New Item for my Preparedness Kit – A Pigeon!

Oh, I know what you are thinking... A pigeon?  Really?  Where am I going to store the bird seed, right?  Not a problem.  Birds eat like, well, birds.  Not much to do there, but when I recently heard a broadcast from Radiolab’s Lost and Found series, “Pigeons Have Magnets, Right?,” (1) I was spellbound.  These amazing little gray, feathered critters are part Rocky Balboa, part Jacques Cousteau – and practically unstoppable.

The story starts with a pigeon aptly named G.I. Joe whose astonishing task in World War II resulted in the saving of 1000 Italian citizens.  Packed in a dark box and carted into completely unfamiliar territory, Joe was the last hope to a town on the verge of heavy bombardment but no other means of communication.  Astonishingly, when released Joe flew over territory he had never seen before and in record time directly to his home base 20 miles away, effectively stopping the bombing and saving the town.  I am thinking maybe we should change the “as straight as a crow flies” to “as a pigeon flies” but maybe I am getting a little off topic...

How could that happen?  As humans, if we are carted somewhere without visual landmarks and a good GPS, we are completely lost at our destination.  So, how do these bird brains do it?  That question was the heart of this story.

Some speculation was that these feathered dynamos have super-sensitive hearing or sense of smell, but there is a growing interest that pigeons use the earth’s magnetic fields to “see” and map out where they are and where they want to go.  The main theory is that birds possess special magnetic receptors some place in their heads.  However, there is more recent data that points to some ability of the hippocampus, which has no known magnetic receptors.  The problem is that there is either insufficient or conflicting data to figure out how exactly that uncannily precise homing feature works, so the story is still somewhat of a mystery.

So the next time you see a pigeon and start to get annoyed, stop a minute.  No bird brain there.  Watch their grace and pre-planned mission as they fly off.  If you listen carefully, you almost hear Greek composer Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire...  Fly, Joe, fly.

(1)  http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blogland/2012/jul/11/pigeons-magnets/

What you can’t do

My children enjoy making fun of me.  I’m a bit of a klutz and ham so that is the perfect storm that being laughed at, but what they really kid me about is my crying.  I can’t help it.  I am either very sentimental, very sensitive or have exceedingly weak tear ducts.  Not only do I cry at the sad parts of movies, I have often cried at happy parts.  Doesn’t have to be real people either, as I have sobbed at animated films as well – some, according to my daughter, that didn’t even have sad parts.

For those of you lucky enough to have grown up with Star Trek will understand my belief that “going every week where no man had gone before” was a staple of my childhood.  I loved the adventure and meeting new cultures and alien beings with Spock and Kirk.  I loved the challenge it gave to my young 1960’s mind about being different and to accept things you don’t understand.  The one episode that still stands out in my mind is with an Empath, Gem. (episode 12 of season 3 for Trekkie fans).  Gem takes on the hurt and suffering of the injured so that the injured person can survive.  She, with her regenerative powers, then heals herself.  I guess I rather feel like her.  I watch movies (and to the immense amusement of my children, even commercials) and suddenly I am that person being hurt or saddened.  I feel like the person overjoyed with happiness.  So thoroughly do I feel that emotion that I can’t help but cry.

And so, it was with great sadness that I read the accounts of the tragic shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, theatre last week.  I have friends, children, a husband – all of whom could very well have been that excited movie-goer to the new Batman film.  Great story, great actors, exciting plot, handsome superhero, great femme fatale.  And, like Gem, I can’t help but absorb that feeling of grief and deep hurt of those who lost loved one.  How could one possibly feel when they lose someone they love so tragically, so senselessly.  Reading accounts of family and friends left behind, I sobbed.  None of them were people I knew, but yet I know how much I love my family and how unbearable it must be to live without them.

This is something for which all of the preparedness stuff I talk about simply can’t prepare you.  Ever.  Particularly when there was no purpose to this other than the workings of a deranged mind – and the inhumanity and hardware to pull it off.

