The dreadful but quiet war –or– It’s literally a bug

There was a copy of Cold Mountain lying around so I picked it up and did what Tom Mayer told me to do to see if something was worth reading or a piece of shit. He didn’t say, “piece of shit.” He didn’t have to.

I flipped to a random page in the middle and started reading. It did hook me so I flipped back to the inset and found–

It is difficult to believe the dreadful but quiet war of organic beings, going on in the peaceful woods, & smiling fields. Charles Darwin, 1839 journal entry

I don’t know if you ever think about that. You should. All the time. Reality, natural reality, the natural world, is bloody, sinister, scheming, and vicious. Humans, and humans alone among all living things, have carved a place into ourselves where murder can even for a moment be considered wrong or unusual; considered anything save the cost of doing business.

Here is one of 10,000 animal interest stories from my own backyard this day–

I think that’s a true bug—perhaps a nymph—sucking the liquefied guts out of that moth. Mmmmmmmmm… liquid guts.