Uhai - Life

There was national sobriety at the untimely death of one of our retired netballs player who had also made a name for herself as a television commentator. She was one of those people everyone liked, who was always smiling and active in the community. While playing a game of touch rugby, an artery carrying blood to her brain ruptured and the loss of blood extinguished her spark of life. Sometimes such events give cause for reflection.

Scientists reckon they can identify the components of life while religion simply quantifies life as the work of God, which is comfort to many. But what exactly is the spark of life? And whatever it may be, it is fair to say, too often it is not well-respected. Just for the record, we carry five or maybe five and a half litres of blood. We can cope well with losing about a litre, but the loss of a bit over two litres causes that little spark to go out. Five or ten minutes without oxygen will cause irreversible damage to the brain, which equates to the cessation of life. So, in a way we are more vulnerable than we would like to think we are, and yet we can be remarkably robust and able to withstand great stress and trauma! That little spark of life just refuses to go out!

If you have read many of my stories, you might tumble to the idea that I regularly shoot rabbits. Maybe not these days, but back in the day, it was my job to shoot deer, pigs, possums, stoat, ferrets and cats – all of them feral, all deemed ‘pests’, all environmentally damaging. It’s always amazed to me how a small pellet of lead can so quickly extinguish that little spark of life. But despite best efforts, sometimes the bullet might not quite do its job. I admit it can be confronting when it happens, but adrenalin pumps through the animal’s system and it will flee away from danger, in an effort to stay alive!

I found during my farming days, that success largely depended on my ability as a midwife – if that’s the right term. I have even assisted in birthing a calf by caesarean section. That young cow was paralysed for a couple of weeks, so I fitted a bed-frame around her, stood her up using a pulley in the roof, massaged her and milked her. Mother and calf did well in the end. I confess to being a carnivore, so in my time I have slaughtered sheep, cattle, pigs, and hens for household meat. And the fact is, for human consumption, animals have to be bled properly, and sorry if this offends, sometimes the heart is used as a pump to expel the blood, other times the animal’s own blood pressure will release it. After the ‘necessary’ process, for storage, the carcass has to be cut up so that means being a butcher as well.

So with no medical training, I have a fair idea what makes the body tick, but I have never seen what causes or is the spark of life. Believe me, I took no joy in doing so, but I have watched animals and people die. And if I had any influence, death was as uncomplicated as possible. I looked at the eyes, for their glazing over as the first sign of death. I have never seen wisps, glows or anything else leave bodies except for steam on a very cold day and other unmentionables!

There has been a little bird, a redpoll, feeding beneath my silver birch trees. This small bird, I suspect has been hit by a passing car because its wing is broken, as is one of its legs. As I pass, it tries its best to skittle away so I try to avoid its panic by skirting around it. I have mixed emotions: one stomp of my boot would ‘put it out of its misery’, but is it miserable? Animals seem to accept their lot, and no, I wouldn’t do that. The silver birches are shedding their seed, and it is a bumper season, so the little bird will not starve meantime, but it is vulnerable to predators. Would it rather die from boot-squashing, or by being torn apart by a hawk? I feel sorry for the little thing, but obviously the little spark glows strong within that tiny bird, it will not die easily!

There are millions of silver birch seed on my drive and on my lawn. Tiny, dry, papery things and if I wanted to I could sweep them into heaps. I have done just that! I used to collect the seed, soak, and mix with sand or sawdust and put them in the fridge or three months. Nursery jargon: stratification. Here’s the thing though. Each seed is an embryo and when I sow them, those dormant embryos spring into life! Just how does that happen? Don’t tell me the life in trees is different! Life is life, is it not? Plants are living organisms, they might compete for light, but they share mycorrhiza and they grow better when they have company.

Take an aphid, small as it is, they have that spark of life. They are smaller than a pinhead, so how small is that spark? It is my guess than each aphid, regards itself and the most important being – much as we do. Did you know aphids can reproduce without mating? So can willows, a branch or twig blown off in the wind, given the right conditions, will generate roots and a tree will thrive! Plants have the same will to live as other life. Even in an environment that is challenging, they will hang on, maybe not thriving but that spark refuses to go out.   

Tied up with all of this is intellect. Intelligence might well set us apart, but we are not alone in the brightness stakes. Old Bert reckoned to be successful with sheep, you have to be able to out-think them! He is quite right. Does this show intelligence? I have a stand of oak trees and when the acorns are ripe, and a wind blows, the sheep know that acorns will fall, so they race to gobble them! My dog, Wally, was part German Shorthair Pointer. If I shot two rabbits, he would judge the midpoint between them and carry one to that point. He would them pick the other and then retrieve both to me at once. Dolphins work jointly to herd schools of fish so they can feast on them. African elephants can tell the language of various human tribes because only the Maasai are dangerous to them. Most will think their pet is intelligent.

So where does all this leave us? Each one of us will have a different idea-cum-theory and that’s how it should be, ideas as diverse as nature itself! We usually believe what is before our eyes or while others believe in doctrines either taught or forced. All I have to say is, be amazed and respectful, even careful of what we all share, and thankful too, even if it’s only to ‘your lucky stars’!

When I was about ten, I was helping my father spread stable manure on his rose garden. I wasn’t doing it for love, I was doing it because he asked me to give him a hand. When we had finished, as if to show me why, he held a red bloom in the cup of his hand, still attached to the bush.

‘Look at that,’ he said, ‘have you seen anything as perfect, beautiful and delicate?’

Your job, dear reader, is to inspire your kids and show them how the spark of life impacts them.