Narwhals Real and Imagined

 

Yesterday Travalon and I saw a narwhal puppet, and he was surprised because it was gray with darker gray spots, like an actual narwhal. I know they are usually depicted as sparkly unicorn dolphins leaping through the waves under rainbows, but in reality they are small, gray whales that spend most of their time diving deep into the ocean. I remember as a child giving a presentation on narwhals, and the other kids thought I was making it up: "A whale with a horn? No way!" But now they are everywhere in kids' stuff: narwhal books, narwhal lunch boxes, and of course stuffed narwhals. Sadly, the real whales are having trouble finding food as the ocean temperatures rise, and starvation is something I wouldn't wish on any creature. If all these sparkly unicorn dolphins that kids see everywhere lead them to learn about the real whales and maybe do something to help them, then maybe there is hope for the future of this planet.

I am really wondering about myself. I used to be a voracious reader of fiction, but about a decade ago I abruptly lost interest in it, and now most of what I read is written by pundits on the internet. Nobody seems concerned about this change, and now I notice an even more alarming one: I am becoming immune to weather extremes, just like Richard Bonomo. We always said it was because he's from another planet, where our temperature differences would barely register, but I'm pretty sure I was born here on Earth fifty years and a week ago. Lately when people complain in the summer about how hot and humid it is, I think to myself how odd, I thought it was a perfect temperature. I thought maybe I belonged in the tropics, but then today it was like three degrees, and minus thirteen with the windchill, but I was just fine all bundled up, and I prayed a whole rosary outside. It used to be that my rule was I wouldn't pray the rosary at a temperature below 23 Fahrenheit, so why this winter am I just fine at lower temperatures? Am I suddenly becoming immune to temperature extremes just like Rich? Is that what happens when you get old? Then why do so many old people move to Florida? I would say I'm getting better with age, but the doctor told me I'd be fine if I could walk a mile in fifteen minutes, and no matter how fast I go, I can't do it in less than twenty, so clearly I'm at death's door right now. Maybe that's why I don't feel the cold anymore...?

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