Copper Chronicles

There seems a close relation between these three things- I suspect we are all talking about the same thing only using different words. Sort of like someone confused our language so we don’t understand one another.

Like, I say “beast.” And you say: “There’s no such thing as beasts.” My mother bursts in telling me stop using the word “like.” I say, “The word ‘like’ is for making metaphors. People have been comparing this thing to be similar to that thing for ages. It’s a perfectly legitimate grammatical expression,” I say.

She breathes fire🔥. She’s irate because I sound like a Valley Girl. (Remember the Eighties? Big hair and gum chewing? Give it time, you’ll get it.)

See? ‘Beasts’ one and all. It’s not a question of whether there are beasts or not. I am a beast occasionally when I don’t eat. Don’t stand between me and my lunch.

So, the ‘beast’ that is part of our universal language means: chaos, confusion, terror. Breathing fire 🔥 Whether that’s hell and damnation preachers or leftist activists who are very angry. 🔥The witch in the woods who eats naughty children🔥 Or, the mythical, man-animal that tried to boil the Apostle John.

I say “beast.” You say “conspiracy theory.” There is something confusing, scary, and terrible happening in the world. To what else shall we attribute this phenomenon?

It makes sense to me now- if there is a mythical, beast-like power at work in the world (what all cultures before our own essentially believed), then listening to stupid music lyrics (like from my generation) is a great way of terrorizing people.

I looked, and looked for meaning in the language and words these ‘artists’ muttered and spewed irreverently with their tongue sticking out. “I am a creature of hell,” they avowed most agonizingly. And, looked very convincing. There’s no such thing as monsters- I’d hear parents say on television, while turning the channel to MTV.

Yes, there are beasts! It is we, ourselves! Bred for the purposes of hell by Hell itself! Of course, nonsensical messages delivered alongside beating drums and mixed messages in the media make crazy.

When I looked at my childhood public school papers there were two emerging themes: “Me,” and Scary Halloween faces. That’s it. Halloween is the only American holiday that actually remains in tact in the public school system. Seriously??

Yes, there’s monsters. Now about that pact with the Almighty…If your not convinced this is so, who exactly are the monsters mocking and jeering at?? If there is “Irreverence,” then there must also be “Reverence.”

Irreverence is then only a negation of reverence- the refusal to honor One who is Worthy.

Halloween is coming. Sorry, I am not handing out any candy.

Sometimes turning something upside-down and inside-out is how you make a thing ‘right’ again. Sort of like when laundry gets tangled up in the washer machine. Or ships get crushed by continuing ocean waves they were not designed to endure.

This phenomenon of the Great Washing Machine ‘righting’ the wrongs of the world may spark interest in conspiracy theorists. And well it should. Whether the chaos in “planned” or happening just by chance, we do want to untangle our wash and ‘right’ our personal ships. I hope.

Chaos is a monster. That is why ancient myths depict terrifying beasts with god-like power wreaking havoc on their villages. I think to defy this human habit of myth making, the social engineers decided to “engineer-out” superstitions of god-like beings and taught people to believe in themselves instead. Knowledge, Science, and the Power of Self is what twentieth century thinkers believed in.

Nietzsche’s super-humans will save us from the fear and chaos inherent in human existence, they postulated. Not mythical beings. Not God as understood for most centuries before our own. We will be our own gods, they Imagined.

I don’t think it is working with all due respect to Ubermans out there…

So, what we know about our existence is their is chaos-to be sure. And One can’t be an uberman truly- in my opinion, unless he does the hard work of meeting this reality with a bit of humility. Is it possible we as Americans have over emphasized our own ability to create one, big, happy global family?

How many wars in oversees nations do we need to fight before we get the idea that everyone does not define “family’ the same way?? We’ve been told from birth we are at War! A War on this… a war on that! A War on Poverty, a War on disease! The Righteous Indignation is furious like someone else I know in history and wish I didn’t.

If a war is necessary to impose our values on the rest of the world, perhaps the Ubermen will admit they are not gods (small g) after all?? Perhaps a moment of truth is required? That they themselves have become as chaotic and deranged as any other mythical beast terrorizing the world?

After yesterday’s nutritional smoothie, I was starving about 45 minutes later so I ate a big, delicious steak. I reminded myself of Nicolas Cage in the movie Moonstruck, when “Loretta,” played by Cher, cooks him a steak and he eats like his life depends on it.

He was starving, too. His character, the baker, worked long hours and went home and woke up again. I guess after such dull labor, you feel like NOT eating. Why bother sustaining yourself if your life seems like one-long punishment?

