Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Coconuts for the monkeys

Well it's been one hot day, one hell of a hot day, so hot I nearly thought I was no longer in London but some foreign land, where coconuts drop from trees, sometimes even on heads. Personally I make it an issue never to walk under a coconut tree, there just might be some monkeys up there, which reminds me of a short passage I read from a book called "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" a brilliant book by the way, but the kind of book a man would read. Because a woman would be put off by the title. However, there's very little in it about motorcycle maintenance, but the stuff the author writes is deep and meaningful. Back to the short passage I'm thinking of, which was about the way people get stuck in a certain frame of mind. In South India, I think it was, there is a trap they set to catch monkeys. It's quite simple but effective. They get a coconut and make a hole in it at both ends. One end is tied to a steak in the ground the other end the hole is big enough for a monkey to slide it's hand in. They then put in the coconut rice, which apparently these monkeys like. The monkey comes along and puts a hand into the nut to get the rice. As they grab the rice and then try to pull their hand out it gets stuck. No matter how hard the monkey tries it just can't pull it's hand out. It is trapped. The reason is because once they have formed a fist of rice their hand is bigger than the hole it slipped into when empty. The monkey does not realise this and can not consider it should drop the rice in order to escape, so is caught. How on earth I started a blog on this little story I don't know, especially when I was rambling on about how hot it is in London. Well it's hot, and I've not seen many monkeys around either.

Sparkling sent me a message today telling me how she reached over to find I was not there and had to acclimatise all over again. Last night getting to sleep was difficult, not because of the gentle purring noise Sparkling makes when she snores but because it was hot. Although given the choice between purring and heat, I'd take the purring anytime. Physical contact of someone you love is an amazing thing. Not waking up next to Sparkling and knowing I will not now for a number of weeks can be disheartening, but every single moment I do have in her company is the most wonderful thing. We bicker all the time constantly, sometimes even havng a big argument but not too often and just enough to clear the air. Most of the time though Sparkling enjoys laughing at me and trying to imitate my accent which I say she is not so good at. This however does not discourage her from doing it again over and over to people she meets or knows. I try on a Scot's accent but am diabolical so usually don't bother. In everyday actions I do Sparkling will burst out into laughter for no apparent reason, then tell me what I have done. This makes me happy as well, I think of Sparkling and a smile appears on my face, therefore she must do something to me even in my thoughts. Although I must admit to not having a argument in my thoughts just wacky memories. I've heard it said when you forget something the memory monkeys drop down out of the trees and run off with your lost thoughts. Bloody things.

Moral of the story, always carry a coconut and rice because you never know when a naughty monkey needs to be put in place.

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