Love is a mystery

I had to share this story I read this morning in the news.

In 2011,  Joao Pereira de Souza, a retired Brazilian bricklayer, who lives in a fishing village just off the coast at Rio de Janeiro, spotted a little Magellanic penguin soaked in oil on the beach.  The little bird was emaciated and in a lot of trouble.   The man fed the penguin daily and looked out for him until he seemed to be better and then he expected that the bird would leave.  But Dindim (the name he gave the penguin) didn't.  He stayed for 11 months -- even after Joao took him out to sea in a boat, hoping that would help him figure out where he should be.  After Dindim moulted and grew a new set of feathers, he did leave, but apparently he returns every four months or so, and each time, shows more affection for Joao.  He said, "I love the penguin like it's my own child, and I believe he loves me."

Of course, scientific folks say that Dindim has "imprinted" on Joao.   Well, call it what you like, it sounds like love to me.  When Dindim sees Joao, he wags his tail and "honks with delight".  He won't let any other human get near him.

Once again, it seems as if we have no idea what goes on in an animal's mind.  We use words like "imprint" to denigrate their emotional lives, because that is more comfortable to us, since we hurt them and kill them and exploit them, but I think in our hearts, we know that there is more to it than that.  I guess we could say that when we fall in love, we're imprinted on someone, too.

We saw an episode of "Life on Earth" about insects the other day and it was fascinating.  One part showed grass-cutter ants -- they are specialized for their jobs -- some of them have huge heads with enormous cutting jaws and they climb the grass and cut off pieces and then the porters (who look like normal ants) carry the pieces of grass back to the anthill.  The ants don't eat the grass.  They are farmers and they feed the grass to a fungus that grows in their hill and they do eat the fungus.  "How do they know that? " Anthony asked.  Well, I guess they don't "know" it.  They can't explain it in a way that we would understand.  But they do it and they invest all the energy and determination that they have in it.  It's not just love that is a mystery, but life itself.