A few days into the Olympics, I was frustrated with the coverage. I wanted to watch the action without having to commit to a part-time couch potato job.
A horse named China gallops over to apologize for throwing his rider. (Courtesy of Jane Murray)
The highlights coverage started at 8am, but due to jet lag I found myself falling asleep for the first hour.
One day while I was running an errand in town, I overheard three conversations raving about Peacock TV. Unusually (for me), I bought the service midway through the Olympics for $12 a month. Peacock gave me access to great Olympic programming whenever I wanted.
Of course, peacock feathers are a sight to behold, but they can be quite noisy if you live nearby. We all love animals. We admire their beauty and strength, which is so different from ours. Most of the time, we like it when they are under our control.
Although not many animals were invited to the Olympics, horses took part in show jumping, dressage and cross-country skiing under strict supervision.
The day I was watching the show jumping, my friend Jane had a terrible horse accident when a wild animal, like a hornet, got entangled in her horse, China.
Jane and her friends were riding through the mountain scrub of Gaviota when the horse in front of the mare stepped on a hornet's nest.
China was unable to escape the ferocious attack on the narrow road and kicked Jane, who fell onto the road and was trampled by the crazed horse.
Jane told me she felt lucky to have completed the “amazing helicopter ride” even with bruises, broken ribs and staples in her head.
A few months ago, I witnessed a much more significant wildlife-human interaction in Big Bend National Park. I was a light sleeper and woke up at 3 a.m. to feel something scurry lightly across my sheet-covered ankles.
“Rat!” I cried. My husband didn't move.
“Rats!!” I yelled.
I rose to my feet, reluctant to put my bare toes on the floor. Dave rose to his feet in a daze. I turned on the light but couldn't see anything.
“Maybe I was dreaming,” he said.
“Maybe,” I agreed dubiously. We stood there stupidly for another minute or two before something jumped up on the screen door.
“Oh, it's a lizard,” I said with relief. “That makes me feel a little better.”
I turned on the lights in the room and tried to chase it away with a broom. In the brighter light, the mouse turned back into a mouse and grabbed the screen door, staring at us with its dark, round eyes. It was almost cute, but then it sprinted down the screen door, ran against the wall, and disappeared into my suitcase.
Finally, we managed to get him back towards the door, holding it open and using boxes and trash cans to create a wide escape route, and he ran through the door and into the night.
We closed the door and kept all our food safe – pests!
In the battle over pests and agricultural control, last week marked a hard-won victory for the Earth's ecosystems.
For over 150 years, we have been spraying chemicals on our crops without knowing what damage they were doing to the soil. The dangers have been clear for decades, but in the case of the pesticide DCPA, chemical companies delayed providing information to prove the damage.
The EPA took emergency action on August 6, the first time it had done so in 40 years. Data shows that exposure to DCPA in pregnant women can alter thyroid hormone levels in the fetus, potentially causing irreversible damage to the developing brain.
Farm workers are most at risk, but so are people living near farms and consumers.
What will happen to our produce? If we continue to demand blemish-free fruits and vegetables, chemical companies will continue to outpace the EPA in developing pesticides that prioritize aesthetics over the environment.
Or you can embrace organic food and support the Ugly Produce movement. It's up to us to keep our earthly nest habitable.
The morning after the rat incident, I woke up having mostly forgotten about it. But as I was making my bed, I found rat droppings on the bedspread. It was chilling evidence that it hadn't been a nightmare. I pointed the droppings out to Dave.
“Oh no,” he said, “I was eating it in bed. It's just a muffin crumb.”
Another animal that was out of control.
