Eleanor's Words on a Book Cover

Eleanor was one smart lady.

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Cathedral Pictures

I'm not particularly religious - and thus, will refrain from commenting on my philosophy. That said, I did enjoy my experience at the National Cathedral. I went there on a school trip when I was young, and I only vaguely remember it. And trips when you're a kid are very different from when you're an adult.

I remember being shushed a lot (not me in specific - us kids), the stained glass windows, the ginormous organ pipes and being herded from one room to the next. That's about all I remember.

Saturday...I did not get shushed once. And was able to wander around as I liked, though the locked doors proved to be a pest. I wanted to be like a character in Dan Brown's DaVinci Code (an entertaining read) and find secret doors and stuff. But alas...

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Survival of the Fittest

I'm reading a book, "Dies the Fire" by S.M. Stirling. It's not the best book I've read - certainly doesn't have the makings of a classic. However, the concept of this story is very interesting.

It's about how a few different groups survive after some kind of weirdness (I'm not done with the book, and haven't found out what exactly) knocks out all power in the region/country/world (still unknown). It even affected nonelectrical power sources...guns no longer work. Batteries no longer work. No combustion - no cars. And so on. It's sort of Mad Max, multiplied.

The author explores what it'd take to survive, what would happen to billions of people. While I think he glossed over the gruesomeness that would result (he seems to prefer to focus on the inherent good nature in people), I think he captured the big picture pretty well.

So. I started wondering about whether I'd be able to survive. What it'd take. Do I have the smarts, the willpower? Sadly, the unfortunate truth is, probably not. Being deaf puts me at an enormous disadvantage, and I'd have to rely on other people to survive. And it'd be very difficult for me to put trust, to put my life in hands of other people in that kind of environment.

And adding to that, I have no survival skills to speak of. I don't hunt, I don't shoot (archery), I don't know how to skin animals, I don't know how to farm, or how to fight in hand-to-hand combat. About the only thing I do know is how to ride -- and that knowledge is a distant memory. I haven't ridden since I was 12 or 13. I don't know diddly squat.

Knock on wood! Let's hope this never happens.

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