Humans are Weird – It’s a Wrap
The last of the frolicking humans had abandoned the north-facing slopes, retreating with their noise and warmth into their houses to drink heated fluids and regale their less adventurous family members with tales of the days adventures. The soft pulse of mammalian heartbeats, drifting down through the insulating snow, signaled the presences of a few lingering adults who were apparently standing silently watching the stars. Notes the Passing Changes cast awareness over the slopes one more time and felt satisfied that all of the human young had safely made it back to their family groups. The vast majority of the agricultural land was cold and dormant, requiring little to no monitoring on this darkest night of the year. Notes the Passing Changes let awareness centralize in the first house on the list of visitations tonight.
The leaves of the plant that Sandy and Pat had placed in their central living area were more than adequate to the task of giving a clear view of the room. However the conifer they had brought in provided far more data points and it had been simplicity itself to connect it to the forest outside. Though the humans had warned Notes the Passing Changes that they would be giving it to the local domesticated herbivores so it would be unwise to invest any personal biomass in it. The view it gave, a full three-hundred sixty degrees of the human dwelling from the floor to the ceiling was fascinating. The plant itself, the humans insisted on calling the little thing a ‘tree’, was covered in lights and reflective surfaces and extra greenery hung on the walls. The air was thick with complex molecules that drifted out of the cooking room. Human music drifted from the household speakers. Sandy was alone in the room, sitting cross-legged and staring down at a tangle of brightly colored paper, ribbons, and a cloth facsimile of a local predator species. She was also wielding a pair of steel cutting blades so Notes the Passing Changes decided to wait until she set them down before speaking to her. Startling humans who were holding blades had never turned out well.
While the human focused on concealing the faux-predator Notes the Passing Changes took time to observe the pile of items that had not yet been concealed in either the brightly colored paper or the sturdier reflective bags, and compare the mass and number to those that had been.
“Human Friend Sandy?” Notes the Passing Changes greeted the human when she had breathed a sigh, set the blades to the side, and sat up to stretch.
“Eh? Notes?” she asked glancing first at the usual plant and then up at the conifer fragment with a wide smile.
“Will Pat be arriving to help you with this task?” Notes the Passing Changes asked.
“He better no’!” Sandy declared, shoving some hair out of her face with one hand as she grabbed a pen with the other. “I told him ta stay away till I’m done!”
“If my understanding of this celebration is sufficient you only have a few hours to complete the task,” Notes the Passing Changes observed.
Sandy laughed as she carefully wrote something on a tag on the paper wrapped predator.
“Nah, I got most of the night,” she informed Notes the Passing Changes. “The deadlines when the little nephews and nieces show up tomorrow, not tonight at midnight. I just need ta get it all done before I go to sleep so I can rest easy.”
Notes the Passing Changes gave a vague sound to indicate understanding and observed in silence as Sandy concealed several more of the items. Several were already tucked under the tree and one that smelled of the main space port had the label ‘Notes the Passing Changes’.
“Sandy,” Notes the Passing Changes interjected as she paused between wrapping a low grade weapon in paper and arranging a processed food item in a bag, “are you enjoying this process?”
The human paused, turned her head too look fully at the tree, and for a long moment her eyes unfocused as she pondered the question. Finally she nodded slowly.
“Aye,” she said, a slow grin spreading over her face, and her pheromones were in accord with the satisfaction she expressed. “I don’ like the time crunch, but I’ve always loved the warping and the prepping part.”
“You have been gathering these items for many weeks now,” observed Notes the Passing Changes. “Your workload has been limited now that winter is in full angle and the plants are dormant.”
“Yer’ point?” Sandy asked tilting her head and picking up the blades.
“If you do not enjoy the time crunch, and you have had full control over you time these past weeks,” Notes the Passing Changes asked slowly, “then why do you now have a mass of the work to prepare in a decided time crunch?”
Sandy stared at the tree for a long moment and her face flashed with annoyance before she forced it to a more neutral smile and simply gave a laugh that suggested as much fatigue as humor.
