I’ve been reading a lot of other people’s writing lately and I have decided there is too much to read. Much of it is very good but there is JUST TOO MUCH!
So my goal going forward is to write shorter posts, more often, that might remind you of the glory, power, and goofiness of your life as well as mine.
So, let me say again what’s always very true. Thank you for reading what I write.
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Friday evening we drove to Ottawa Lake in Kettle Moraine State Park. I walked from the parking lot to the picnic area and then to towards the lake and - Lo and Behold - there was a swan! I’ve visited this lake many times, this was my first Ottawa swan. There was a smaller white blob across the lake. I bet it was it’s partner.
Swans are so recognizable that even little kids know them. They are rare enough to make us stop in our tracks to gawk at their ephemeral beauty. We know that they’re strong birds who can be very mean and territorial, especially during nesting season. So we admire them but keep our distance. But their sylvan beauty!
There’s the ancient Greek myth that ‘God over Everything and Everybody Zeus’ one day spied Leda, the lovely wife of the Peloponnesian king. Zeus immediately lusted for Leda so he changed himself into a swan and flew down and raped her. Some versions say he seduced her but, in general, the verb is rape. She also has sex with her husband that night and - nine months later there are two sets of twins who will drive a whole a plethora more myths about how civilization gets up, gets going, and messes with everybody all the time.
That first creation story is about the powerful god who shapeshifts and rapes the lady who took his fancy.
Where does the impetus to invent this story even come from? From already privileged males? Feels way too contemporary, doesn’t it? First we have the powerful man who doesn’t need to search for the joy or do the work of being in a mutual relationship with a loving partner. Next this guy just ogles all women every day. If he sees a female he desires AKA tickles his junior league libido - he gets to have her by charm, force, or luck. Except he refuses to “sullying his reputation” by acknowledging that he is a predator so he changes into some other animal. Or gets Michael Cohen to pay her off. Never take responsibility.
This story is ugly and sordid except, here we are, three thousand years since the myth was a tale told among drinking buddies around a fire. This story of Leda raped by a swan has been among us that long and is still going.
I watched the wild swan on Friday night. All and everything that it is, is a wild bird with no agenda except to eat, mate, rear its young. To swim and fly like the free creature it is and we want to be, too.
Do you have a swan story?
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