When we drove the Alaskan Highway, my back protested the long hours in the truck. I tried pillows and cushions and giving Steve heck, some of which helped, but not enough. Then I happened on another sort of remedy–Sudoku. Puzzles do an amazing job of muting discomforts of all kinds, and for some reason, staring at them doesn’t make me carsick. They are somewhat addictive, and I miss miles of scenery, but I see a lot more than I would staying home with a bad back.
Believe it or not most visitors to the touch pool at the Denver Aquarium take me up on the offer and get a thrill out of their hug. Why do these sea urchins gently squeeze our finger between their spines when we give them a chance? I’d tell you, but I’m afraid that if I look it up I’ll find out that the “hug” is an unfriendly reflex of some kind, and that would spoil everything.
My latest Sea Secrets talk led me to the discovery of a sordid ruckus in the family tree. Somewhere in the late 700s, King Gudrod “the hunter” got his heart set on King Redbeard’s daughter, Asa. Redbeard told Gudrod to go sit on his sword.* Gudrod took the setback like a true Viking and stormed Redbeard’s kingdom. He ran Redbeard through* and took Asa back to his own kingdom. Asa bore him a son then bribed a squire to make her a widow. Well played Asa! Wish we could do lunch. *Poetic license invoked.