Winter Solstice

"Octavia" 12" x12" Acrylic on canvas ©2008 C. Bain


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This is the shortest day of the year, winter solstice. The first day of winter, yet the darkness is diminishing and things feel hopeful. The focus can be on the upswing, literally. The sun's arc will slowly get higher in the sky until it reaches its apex six months from now. We are moving toward summer, and on June 21st we will move toward winter. Always moving toward something, right?

The octopuses in Indonesia who build houses out of coconut shells probably don't give a hoot about solstice or even the religions we attach to our heavenly bodies. Or do they? Maybe they have built temples in huge caverns under the sea, where they perform sophisticated rites. Or they have a university down there where they have developed all kinds of technologies that we cannot even fathom. Perhaps theirs is a form of biotechnology that our genen-techs haven't even come close to imagining. Is there a set of octopus algorithms based on the silent sinewy floating consciousness of these brilliant, mischievous creatures?

How about the octopus who opened a valve in her water tank and watched as the staff cleaned up the flooded floors? Hey, it got a "flood" of press for the aquarium and the animals it houses. Brilliant marketing stunt, don't you think? Octopuses have taste, too, you know, and they let you know how they feel: In one instance, an octopus given a slightly spoiled shrimp stuffed it down the drain while maintaining eye contact with its keeper.

Happy solstice. Wishing you freedom.