A Number of Things

The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.~Tusitala

I fancy myself a happy malcontent, since the number of things of which the world is so full continues to remain beyond my reach.  While I am so often contented with my "status quo", there is always something new awaiting me, and I will never know it all.  I may never be as happy as a king, but from what I have learned about kings and their history, I will never be assured that kings are exceptionally happy.  

Kiwi and an egg

Today I saw that a Facebook friend had posted an image showing the relative sizes of a kiwi and its egg.  Of course it started me thinking of guinea pigs.  When Sifu Donna was a young lady in college, she had a pair of guinea pigs.  Somehow the female began to show signs of becoming a mother.  When our instincts let us know that the blessed event was due, young Donna and I kept the mother-to-be company, anticipating developments.  We had substantial experience with hamsters, and we expected something similar.  

After we had sat around for a while, the guinea pig disappeared behind a painting that was leaning against the wall, and we left her alone, sitting and waiting.  After a while, curiosity overcame my daughter, and she took a peek, exclaiming, "There's GUINEA PIGS!"  And there were!  The two youngsters were scampering around each appearing to be nearly half the size of their diminutive mama.  Nothing at all like the little pink rubber erasers we were expecting from our past experience with hamsters.

Wikipedia tells me that guinea pigs were domesticated in South America as early as 5000 BC, thousands of years after the domestication of the camelids of South America.  Whether or not this is correct information, how could it not incite further curiosity???  The history of so called "Native Americans" has been very exciting to me since the mid-'40s, when I became attached to a book belonging to my piano teacher.  How long have there really been human beings in the western hemisphere, and what is the history of their migrations?  I doubt that we know even close to what will someday know about them.

I was enthralled by stories of Sandia Man in my early years, and, in 2006, subconsciously inspired to take a "short cut" around the rush-hour traffic of Albuquerque on a trip to Chaco Canyon, I went past Sandia Cave, and began to realize that my expectations had been somewhat exaggerated.  Later research informed me that Sandia Man had been debunked some time ago.

Chaco Canyon itself has become a decidedly different place from the way it was presented when I was in my twenties.  I think there is much more to learn there, and there are questions which surely will never be answered.

The world is so full of a number of things, and I only wish that I could know them all.

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