OUR MODERN DOWNTON ABBEYS

It occurred to me, in the process of a conversation, that the current ‘madness’ for Downton Abbey, in which I am a joyful and willing participant, has as much to do with our modern society as it does our taste for history and the perception of glamour and family stories.

Why would I say such a thing?  What possible connection could the series of Downton Abbey have to do with our twenty-first century?  Well, the fact is that there have long been, at least in the so-called Western civilization, the layers of society having to do with wealth and privilege as well as the ‘under-levels’ that support those ‘upper levels’.  In the time of Downton Abbey, there is a great sense in many members of the family that there is duty as well as privilege, that many people, both in the household staff and in the property’s farms and in the village, depend on the well-being of the big house’s economy for their own livelihoods. In our modern time, extraordinarily successful people such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet, and Oprah Winfrey, among others, extend their care and interest to the world stage, and there are, of course, many, many more who are less well-known but no less important and effective.  These folks all embrace the Biblical injunction that “to whom much is given, much is required.”

There have always been those who see no sense of responsibility further than what their greedy hands can reach.   All those scions of wealthy families who drank and gambled their fortunes away and many times their lives, also, and there are twenty-first century versions of those.  Or those who insist on owning many houses or incredibly large houses and furnishing those houses with the most expensive art and décor that can be found. 

But all of these elements perhaps explain the international fascination and appreciation with the clan of Downton Abbey, with their romances and losses and constant struggles to understand the world they are moving into, as are we all.

THE SOLAR FLARE THEORY

It is a scientific fact that upon occasion, the sun produces flares.  These flares project for thousands of miles into space, affecting space currents and ultimately, among other things, radio transmissions and other electronic fields on Earth.

 Among the electronic particles in Earth’s atmosphere are positive and negative ions.  It is a scientific theory that positive ions have a negative effect on human emotions, and that negative ions have a positive effect.

The (un)scientific philosophy is that solar flares, when affecting Earth’s atmosphere, produce too many positive ions and too many negative feelings, leading to those types of days that we all have, when everyone is hostile on the freeway, when we lose things right in front of us, when everything is snarled and when nothing goes right, including our hair, our wardrobes, our finances, and all other aspects of human endeavor.  On certain days, such as today, one can encounter situation after situation where people are rude or careless or oblivious.  On such days, my mate and I nod to each other knowingly and whisper, “Solar flares.”

There is an unofficial Society for the Study of Solar Flares (SSSF) which I unofficially founded many years ago. If you agree with the theory, you are automatically a member.  Its mission is to explain this information to beleaguered individuals, and give them to understand that there is something to blame (besides ourselves) when all goes wrong and everything or everyone seems crazy!

Shakespeare could have been wrong when he said, “... the fault ...lies not in our stars but in ourselves.”

One more important point:  the effects of solar flares can be experienced even when it is raining!

BIRD BRAINS?

Everyone has heard the disparaging comment about someone who is foolish that they have a ‘bird brain’; this label must stem from the fact that birds are small and have brains proportionate to their bodies.

But the other day we saw a television segment showing a small bird weaving its nest and it was fascinating and took a lot of skill, and as we watched, several thoughts occurred to us.

First of all, birds meet some of the definitions we use to define humanity.  Birds can use their claws and beaks to build nests and some nests we have seen in photographs are rather awesome architectural accomplishments.  Birds use materials such as grasses and twigs to build and they are selective in choosing what will work and what will not.  Birds communicate; it is thought that bird song is more than the lovely music it sounds to us humans.   And some species of parrots not only learn to mimic human speech, they also recognize the beat in human music and can respond accordingly, something no other animals than man can do (but not every human – personally, I ain’t got no rhythm!). 

Also, migratory birds find their way over thousands of miles from one place to another.  The truly fascinating thing about that is that some birds returning from migration have never been that way before.  They were born during migration and are following some sort of inherited internal guide.

Many species of birds mate for life, not an easy task considering the vulnerabilities in their lives.

Considering all these abilities, maybe we should all wish we had bird-brain capabilities, or perhaps even just use the ones we have.

ALL OF THEM

So what would we do without them all?  If you think back to the last decade-plus of natural and man-made disasters, think then about who are always the most involved?  Firefighters, police, teachers, nurses and doctors.  I’d suggest going back to the dawn of civilization but our memories as a race are so short.

But just consider the events just from 9/11/2001 until now, involving certain people running toward the problems.  Firefighters and police always head to where the problem is.  The first instinct of teachers is to protect the children.   Nurses stayed with a mother having a baby in the middle of a tornado in Oklahoma.  The thing in common with all these folks is that they provide the structure of our society.  We could manage quite nicely in many ways without Congress, at least the one we have now, but what would we do without our firefighters, police and teachers?  Without the nurses and doctors who always head to where they’re needed.   And the folks in these professions choose their fields, choose to put themselves on the line, choose too many times to sacrifice. 

So how do we recognize these folks?  We allow our local and state and federal governments to minimize their salaries while at the same time asking more and more of them.  Oh, we make a lot of noise when disasters occur, but then that famous short-term memory kicks in.

Do we really want to forget the heroes of 9/11?  Do we want to forget the teachers and administrators who ran toward the gunfire at Sandy Hook Elementary?   Or the folks like the nurse who waded through flood waters toward her hospital to help when Superstorm Sandy struck?  Or the brave souls who died in West, Texas, trying to put out a fire?  Or the teachers who covered their children in the schools at Moore, Oklahoma.  I say “their children” because when they have that responsibility, those children become theirs.

We need to become a nation of activists.  Oh, not the kind who riot and picket, but the kind who go to local government meetings, who insist on recognizing and keeping the folks who hold our society together.  The ones we count on being there when something terrible happens, with their hands out to give, not to take.

THINGS CHANGE EVERY DAY

It’s no secret to those who know me well, or even just acquaintances, that I love daylilies, not above all other flowers, but daylilies have a special place with me.  Every flower is ephemeral to some extent, in that no flower that I know of lasts for a whole season, but daylilies set a record in that they last for only just a day, so why would anyone be so fond of them?  Well, speaking to the flower aspect, because well-established daylilies send up so many bloom stalks with so many buds, individual plants can easily bloom for weeks.   My first desire, every morning, at this, the blooming time of year for daylilies in our part of the world, is to go out first thing in the ‘coolth’ of the morning and see what is blooming.  Some plants are old friends; I have about three varieties I have grown for decades and which I have taken starts of with us through several moves.  Some plants are newer, but all the blooms are welcomed, every season, every day, new variety or old. There are so many colors and singles and doubles and large and miniature, and many are very fragrant.  And did I mention that they are tough?

Speaking to the philosophical aspect of these lovely plants, every day is a new day for daylily blooms, as well as for us.  It’s so very easy to take every day for granted, each day full of tasks and plans and expectations, but just like those daylily blooms, every single day is unique and special and, for us, we try very hard to remember that with gratitude, and we have those lovely blooms to remind us.