John O. Andersen

The African Lungfish lives in the swamps and rivers of West and South Africa
(http://www.oregonzoo.com/cards/Rainforest/lungfish.african.htm). It has
lungs which allow it to breath and stay alive during the dry season in soft
mud within a mucus-lined cocoon. It can survive in such a state for up to
four years. When the waters return, it leaves the cocoon and pretty much
swims around like your average fish.

The African Lungfish is well adapted to the seasonality of it's physical
environment. It instinctively knows when it's time to carry on as usual and
similarly, when to slow down and burrow in.

I wonder if I'm as in touch with my own instincts as the African Lungfish
is. Humans live in physical/emotional/business environments which have
cycles and seasons as well. There is a time to build, to plant seeds, to
prepare, and there is also a time to retrench, to rest, and to burrow in.
Sometimes, in our 24-hour, instant gratification, hyper-materialistic
society, it can be too easy to forget these principles.

Thank goodness for the animals to help us remember!

John O. Andersen
http://members.xoom.com/joandersen

"Only dead fish go with the flow." Anon.





John
http://members.xoom.com/joandersen

"Only dead fish go with the flow." Anon.