Laws of Nature

The laws of nature are not amendable by something as incompetent as our congress or government. Though occasionally something totally unexpected can occur, in general we humans have close to no control over nature.  Nature is certainly not always pretty or pleasant. The other side of the stunning, amazing and beautiful existence of the natural world is the cruel, shocking and ugly reality...the survival of the fittest. 

The hubby and I greatly enjoy our summer cabin at the foot of the Colorado mountains. We particularly appreciate being out of the city and having the views of the vast meadows that surround us and roll slowly up to the spectacular peaks.  In those meadows, with our binoculars and viewer scopes we are able to observe glimpses of nature that we don't have access to in our Texas home.  A small herd of horses roam and graze, with the distant guard of an old shaggy llama.  We see antelope, occasional mule deer and a rare elk.  We have watched a female antelope kick and fight off attacking coyotes, driving them away.

Recently, unfortunately, the ugly side of nature's drama played out in the far green field. A dog from our widespread and sparsely populated neighborhood, in the company of another that we didn't recognize made a newborn antelope calf their prey.  With the mother absent, in mere minutes they slaughtered the small animal. This was a hard thing to see, a cold splash of the reality of life. Later, watching the mother return several times and search the area for her calf was just plain painful.

The thing is, the dog is a perfectly friendly and likable animal. Just a mild faced hunting spaniel, that other than it's annoying mournful howls that sometimes echo from the porch he lounges on, is no problem.  Obviously, paired with his large furry sidekick, the inherent instinct of the hunter and prey easily surfaced. 

Over the next days, my thoughts went to the inevitability of such events, not just in the animal society. In a dystopian world, a world that is altered from everything we are accustomed to by whatever disaster might cause that change, the human instincts of survival will surface.  The friendly and likable neighbor could quickly become your enemy.

If we ever find ourselves in such a world, I believe it won't necessarily be the strongest that survive.  It will most certainly be the smartest and the best prepared.  The huge advantage we have over the animals is our ability to learn from something bad that happens. We have intelligence and the ability to prevent or at least prepare for unexpected events in our lives.  When things happen that remind us of our fragile existance, they should not rule or defeat us but serve to guide us in a more thoughtful and watchful way of living.