“If y’er gonna be making sharp observations just keep an eye on me pen and scissors so I don’t lose them,” she said, bending back over her work.
“Of course,” Notes the Passing Changes agreed.
It would be fairly simple to keep enough awareness here to preform the class while also visiting the other friends on the list. Perhaps another human household would hold the answer.
The leaves of the plant that Sandy and Pat had placed in their central living area were more than adequate to the task of giving a clear view of the room. However the conifer they had brought in provided far more data points and it had been simplicity itself to connect it to the forest outside. Though the humans had warned Notes the Passing Changes that they would be giving it to the local domesticated herbivores so it would be unwise to invest any personal biomass in it. The view it gave, a full three-hundred sixty degrees of the human dwelling from the floor to the ceiling was fascinating. The plant itself, the humans insisted on calling the little thing a ‘tree’, was covered in lights and reflective surfaces and extra greenery hung on the walls. The air was thick with complex molecules that drifted out of the cooking room. Human music drifted from the household speakers. Sandy was alone in the room, sitting cross-legged and staring down at a tangle of brightly colored paper, ribbons, and a cloth facsimile of a local predator species. She was also wielding a pair of steel cutting blades so Notes the Passing Changes decided to wait until she set them down before speaking to her. Startling humans who were holding blades had never turned out well.
While the human focused on concealing the faux-predator Notes the Passing Changes took time to observe the pile of items that had not yet been concealed in either the brightly colored paper or the sturdier reflective bags, and compare the mass and number to those that had been.
“Human Friend Sandy?” Notes the Passing Changes greeted the human when she had breathed a sigh, set the blades to the side, and sat up to stretch.
“Eh? Notes?” she asked glancing first at the usual plant and then up at the conifer fragment with a wide smile.
“Will Pat be arriving to help you with this task?” Notes the Passing Changes asked.
“He better no’!” Sandy declared, shoving some hair out of her face with one hand as she grabbed a pen with the other. “I told him ta stay away till I’m done!”
“If my understanding of this celebration is sufficient you only have a few hours to complete the task,” Notes the Passing Changes observed.
Sandy laughed as she carefully wrote something on a tag on the paper wrapped predator.
“Nah, I got most of the night,” she informed Notes the Passing Changes. “The deadlines when the little nephews and nieces show up tomorrow, not tonight at midnight. I just need ta get it all done before I go to sleep so I can rest easy.”
Notes the Passing Changes gave a vague sound to indicate understanding and observed in silence as Sandy concealed several more of the items. Several were already tucked under the tree and one that smelled of the main space port had the label ‘Notes the Passing Changes’.
“Sandy,” Notes the Passing Changes interjected as she paused between wrapping a low grade weapon in paper and arranging a processed food item in a bag, “are you enjoying this process?”
The human paused, turned her head too look fully at the tree, and for a long moment her eyes unfocused as she pondered the question. Finally she nodded slowly.
“Aye,” she said, a slow grin spreading over her face, and her pheromones were in accord with the satisfaction she expressed. “I don’ like the time crunch, but I’ve always loved the warping and the prepping part.”
“You have been gathering these items for many weeks now,” observed Notes the Passing Changes. “Your workload has been limited now that winter is in full angle and the plants are dormant.”
“Yer’ point?” Sandy asked tilting her head and picking up the blades.
“If you do not enjoy the time crunch, and you have had full control over you time these past weeks,” Notes the Passing Changes asked slowly, “then why do you now have a mass of the work to prepare in a decided time crunch?”
Sandy stared at the tree for a long moment and her face flashed with annoyance before she forced it to a more neutral smile and simply gave a laugh that suggested as much fatigue as humor.
“If y’er gonna be making sharp observations just keep an eye on me pen and scissors so I don’t lose them,” she said, bending back over her work.
“Of course,” Notes the Passing Changes agreed.
It would be fairly simple to keep enough awareness here to preform the class while also visiting the other friends on the list. Perhaps another human household would hold the answer.
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