For those left suffering, I am truly so sorry.  I feel for you and wish that like Gem, I could take some of your sadness and help you heal.  But I am trying to understand, trying to empathize, and am crying with you.

Dog Kisses to the Rescue

I have been an advocate of the “a little dirt is good for you” theory since my kids were born.  I grew up on a farm where play, animals and dirt were a regular and wondrous part of my childhood.  You went outside, you got dirty.  It was a given.  I have always been pretty healthy and so are my kids, so it made sense that a little challenge to the immune system periodically kept it in shape to ward off the nasty stuff.

Now a study recently published in the journal of Pediatrics* has shown that pets are an effective vehicle for bringing dirt, or more correctly microbiotic agents, to us, especially as children.  For example, kids in homes with dogs had lower incidents of some respiratory ailments and ear infections.  Check out a video about the benefits of your pet at: http://www.newsy.com/videos/cats-dogs-may-boost-babies-immune-systems/

The use of antibiotics was less in these pet-loving homes as well, which is great because, as I’ve stated in my blogs before, antibiotics are terribly over-used and becoming more ineffective because of it.  

Some people are allergic to cats and dogs, but those without allergies could really benefit from having a four-legged creature at home.  It is common knowledge now that having a pet around reduces a person’s anxiety and, for some, especially the elderly, provide companionship and a reason to take of themselves. 

But, let’s be clear – I really do NOT advocate letting a dog kiss you on the mouth, even though we have all seen individuals do it who have apparently forgotten what that same tongue just licked.  Actually, while I don’t like dogs licking me at all, but I love to have my dogs greet me at the door or snuggle next to me on the couch.

So, I think I will add “get a dog (or cat)” to your Emergency Preparedness Kit.  They could help boost your immune system and give yourself someone to hug when a disaster strikes.  Your pet may not be a Lassie or Rin Tin Tin, but he or she can give you something you just can’t buy in stores...someone who will be by your side through thick and thin.

Just don’t forget to make a Preparedness Kit for your pet.  For ideas go to:  http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/disaster-preparedness/

*Read the article, “Dirty Dog, Happy Baby” by Amina Khan in the July 9, 2012, Los Angeles Times.

The greatness of the Great Lakes State

Having been born in this state, the lushness, greenery and palpably humid summers are always comforting and familiar, yet momentarily shocking from the dry, adobe-colored pallette that is so So-Cal.  Although they are possible, earthquakes seem an unlikely and almost exotic experience here.  Thunderstorms, hail and an occasional tornado can and do appear to frighten and wreak havoc, but there is usually some warning--  flash of lightning, a clap of thunder or that characteristic odd-green sky and electrified air that occurs right before a funnel cloud arrives.

When I mention to my Michigander family that I got an extra roll of paper towels or a case of water for emergencies, I get the same response.   A smile and nod that confirms their opinion that I am a nut.  “Prepare for what?” their faces all say.  A fire? Flood? Tornado? And, you have to be kidding, an earthquake?  I might as well suggested that they prepare for an erupting volcano.

It is not like disasters don’t happen here.  Houses do burn in fires.  Snow storms shut highways and strand people in their cars.  Severe storms do knock out power, often for days, but I have yet to see any signs of preparedness.  OK, maybe it is m y family and their either ignorance of the unexpected or their unfailing faith that someone will come along and help them, but preparedness is just not on their radars.

Or perhaps it is that old pioneer spirit, or that people here are really nice.  People in Michigan manage to continue along just fine, despite the seeming lack of low fat food, and lust for things sweet and fatty.  Looked at from that angle, I guess, the biggest disaster ready to befall many people here is finding a close location of a cardiac medical center.  I am not trying to be harsh or mean, but physical fitness, at least at some level, IS a form of preparedness and a life saving/extending measure.

For those of you not familiar with Michigan, or any of those beautiful states surrounding the Great Lakes, I encourage you to go there.  It is beautiful and full of really lovely and very friendly people.  Just be prepared – you will very likely get called “Hon,” and even a light touch on the arm as they thank you for coming by.