scott partee — Thu, 03 Jun 2004 16:38:18 +0000

“any path to enlightenment is as good as any other path”

–also reminds me a bit of The Stranger.

I’ve been thinking about this post all day. It’s great, Mig. It’s both universal AND has in jokes for those of us who read Metamorphosism on a regular basis.

“For that matter, I wonder if thinking while driving is a purer kind of thinking than, say for example, thinking in front of a computer? While driving your motor reflexes and reactions are totally absorbed and, if you are going someplace familiar, your mind is really free to wander. When you get home and you realize you didn’t really think about a single on-ramp, off-ramp, merge or stop sign, your mind was definately in an altered state.”

Happens to me every day. Yet I don’t feel that my thinking is very pure these days. That could be the newborn infant’s fault, though…

By: Saltation

Saltation — Wed, 02 Jun 2004 22:43:55 +0000

>”any path to enlightenment is as good as any other path”

this is a pretty common theme in the koans

By: ellie

ellie — Wed, 02 Jun 2004 20:09:25 +0000

Lovely post. I was a teen in the mid-seventies as well and toted Be Here Now in my bag, swore I’d never become one of “them.” I don’t live a typical Suburban life, but your excellent post reminds me just how much of it is an illusion. And just so you know, when the piano stops playing you’ll miss it like hell.

By: paul

paul — Wed, 02 Jun 2004 01:28:33 +0000

This reminds me of the book “Dharma Bums” by Jack Kerouac. There is a scene where he describes being in one of those mountain valleys where large rocks tumble down onto the floor in large piles (these are common in the Cascade Mountains near Seattle) and how you could lightly jump from the top of one rock to the top of another, as long as you didn’t think about it too much. Reading this reminded me that, A. I really like jumping from rock to rock in large scale rock piles, and B. it is kind of a zen thing, kind of concentrating, but not concentrating too much or you’ll never be thinking ahead to the next rock.

If you are not near mountains this also works with large rock rip raps at marinas or breakwaters.

For that matter, I wonder if thinking while driving is a purer kind of thinking than, say for example, thinking in front of a computer? While driving your motor reflexes and reactions are totally absorbed and, if you are going someplace familiar, your mind is really free to wander. When you get home and you realize you didn’t really think about a single on-ramp, off-ramp, merge or stop sign, your mind was definately in an altered state.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 22:14:04 +0000

And it’s written so well, I can almost imagine having a hedgehog in my ear. I wish we had hedgehogs.

By: scott partee

scott partee — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 21:55:01 +0000

I call your form of enlightenment the “old man stroll” sometimes. Part of the process, as I see it, is to light a cigar and walk the perimter of your property, looking at shrubs, pulling an occasional weed.

By: anne

anne — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 18:52:30 +0000

absolutely perfect.

we have a windowbox of marigolds that are dying, because i didn’t want to get attached to them before we leave for the summer, so the deal was i would buy them but i wasn’t going to take care of them and that the other person who was so hot for the idea in the first place was going to take care of the watering, etc.

i like your enlightment better. i think i’m going to go water the little orange yellow droops now.