Convesations with a bluebottle
One
I’ve been reading a book about an animal psychic who converses with creatures as diverse as crickets and squirrels. All you have to do, she claims, if you want some animal or insect to do something, is ‘frame’ it in pictures in your own mind first, and then, if you can, frame it again from the point of view of the creature. Sustain the internal pictures for a while, and Bob’s your uncle.
Well, this morning, I was in the kitchen and there was a large bluebottle buzzing around. Restraining an impuse to swat it, I ‘framed’ a picture of the bluebottle landing on the window, walking up two panes of glass, negotiating the metal frame, and escaping into the wide open spaces. I then ‘saw’ him do much the same, from his angle.
Blow me if he didn’t do just what I asked! At the end, he hovered on the metal frame, tipped his wings in acknowledgement, before skedaddling off.
Two
I have had two more conversations with bluebottles since my last report. I find them singularly congenial creatures, since they respond so readily to my suggestions. On both occasions, they were buzzing insanely about the ‘sun lounge’. I opened the window a small crack, and invited them to head over in that direction, and scarper. Which is what they did, so smartly it was like magic. Comparing this with what used to happen, with me opening the window wide and chasing after them with a rolled up newspaper, resulting in them going anywhere but where I intended … well, who knows?
I’ve been reading a book about an animal psychic who converses with creatures as diverse as crickets and squirrels. All you have to do, she claims, if you want some animal or insect to do something, is ‘frame’ it in pictures in your own mind first, and then, if you can, frame it again from the point of view of the creature. Sustain the internal pictures for a while, and Bob’s your uncle.
Well, this morning, I was in the kitchen and there was a large bluebottle buzzing around. Restraining an impuse to swat it, I ‘framed’ a picture of the bluebottle landing on the window, walking up two panes of glass, negotiating the metal frame, and escaping into the wide open spaces. I then ‘saw’ him do much the same, from his angle.
Blow me if he didn’t do just what I asked! At the end, he hovered on the metal frame, tipped his wings in acknowledgement, before skedaddling off.
Two
I have had two more conversations with bluebottles since my last report. I find them singularly congenial creatures, since they respond so readily to my suggestions. On both occasions, they were buzzing insanely about the ‘sun lounge’. I opened the window a small crack, and invited them to head over in that direction, and scarper. Which is what they did, so smartly it was like magic. Comparing this with what used to happen, with me opening the window wide and chasing after them with a rolled up newspaper, resulting in them going anywhere but where I intended … well, who knows?