BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: THIS & THAT (BUT MOSTLY THIS)

THE MIGRATION OF BUTTERFLIES & THE SPIRITS 
OF DEAD WARRIORS

“In pre-Columbian times, this migration involved 
even more butterflies than the mind-boggling one 
billion that fly to central Mexico today and the 
insects may have once overwintered much closer to 
cities such as Teotihuacan and the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan in forests that no longer exist. ‘Observing 
so many monarch butterflies every year at the same time
 may have been the basis for the idea of the return 
of dead warriors to the world of the living,’ says 
(JESPER) Nielsen* “The monarchs arrive from the north, 
and in traditions in central Mexico, that cardinal 
direction is associated with death.”

*Jesper Nielsen is a Mesoamericanist at the University 
of Copenhagen.

Eric A. Powell. “Mexico’s Butterfly Warriors” 
in Archaeology (November/December 2022)


CARLA BANK (Wife of writer Ishmael Reed) & HUMMINGBIRDS

“When Bank mentioned that a hummingbird frequented 
the garden, I wondered aloud why the Aztecs had chosen
 the bird as an emblem of their war god, Reed answered instantly. “They go right for the eyes.”

Julian Lucas. “I Ain’t Mean Enough” in The New Yorker
 (July 26, 2021)

**
SALT & BAD LUCK

“During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci strengthened 
the association between spilled salt and misfortune 
by depicting Judas with a saltcellar knocked over next 
to him in his painting “The Last Supper.”

From INTERESTING FACTS website

**

One of my favorite go-to persons to get answers to
questions about people, animal, things, etc. that
cross our minds from time is David Feldman. Among 
his books are WHY DO DOGS HAVE WET NOSES? ,WHY
DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? And DO PENGUINS HAVE KNEES?

Here is a question that Feldman answers:

“Is There Any Meaning to the numbers in Men’s Hat Sizes?”

“Yes. But please don’t ask for the full story – it is very complicated.
   “The American but size is based on a measurement 
of the circumference of the head. The average man’s
 head is about 23 inches in circumference. Divide 23 
by pi (3.1416) and you get a number resembling  7 3/8, 
a common hat size. The English, French, and Italian 
all have their own systems, also based on the circumference
 of the head.
     ” In practice, most American hat manufacturers determine their sizes by measuring the length of the sweat band inside the hat and dividing by pi.”:

David Feldman. Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses  and Other imponderables of Everyday Life (New York:
HarperCollins, 1990)
** 
BICYCLES

 “ The bicycle was invented in 1817…if you look it up. 
  Indeed, as Jody Rosen points out in his excellent new book—“Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of
the Bicycle,” ‘the first bike came into the world a decade and a half after the invention of the steam locomotive.” It seems startingly late for the arrival of such an intuitive
and simple form of transportation…”

Charles Finch. “How We Roll” in The New York Times
Book Review (June 26, 2022)

**

ON CRICKET & GOLF

“Contrary to what its detractors say, cricket is not 
an inherently snobbish game, as Mr. Blunden is careful 
to point out. Since it needs about twenty-five people 
to make up a game it necessarily leads to a good deal 
of social mixing. The inherently snobbish game is golf, 
which causes whole stretches of countryside to be turned 
into carefully guarded class preserves.”
                                                               George Orwell
**
MATTRESSES

“Before there were mattress reviews, there were mattresses.  
The earliest known example, discovered in South Africa’s 
Border Cave in 2020, is more than two hundred thousand 
years old. It’s made from sheaves of grass, about a foot 
thick,  placed atop a layer of ash that was used, scientists believe, to provide insulation and to discourage bugs from crawling upward. “

Patricia Marx. “Tossed and Turned” in The New
Yorker (June 27, 2022)

**
THE PRICE OF A POUND OF SIRLOIN STEAK
IN THEODORE DREISER’S NOVEL SISTER
CARRIE

“How much do you pay for a pound of meat,” he asked 
one day.
  “Oh, there are different prices,” said Carrie. 
“Sirloin steak is twenty-two cents.”
   “That’s steep isn’t it?” he answered.

**

THE SECRET MEANING OF SNEEZES

“Michael Scot, a 13th century astrologer, claimed that 
it is possible to foretell the business future by an 
accurate interpretation of sneezes. ‘After a contract 
has been drawn up, if you sneeze once, the contract 
will be kept, but id you sneeze three times it will 
be broken. To make your business venture successful, 
sneeze twice or four times, then stand up and walk 
about.’”

Philip Ward A Dictionary of Common Fallacies (Boston:
The Atlantic Press, 1978)

**
  THE DAY THE FLEAS ESCAPED FROM HUBERT’S
DIME MUSEUM & FLEA CIRCUS

Who sd reality is a crutch?
I am preparing charts & contracts
For fleas who pull chariots,
Duel with swords,
& cross tightropes no thicker than threads.

Maybe they have flown to Aruba
& are drinking coffee by the sea?
Or are you feeling a bit itchy now?
Little bastards running off on their own.
In the virtual reality of the inscrutable,
How are they going to make a living?
Dancing in the streets? Fortune telling?
I warned them to stay put, not to flee.
Fleas are a dime a dozen.
Flee flea? Now what?

In the virtual reality of the inscrutable
Are we not all building
At least one universe from scratch?



Louis Phillips