Cary Neeper--Writings© 2002-2012 Carolyn A. Neeper

You'd think turkey would know be by now. I've had her nearly ten years, raised her from a chick--at least I watchd the White Silkie, Ms. Fluff, raise her after the second bear attack. I've been bringing her lay pellets and no more than 10% cracked corn for a long time. I let her raise a couple chicken chicks after she set for four weeks. I bring her apple cores and give her a bite of sandwich when we have lunch on the back porch. So why does she get all huffy and trill at me every morning now. Has she gone wild or something. Or is it my new brown winter hat with the puff ball on top? Maybe she'll recognize me when it gets warmer. Temple Grandin reminds us that what animals see is primarily what they get. Don't miss reading her book "Animals in Translation." http://www.amazon.com/Animals-Translation-Mysteries-Autism-Behavior/dp/0156031442/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1328901854&sr=8-4

Emergence--the whole being or becoming something more than the parts can explain--like an organization of human beings. Each person is an independent agent acting and reacting in nonlinear ways, like getting more for the push than was put into the push. They have some simple rules to follow, like a mission statement, a reason for organizing. They each follow the rule in their own way, they communicate freely, they give each other feedback, and they maintain good relationships with one another. They all keep watch on both the whole and its parts, the members. What emerges is an ongoing result that reflects the mission statement. (more…)

Emergence. A word that appears here and there more frequently now that complex systems and complexity are embedded in science courses and 21 st century thinking. But what does it mean?
Try on this definition: Emergence is an unpredictable property of complex systems in which the parts cannot explain the whole-- or the behavior of the parts do not accurately reflect the behavior of the whole.
Example: a racing bike is very complicated, but it is not complex. One can identify all the parts and their behavior and they explain how the bike as a whole operates.
Racing bikes don't evolve, another term used to explain complexity.

How could the concept drive your plot? I'll explore some ideas tomorrow.

What if there were aliens living in our solar system? Aliens native to our solar system, from some other world we hadn't yet discovered. Would they be after our resources, eager to enslave us, or better yet, eat us? Would they be wild, in our sense of the word ? I don't think so. Not if they are like most wild animals on Earth--those not on the hunt, driven by hunger. When well fed and respected, wild animals (and the wild birds I've known) recognize a friendly gesture--a peanut placed on the porch railing, a soft click and an extended hand to guide them out the door when they find themselves trapped inside the house, a crippled chicken tossed over the fence, just killed by two young hungry, hopeful coyotes. (more…)

He wasn't very wild. He wanted to be in the pen with the other birds, waited on the hen house roof until I filled the water troughs and put out the lay pellets and corn. So what does wild mean? Number one in my dog-eared American Heritage Dictionary says it means "Occurring, growing, or living in a natural state; not domesticated, cultivated, or tamed." The definition includes a lot of other things, too, like "savage...unruly...extravagant,...storm"...and "arbitrary equivalence..."

Mr. Peacock, though gradually getting used to me, was a bit arbitrary. (more…)

Mr. Peacock is gone--all but a few scattered feathers left behind on the ice.
He couldn't override the ancient instincts to roost high in the Ponderosa.
He couldn't learn why I locked him in at night.

The raccoon watched and learned where the peacock slept.
The raccoon crept silently up the tall straight tree trunk
And took young Mr. Peacock before he could fly away.

Many search and find more than ancient instincts preach,
While many miss too much in loving the past too well.
Do we dishonor the most precious of gifts?

Why do we rebuild on flood plains and shallow bays
While the oceans rise?

What does it mean to be wild, especially for a peacock? For PP (Mr. Peacock) it means leaving the pen at dusk, with its food and water and the company of assorted domestic birds, for the wilds of 14-degree nights high up in a Ponderosa or huddled under the eaves of the hen house. Anything to avoid being shut up in a dog igloo on a nice warm bed of straw. (more…)

Just a moment to honor one tough, honorable, bird. He comes to visit every day now, sometimes sleeps on top of the hen house or high up in the Ponderosas that inhabit our back yard. He appears when Bobbie goose hears the water running and starts honking, "Let me out of here." Then he waits on the hen house roof or the chicken pen fence until I've filled water pans and set out lay pellets for my ten birds. He may peck a bit at the food and drink I leave for him on the roof, then he joins the turkey, geese, chickens and ducks in the pen. He prefers to keep to himself. Probably because Red, the RI red chicken, took him on one day. In the lower pen he has a nice dog igloo lined with straw that gives him shelter when needed or a sun bath when the sun is out. His name is PP. He is a young peacock. (more…)

Dogs know it's that time again. When the Christmas tree lights go on and the packages appear, they are eager to be in the living room. They smell everything--the candles, the ornaments, every package--and they know which one is theirs. But this year I made a mistake. (more…)