My life isn’t one long punishment. Fortunately, I broke that cycle by accepting a pact with the Almighty. The Almighty has a pact. As much as the leaders of this world live in denial of any such being (you can tell because they do essentially exactly the opposite of what He says), the Almighty will answer.

The deal was: I stop doing the foolish things that hurt myself, others, and Him. And for future, I’d seek and accept guidance and wisdom on how exactly one goes about not being stupid. Stupidity is kind of a universal problem with human beings, if you hadn’t noticed. As the Almighty being is a God of Love (according to Him), this seems a reasonable agreement.

Otherwise, my choices are limited. Work all day, go home. Get up again and go to work? After a while you start to realize that slavery in this world system hasn’t changed all that much. The slaves just get a little better quality of life.

The really valuable slaves (that do the bidding of their master with high degree of skill) get to live in Washington D.C. Our culture now is like the biggest ponzi scheme in human history. But, I think it is unraveling.

The slaves are hungry and angry. I am a monster when I am hungry. How can it not end badly for the puppet masters?? They mock and deride and say, “We are gods.” We’ll see. You can take your chances turning your back on the Almighty. But, I highly recommend against it.

I am looking forward to happier days. I’ve done a rigorous inventory of my soul. Nope, nothing I have in this world is worth snubbing the Almighty. He will answer, the Bible says, with Mercy or Punishment. We decide.

After making my way far, far away, the happy familiar sites of the home that I loved completely disappeared. The new, strange world beyond is, well, strange.

“Strange” sounds a bit like “stranded” and “strangled” which are part of the experience of being cut off from something you love. I can see allusions to “angst” in that word, as well as “anger” and “rage.” Oddly “rang,” too.

Strange is like a giant bell ringing in ancient times. People were called to worship and adore the god-figure on parade. One stands in fear and trembling. Powerless. You are not exactly “you” in a strange world, are you?? You are strange, too. Anger and angst and rage all included in that new package that is you. Sigh.

Copper didn’t muddle around in contemplation too much. She was a hen of action which is why I admired her so. Even in the face of daunting challenges, like my extra-large husband with a hoe in hand, or terrible storms that cracked the skies and winds that threatened her safe shelters- she was brave. So must I be.

Today though happiness seems a thousand miles away I start by eating. It’s called a “smoothie.” This is how modern people ingest nutrients. It’s sort of like putting the garden in a mixer so you can eat very fast.

I confess, one thing I like about this arrangement is its easy to do as long as there is a functioning global supply chain. I can get nutritious foods from around the world delivered to my door. Plus, I confess, I haven’t worked yet all day long then come home and said: “I feel like cooking dinner!”

When I lived with family we always had women who loved cooking and were great at it. I was like the men, more I think. I liked eating at the feasts, whether I cooked or not was not a huge concern. In light of my isolation and consequent hungriness, I can see why “fast food” is so popular. People don’t have families to sustain them.

Anyhow, I am nutrient rich this morning thanks to my modern sustenance- injection system. So, what’s next?

By now you may need a refresher on my purpose for writing Copper Chronicles: Living Life! Learning. Adventure, Exploration. Seeking out meaning in this world- a skill I learned with my friend, Copper.

I am not a hen. But I can rummage rigorously through the landscape of My world- and sort skillfully what is genuine ‘food,’ and what is some bit of plastic I may choke on if ingested.

It’s possible there is a risk of taking ownership of this world, and saying it’s My world. 🤔At last, some more powerful person than me will try to assert that this is His world, or Her world , or ‘Their’ World, and I must follow Their Rules- Or Else!!

That leads one to wonder, whose world is it exactly? And the people who claim THEY make the rules, why don’t they also own responsibility for all the problems happening? Seems a logical conclusion- if you’re in charge- you are responsible for both good and bad things 🤔

I guess ‘they’ are right. They are in charge of this world, for the precarious time being.

This is NOT MY WORLD. I may not know much, but seems a hard world for hens and humans beings to live. Chaos. Disorder. Predators eager to make a meal (or commodity) of any poor creature they can find!

Everyone has a right to do what each is born to do. Everyone has that inner spark that Abraham Lincoln spoke of! I think.

Except maybe that guy on TV last night claiming what an excellent job he was doing running the country 🤔. Being offended at any suggestion to the contrary did not lend to his credibility.

No. No spark of divine nature there. Vacant eyes- as vacant as the hungry bellies his reign inspires.

How happy to have hens busily doing hen things. Hunting, pecking, digging, scratching- most industrious little creatures!

