Dear Friends,
Neytiri knelt over the dying black six-legged jackal on the planet Pandora deep in the Na’vi forest, and she howled in agony over the death of a wild creature that had meant harm to Jake Sully, and whom she had brought down with her own poisoned arrow. We learned later that the planet and all living things on her planet were connected in some mystical spiritual way. And the creature’s pain was her pain.
This morning I was driving up Highway One, when I saw a piece of beautiful black fur resting still in the middle of the road. I drove right over it and watched in my rearview mirror as other cars dodged the black fur.
It wasn’t just fur, it was a black cat.
Inspired by my partner, Greg, who routinely says to me, “Slow down. Watch out for the little creatures.” Inspired by how he stops and ceremoniously moves small dead animals out of the road to avoid repeated tire desecration, and by the multiple YouTube videos of squirrels and dogs protecting their loved ones on busy highways, I slammed on my brakes, swirled around, and hurried before some other car desecrated that body of that cat, that creature that some child or some family will miss tonight. I jumped out of my car and without thinking I ran to the middle of the road and grabbed the black cat around its midsection and lifted it up. Bright red blood poured out of its mouth. Its body was still warm from life that had been taken. It rested limp in my hands.
I felt like Neytiri and I let out a cry like some crazy man in the middle of the street. What got me was the touch, the feeling of warm moist fur - - the thought of its life and those lives of people close to me, of my two cats back home. And just for a moment I felt the connection of all life. I half expected the cat to raise its head, to come back to life, that maybe I had saved it, or maybe it wasn’t hurt as bad as it appeared. But it was dead.
I walked over to a grassy hill at the side of the road and placed it down with as much ceremony and respect as I could muster.
There’s no lesson from this, no claim to be a good samaritan, I just needed to share it with you. I just wanted us all to remember how precious life is. And, maybe let’s all slow down a little and watch out for the little ones.
Love,
Wayne
