Pico de Orizaba

Pico de Orizaba
Taken from Huatusco, Veracruz, the closest town to Margarita's family's ranch.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Ants... hormigas... Do you ask good questions?

Always observing the ants... so many ants in Mexico... So many types... in Margarita's ranch in June after the first rains of the monsoon season, around my birthday... the giant and giant-headed Chicatanas como out of their massive homes in search of new homes... and the people of the ranch, the zone eat chicatanas in all their preparations, for a few weeks...

I learned to appreciate ants in Mexico... they stopped being a phobia of mine... I avoid stepping on them when walking or running in the park... However, if their plan is to bite me... well I kill them... Yes I do...

Today sitting on the couch in our bedroom/studio, listening to "Amores Perros" I found myself looking at the painting on wood on my large easel...  I began the painting years ago and have observed it for years, not knowing how to proceed... And for the first time I saw a giant ant infront of the young nun kneeling in the center of the painting... and it is clear that she is praying to the giant ant... So, now I can proceed...

In Cormac Mccarthy's book "the road", not even the ants survive... there are no birds... We were taught that the only organism that would survive a nuclear war would be the cucarachas... However, there aren't even cucarachas (oops!  cockaroaches) in "the road"...  

No, I don't believe the fantasies... The ants would survive... they are clearly the kings of the soil... don't allow the first layers of Earth to become too compacted... like earthworms, they airate the soil etc...  

Ok... all of the "bugs" we "hate"... that live in and off of the soil, that contribute towards the breakdown of organic matter, our dead bodies and not only fallen trees or deer left shot and dead in the underbrush...  that contribute to the nutrient context of the soil for regenerating life...  should survive a nuclear winter... 

However, the ants (hormigas) are clearly the kings of the soil... much more deserving of the title than that given the Lion; king of the Jungle...  Kings of the earth:  humans?  So, if that were the case, why do we emulate parasites, living off the organism until we've totally consumed it and it ceases existing, never truly worrying about what next... the consequences of our behaviors...  Who is the guardian of the Earth?  Or that was just a convenient invention of our so intelligent and creative minds to protect us from the truth:  That "god" created us as incredibly sophisticated parasites, placed here for only one true reason--to destroy the planet and ourselves...  entertainment for the Gods...  we're living on the chess board...  

Is that it?  Is that the truth of our existence?  Are you happy with that idea?  Does it truly matter what you think?

The person who wins isn't the person with the most or the best answers... It's the person who asks the best questions... They win?

If you don't ask truly good questions...

If you don't ask questions... if you don't harbour questions... truly good questions... truly, who are you?  

Who are you for others?

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