Dreams & Worms

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In last night’s dream I left a rental car in a parking lot. As the dream progressed I got more and more anxious about paying for it before it got locked in. This morning in the drowsy zone between asleep and awake I had this continuing anxiety. Even as I checked my emails the concern lingered. I had to talk severely to my sub-conscious. ‘It was a dream. I don’t drive. There is no car in a parking lot. End of story. Get over it man.’

Despite the dry weather blackbirds are still getting worms out of the lawn. They especially like scratching under the rose bushes. There must be dozens of worms even on such a small section.

Yesterday’s paper had a science article by Brockie about worms. Darwin observed them over the years and marvelled at how they raised the soil, burying stones and flagstones. In time their castings covered the objects. It was his last book. But for years he kept worms in pots in his study and investigated their activities. To test that they had no hearing he yelled at them and played musical instruments. He did table-top experiments with light and heat as well as sound.

When people here read his research into worms they were sceptical. But they found he was right. Indeed, we have more worms per acre than Britain. The worms the blackbirds are eating are European worms. Old country birds eating Old Country worms. It’s a very ordinary Kiwi sight now for they forage in the shade of our two elegant tree-ferns.