Advancing Civilization

Periwinkle Chronicles, tales of the citizens of Periwinkle [because all the other colors were already taken] County:

***

“What you doing in here this time of day, Seymour?” Edith Whistle, of The Whistle and Thistle Biker Bar and Episcopal Ladies Tea House, asked Professor Ben Bottoms, who teaches at the big state university in the town of Hope’s Promise, over in neighboring Crimson County.

“Spring break, Edith.”

“Oh, girls gone wild, and all that sort of stuff,” said Edith.

“Well, the girls in Professor Cat Requies’ class have gone Wilde, since they are on a literary gravestone tour with Catherine [1], as I should call her, since she doesn’t really like to be called Cat, but the girls in my class, and the guys, too, have gone to build Habitat homes, as a way of contributing to the second most important advance in the rise of civilization.”

“Okay, you’ve got me hooked. What’s the most important one?”

“That was about 50 to 100 thousand years ago. Something happened to humans genetically that allowed us to use language. That opened up all sorts of possibilities.”

“So what was second, Prof?” asked Carla Carlson, who was sitting at the next table with her husband, Carl.

“Sedentary life style, which was based on growing crops and domesticated animals instead of hunting and gathering. If people could stay in one place, they could acquire non-portable goods, which allowed for advances in technology. The more sedentary we became, the more civilization advanced.”

“Good grief, Carl,” said Carla to her husband, “you’ve brought us to the brink of a whole new era of civilization.”

***

1] This is an obscure reference to Oscar Wilde’s poem, Requiescat, which means RIP.

The similarity between the activities in Periwinkle County and events in other places is rarely coincidental.

[“Christ in Winter,” Reflections On Faith For People In The Winter Of Their Years, can be found at http://christinwinter.blogspot.com/]

{If you would like to receive PC or CIW by email, let me know at jmcfarland1721@charter.net, and I’ll put you on the list.}