Is the planet Mercury in retrograde? Could there be something in the water? Are the End Times really upon us at last? Because it seems to me that humans have been behaving very strangely lately. And now citizens of the animal kingdom are joining us on the wagon train to weirdness.
Take, for instance, our furry friends who volunteer as crimefighters. My regular readers will recall my post about the attack squirrel that drove off a would-be thief in Idaho. And now a herd of llamas has become media celebrities for capturing a wanted criminal in Derbyshire, England.
It happened one night. The hapless (alleged) criminal — who is no doubt rethinking his life choices at this very moment — assumed he’d made a clever move by evading police and taking off across a dark and seemingly deserted field. Suddenly he heard a beastly bray and found himself surrounded by a posse of eight belligerent llamas.
“They circled this fugitive,” said owner Heidi Price. “And they started releasing this huge alarm call. Which sounds like an old man laughing.”
OK, yes, that would be seriously disconcerting. The llamas kept up the cacophony until Heidi’s partner discovered the culprit and alerted police, who recaptured their man and declared the llamas “heroes.”
No, I don’t know why our animal companions are taking up side hustles in law enforcement. I can only assume they are questioning whether we are up to doing the job ourselves.
“First, they do an on-line search.”
And it’s not just animals and humans; even inanimate objects are running amok these days. You probably saw the headlines about the horrific railway accidents near Córdoba and Barcelona. Now evidence is emerging of poor maintenance, crumbling infrastructure, and safety shortfalls so widespread and severe that train service is stuttering to a halt all over the country.
If they’re operating at all, trains often move at a snail’s pace to avoid stressing decades-old, ready-to-fail rails. In some places, passengers are required to get off in mid journey, take a bus, then switch to a train again. In the middle of all this there was a national railway strike, which was ended early so that everybody could get back to full-time shouting and finger-pointing.
In 2019, I set off from Seville’s railway station on a five-month, ten-country Mediterranean Comfort Food Tour. (Sigh.) I’m really going to miss Spanish trains!
When will things be back to normal? Possibly in my lifetime. Upgrading 10,000 miles of railway tracks isn’t going to happen quickly, cheaply, or without five-alarm political pandemonium. Rebuilding public confidence will take even longer. If you’re planning a visit to Spain, do not count on being able to travel by rail. Business is booming for the airlines and bus companies; their financial officers can hardly believe their luck at this sudden windfall.
Rich is never happier than when he’s studying maps and transit schedules. “No big deal,” he keeps saying. “We’ll just take the bus.”
Rich and I have vowed this won’t put the brakes on our determination to travel the world via public transportation.
In fact, our resolve proved a useful example in our discussions around this week’s Ideas Club subject: “What’s the purpose of purpose?”
As my regular readers know, in October Rich and I started the Ideas Club here in Seville. The concept — stolen (with their permission) from some creative folks in Petaluma, CA — is like a book club, only we read articles and talk about issues. This year’s topics: Artificial Intelligence, The Future of Work, Freedom, Enough, and now Purpose.
How does purpose shape and direct our life? The Japanese speak of ikigai, the reason we get out of bed in the morning. Research scientists describe innumerable health benefits, demonstrating ways purpose can help us live longer, healthier, happier lives with better sex.
But how do we figure out what our purpose is? How do we incorporate it into our daily lives? What if we don’t fulfill it? What if we become obsessed? What if we decide to hell with it and head off in a different direction altogether? What happens if achieving our heart’s desire isn’t enough?
“The majestic way they climb higher and higher until they kiss the sky reminds me of the huge pile of work I have waiting for me when I get back.”
Our 15 participants divided into small groups for lively discussions that ranged over history, philosophy, and science, enriched by riveting personal anecdotes and blue-sky speculation about whether character drives purpose or purpose drives character.
My group examined what happens when a rational purpose grows into full-blown obsession. One example was the recent case of a soccer dad whose love of the game and desire to support his own kid got him so overwrought that he ran down onto the field and (allegedly) slapped an 11-year-old girl in the face. Yikes, mister! It’s only a game!
After nearly an hour of animated dialog, it was all I could do to convince the small groups to quiet down for a moment so we could switch over to general discussion. Then the room was off and running again, comments flying back and forth. We didn’t reach any conclusions, but that wasn’t the point. We were there to speak our own truth.
As I recently heard an artist say, “I could just actually look inside myself and find things that were worth sharing.” How often do you get to do that?
Of all the topics we’ve covered, the one that had the most impact on me personally was January’s theme, Enough.
We discussed how, in our scarcity culture, we can we slow the ingrained habit of ceaseless striving for more of everything. How can we accept the fact we have enough time, food, interesting work, congenial companions, and so many other essentials?
We talked about “time poverty,” the feeling held by 60% of adults that they lack enough time to complete tasks, do their work, and enjoy life; most feel they need an extra four hours a day.
As a writer, I live by deadlines, frequently feel rushed, and often wish for that extra four hours. To counteract that tendency, I’ve adopted “enough” as my mantra for 2026, reminding myself (sometimes every five minutes) that there really is sufficient time to get everything done. Yes, there is! It has helped a surprising amount.
As a reminder, I’m thinking of putting this picture, taken at a family reunion, on the wall above my desk.
But the real payoff is knowing we’re building community here in our Home 2.0. The Ideas Club brings together people from various countries and social circles, who get to know one another on a deeper level through thoughtful discussion. Our participants can get pretty excited, so we start each session by reminding everyone to practice active listening, allow others to speak without interruption, and remain civil and open to new ideas at all times. This is not a debate but a civilized conversation.
Because this was the last session of the season, we gathered afterwards for dinner, with heaping helpings of pork cheeks and artichokes and merriment passing up and down the table. I looked around and thought, “This is how we are going to survive these dark and dangerous years. Together.” Like the crimefighting llamas, we are finding strength in numbers and the unifying power of laughter.
We can’t know if these are the End Times, an unfortunate but temporary misalignment of the stars, or mere potholes on the road to the next stage of our collective experience; that’s for future historians to debate. What we do know, as Kurt Vonnegut reminded us, is this: “We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.”
Some of the California family and friends we’re counting on to help us get through this thing, whatever it turns out to be.
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