My chief learning experience from the Chronicles was the diligent Copper. Even when the wilderness loomed large, anguish and pain emerged, and friends quavered at the daunting task of being hens in this world, Copper gave it all she had in service of the hens. She even died with gusto.

I may offer several carefully crafted excuses why I am less diligent then my hen, Copper. But, I generally don’t believe in excuses.

A problem with running ourselves down and the nearly-related making excuses is lots of times we are seriously wrong! We’re much more capable and enterprising if we just believe in ourselves more. And leave the naysayers behind. Even if the chief naysayer is ourselves. That naysayer has got to go!

How to leave You, the chief naysayer, behind requires a bit of thought🤔 Perhaps there is a litmus test of what IS and IS NOT a legitimate complaint?

Like, I may be less energetic today than normal, (I did have a rather larger-than-usual Creamie yesterday.) Sugar in too large doses can give you a little hangover.

So, with the culprit in clear view- to Whom now may I appeal for justice? 😄 The sentence for my error in judgment is clearly built-in to my experience! I didn’t listen to that inner voice saying: “Kiddie cone.”

How humbling to fall short of my excellent friend, Copper! Who never had a hangover, or slagged on the job!

There seems a mischief afoot. A large part of my day now involves differentiating between what is real with what is counterfeit. For example. When I urged my husband we should consider a sustainable food supply, he said: “Bah!” “Chickens!”

He seemed to view hens as screeching little creatures which are largely good for nothing and may take our time apart from more important things. In the wake of the disintegrating global supply chain, I suggested: “Eating is important.”

Anyhow, “hens” we have discovered are terrific little friends who gladly give their bounty on behalf of farmers that love them. Affection, adventure, antics…(Eggs, too). What fun we had last summer with Copper and the gang! Hens only screech and cause a fuss when foolish farmers let foxes in or treat them unkind otherwise.

It’s seems risky to conclude the value of a thing depends on your attitude toward it. I think it is more accurate to say: the value of a thing is in the eye of the beholder. And the beholder eats the fruit of his own attitude. The perceived value of a thing is subject to the beholder. The actual value of a thing may therefore be infinitely above our short-sighted view.

Hens are infinitely more valuable than “chickens.” Chicken security wire that keeps out animals is far superior to the “chicken security wire” that Chip- the chipmunk- ate through the first day I put it up. Farm fresh foods are superior to “supermarket” foods. You can spend $400 on processed foods and still be starving.

Copper the hen only ever ate fresh local food – far from the “processing plants.” You can imagine a “food processing center” might be the hell on earth for hens, so I try to avoid delving into that subject too much.

But, why are companies spending so much money producing food with no actual nutritional value?🤔 And why are people so fat? I’m starting agree with Copper- that is a little bit of hell on earth. So, I won’t delve into that too much.

I guess Americans largely have not been educated to distinguish between a thing and the appearance of a thing. The bad news is we’ve been eating a lot of faux food. The good news is that for every fake thing we experience or are fooled by, there exists a genuine version.

There are pretenses to kindness, but there is also true kindness. There is religious pretention, like in the story of Job. But also genuine redemption and hope in that same story. There is the Twinkie- that lab creation that is sugary sweet and makes you happy to look at its bright yellow color. But don’t by fooled by the illusion. And there is Copper, too. That bright, cheery, happy friend that is genuine thing.

One may wonder what the Book of Job has to do with hens? However, hens have a happy advantage humans do well to see!

A hen doesn’t mouth off when her circumstances do not suit her. She clucks and flutters her wings. She caws and cries out in the face of danger. But she doesn’t obsess like Job- that unhealthy internal dialogue that delivers smoke signals to the Universe but confuses correspondence.

Hens are protected by their lack of words. (There’s less confusion in the hen pen that way). They can not think and speak wrong things and reap the unhappy harvest of betraying a Friend- Or empowering a foe!

Job, however, IS bestowed with power to speak. He expresses existential angst- as is the norm for us tiny mortals. Fear creates a roaring storm inside him! Like a wounded animal crying it’s last cry, he seeks solace from the universe.

Job has no words for what he is experiencing. The adversary, ever after an advantage, fuels his mind with anger, lies, and despair.

The story is about the loyalty and anguish of the main character. It’s a story about the patience of the Almighty, too. The God Who does takes no offense at Job’s insensitive remarks or uncertainty. Who endures Job’s ordeal right by his side- as a loyal friend- until the truth Job seeks finally emerges.

Job endures the pain of loss, abuse, and betrayal. But what seems he can not endure Alone, is the uncertainty of being alive.