Tantaulus (Τάνταλος) was a Greek king of mixed race – one parent mortal one parent immortal, (which generally never works out well if you ask me), As the bastard son of Zeus he got invited to Olympus and was so excited he stole some ambrosia to bring back to earth. Zeus was furious that he had been fed their most precious thing and betrayed them in this way – so Tantaulus offered to feed all the gods his most precious thing in return.
Only it was his SON Pelops that was most precious to him – which ew! -and Zeus was furious when they realized they had nearly eaten his grandson – so furious that he punished him harshly in the afterlife. In fact his punishment was SO famous it became the most famous thing about him, and the only one we remember. He was made to stand in a pool of pure shining water under wonderous trees dripping with heavy glorious fruit.
However, whenever he stooped to drink the water the lake dried up instantly, and when he reached to take the fruit the branches bent away from his grasp. He was eternally surrounded by luscious things he could never, ever have.
It’s where the word “Tantalize” comes from.
Which brings us nicely to this morning’s offering from Sojourners magazine. written by
Well, consider yourself “tantalized”.
Leave it to Beavers
On a continent increasingly beset by climate-caused drought and flood, beavers couldn’t be more important.
IN THE REMARKABLE speech that God delivers beginning in Job 38—God’s longest soliloquy in the Bible, Old Testament or New—we hear of the mountain goat, the raven, the lioness, even the wonderfully silly ostrich, redeemed by her wild speed. But nothing of the beaver! Doubtless this is because Job, confined to the old world, had not come across Castor canadensis, and so God did not want to confuse him (Job was freaked out enough already). But if God had been aiming at a North American audience, there is no doubt the beaver would have starred in the account, because there may be no finer creature under heaven.
Oompf. Oh sure. Leave us hanging why don’t you Bill! I am dying to read the rest of this article.
The author recently provided one of my favorite reviews to Ben Goldfarb’s new book as follows.
“This witty, engrossing book will be a classic from the day it is published. No one who loves the landscape of America will ever look at it quite the same way after understanding just how profoundly it has been shaped by the beaver. And even the most pessimistic among us will feel strong hope at the prospect that so much damage can be so easily repaired if we learn to live with this most remarkable of creatures.”―Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature.
We’re off this morning to the Mother’s Day event at Wild Birds Unlimited in Pleasant Hill. Stop by and say hi, pick up some birdseed and a card for mom, and see a host of wildlife wonders. Think of it like a beaver festival preview.
