Things That Go Bang in the Night

By GrahamLewis · Feb 8, 2019 · ·
  1. From ghoulies and ghosties
    And long-leggedy beasties
    And things that go bump in the night,
    Good Lord, deliver us!


    Traditional Scottish prayer

    Woke up around 4 a.m. to a pair of thunderous bangs from what seemed immediately overhead. I thought I had dreamed them, but my better half assured me they were real, and suggested they merited investigation. In the "old" days that would have entailed me going outside in sub-zero weather with a flashlight and peering at the roof, or going out into the not-quite-subzero garage, dragging out the ladder, and climbing through the small entryway and squeezing past cobwebs in the attic, to likely find nothing amiss. Then maybe to call in some sort of expert.

    But, thank God, this is not the old days. Instead I grabbed my phone and did a search for "banging overhead at night" and found a thing called "frost quakes," which occur during super-cold-spells like this one. Sometimes it's elements of the house contracting at different rates and usually does no harm other than noise. Sometimes it's the ground itself, and, if one lives near a body of water, it can be ice reaching its maximum expansion. So we went back to sleep.

    The morning has come, bright and once more bitter cold, not quite cold enough to cancel school, but cold enough that yesterday's brief ice melt and rain have frozen rock solid again. Too cold for salt (or safer salt substitute) to melt the ice long enough to make any difference. So I sprinkled gravel on the sidewalks and driveway. The trees and shrubs are glistening under their clear ice coats, the birds are once again busy at the feeder. It's sort quiet desperation mode for the outside critters. The good news is that this is likely slowing down the relentless northward march of various insect pests, due to global warming; the bad new is it's hard on the beings who have purportedly grown to adapt to this cold, which is not unheard of in winters around here but still demanding.

    Nowhere is that winter desperation more obvious than with one of backyard bunnies who hang around in our fenced backyard. I turned on the porchlight in the predawn and a rabbit immediately made his way to the back stoop. He's one of those who has learned that edibles often follow that flash of light. So I tossed him out a slice of bread, which he ate greedily. I recognized him because the other day I noticed one of his back feet seems to have somehow been flattened, who knows how. But this morning when I looked out after he had gone I saw that the places where his back foot had rested were red with blood.

    That struck home. An example of Nature's cold cruelty. I can only imagine -- no I can't even do that -- what it must be like to be totally on one's own with something like that, cold and bleeding, suffering in silence, enduring, with no succor anywhere in sight, no medical care, nothing to comfort but the inevitable ending when he gets too old and feeble to avoid predators or gather food. It might simply be the way it is, but it's not nice, and, for what it's worth, I send compassion his way and breathe a silent prayer of thanks that I am not likely to experience that.

    Good Lord deliver me.

Comments

  1. paperbackwriter
    I feel sad for creatures like your bunny.
  2. GrahamLewis
    You might feel sorry for this particular bunny, PBW, but it occurs to me that Aussies have a much more conflicted relationship with rabbits overall.
  3. paperbackwriter
    We have had plagues of rabbits in the past. Don't think they are a problem at the moment. Roos need 'culling" now and then when numbers soar.
  4. GrahamLewis
    I'll bet if you asked the kangaroos they'd say the people need culling, and the rabbits could tell stories of the plague of homo sapiens.
  5. paperbackwriter
    Then there are the plagues of non Christians in the world. that's the real concern.
  6. GrahamLewis
    I think I resemble that remark.

    Do you really believe that every non-Christian is a problem? Are you sure you're drawing the line in the right place? If you had said there are too many closed-minded, self-serving, narrow-thinking, judgmental, and hypocritical people in the world, I'd have no issue with it.
  7. paperbackwriter
    Its better the number of Christians doesn't become a majority of the population. We are more suited to the underdog, minority.
  8. GrahamLewis
    Why is it "us vs. them"?

    To call non-Christians a "plague" brings up all sorts of nasty images and sounds dehumanizing, and would lead to a slippery slope I don't think you had in mind. At least I hope not.
  9. paperbackwriter
    youve reacted to what i wrote. i was joining in the repartee which you appear to have started.
    If i lived in the U.S. i might be turned off Christianity too. Ive discovered there is so much factional fighting in Catholicism for example in America. Pope Francis causes much of the current conflict. Is he just a new age hippie or a genuine vicar of Christ?
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