Manic May

"Either the season of spring ... or some incidental heat of passion has brought a relapse ... in those periods of life with which much heat and blood are associated, persons are most given to mania, namely those about puberty, young men, and such as possess energy and vigor..." Aretaeus, 100 A.D., quoted in Akiskal, 1995, p. 754).
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May...the traditional month for migration, nesting, male births, and even suicide...I pity for any creature who is not a little manic! The abundant snows left me both early bag worms and avian guests who are both louder this spring and covered with brighter feathers. Noisy starlings recruit from my chimneys, sparrows fill the ledge above my door, and doves, jays, robins, cardinals, and catbirds are everywhere else except for the end of my barn wherein a pair of buzzards nest for the fourth year. (They ask about my friend's health and Mrs. Fred's long term plans for his remains.)

The extra reds on the birds announce not only more persistent, active, apeshit, go-to-hell bacteria but also the more intense reproductive efforts that go with their carrier's hot spring wardrobes. (Sex is a mutational counter to disease. Does Victoria's Secret know about these things? What is, Mr. Stark, the correlation between wearing red silk step-ins and immunological activity? Bright nighties should reflect germ-fighting competence. Or will heightened bacterial challenges lead both to better germ fighters and to red satin thongs? Ah! A study...give your wife a fever, manipulate what she wears, and count ways that she gets hot!)

My favorite customers, the ones who resemble me, are also livelier and now enjoy immense assurance and a fresh glitter in their visions and announcements. One young man dropped his efforts to fit into academia and resurrected his dream of being the best drummer on the East Coast. His reticent father, during the same week, told a very large, diversity customer in the ER that "The cops can be here in 5 minutes or you can take your drug test and leave peacefully. And before I call the cops, I have here a 30,000 volt taser that will put you on the floor while you wait." (The "taser" is really a door opener but who am I to rat him out? I like him and his son because I am like them! "Sync" occurs on many levels...)

Meanwhile, I've finished a photo show, rediscovered that I can work 10 hours per day, whip the Nordi Trak once more for a decent interval, and bench 170 pounds with my 145 pound frame. I mowed my weeds outside and evicted the dust bunnies inside. I also dropped 2 years of AmEx points on a set of Bose headphones!

The madness grows exponentially without limit. Each gambit elicits a corresponding match as the contingencies of fitness (in Barabasi's sense) and "raise-the-stakes" take charge:

- After a long Prufrockean minuet, I showed my camera work to an 19 year old who spotted my camera six months ago and asked then if I had a darkroom to share. No, I'm a digital guy but she has now agreed to pose. She's just over 6 feet tall, weighs 135 on a really wet day, and wants to be a nature photographer. Unhandicapped by bad manners or by a drawl, she grew up in Florida, and returns there in September for more photography schooling...we both want a creative partnership, but one, like the summer, circumscribed at its beginning. And like the birds' plumage, brightest in May.

By whatever gods may be, it's great to be nuts!

References for my one literate fan from Barnes & Noble:
Akiskal, H. (1995) Developmental pathways to bipolarity: Are juvenile-onset depressions pre-bipolar? Journal American Academy Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 34: 754-763.
Barabasi, A-L (2002) Linked: The New Science of Networks. NY: Perseus.
Ridley, M. (1993) The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature. NY: Penguin.
Roberts, G. & Sherratt, T. (1998) Development of cooperative relationships through increasing investment. Nature, 394: 175-179.

This is brilliant stuff! Copyright 2004, all rights reserved, James Brody.

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