William McKee
I took an hour to sit on the back porch of our farm property in Greene County, Virginia. It sits at the base of the Shenandoah National Park and although there are people in the area, the farm itself is isolated on several hundred acres. It is a place to go were there is no internet and unbelievably bad cell reception, so it is the perfect place to disconnect from modern communications. I chose to sit a dusk, because that is when many animals come out to eat and forage. I saw a small heard of deer at the edge of the hay field, directly in front of the back porch. It was quite a distance, but you could see them slowly some out of the woods. To my left, there was a family of wild turkeys up a large hill and past one of two barns that were also enjoying the fresh cute hay. The sounds of the crickets, locust and tree frogs became louder and louder as the sun set. In many ways, it is such a quiet place, but nature has a strong voice and when the sunsets, many sounds come to life. There is also the sound of the coyotes, and I was listening carefully to see if they were around. They are silent and stealthy and can be close to you and you do not even know it. But the other animals do. We have two young quarter horses at the farm. They are each about a year old. The only way I knew that the coyotes were there, was when I saw the female horse, the filly start running. I thought she was playing and burning off some energy because the night was starting too cool from a muggy day, and they stayed out of the fields in the barn. It is cooler in there and they are getting attacked by flies and bugs. But then, the colt started running as well from the back paddock into the front. They were going full speed and it was almost dark. That is unusual behavior. I did not think too much of it, just watching what was happening until they almost jumped the fence near me. They were snorting loudly and stomping. Making all kinds of noises to alert. They wanted me to know something was out there. This behavior repeated itself several times. I got up and went to them at the fence. I was looking at the area where they ran from but could not see anything. They were on high alert, in fight or flight mode and the young colt was sweating and nervous. I calmed them down, got them fresh water in the trough and eventually the calmed down. The thing is, I heard and saw nothing, but they heard and saw something. It made me realize how our senses can be dulled, the less we are focused on what is around us but for animals, especially heard animals that can be prey, they are always on alert for unusual sights, sounds and smells. They are constantly using all their senses and are quick to react when startled.
When watching the new Game of Thrones series, the next night, I almost had the opposite type of experience. I was anticipating what was to come. How would the characters react? Who would challenge who for power. I was analyzing what outcomes could play out, and how the characters would reveal themselves as I watched. What is so interesting is that in this show, there is the illusion of power and control over intimidating beasts, who could easily kill or maimed the men/women who encounter them. The way the story is written shows that we as humans, believe we can control the scary things in the world, because we are smarter, have unique skills or in this case some special power. I enjoy watching shows like this because I can feel the emotions of how I react to a scene and have emotions around how it plays out even though it is not real. It is just a fictional show written by a science fiction author.
When comparing the impact and experiences of real and a compelling story, I find myself feeling like everything that happened was in a way opposite of what it should be. I should have been scared and nervous because of the horse’s reaction and high alert behavior. Instead, once I realized I could not see any threat, I felt compelled to calm them, and make them feel safe and at ease. The fact that they alerted me to react to their fear was very compelling, yet I did not share it once I investigated. It was their way of telling me that there was a problem and to do something even though initially I was unaware of any threat. In the HBO series, I anticipate the threat and react to what I would do in each situation. How I think they should handle a problem and take a stance or fight a fight. It is not real, yet I can anticipate, and problem solve an imagined threat. When comparing the two, I realized that the basis of fight or flight, life or death are ingrained in animals and humans. As humans we reason our way around it, but in nature, an animal reacts. The feelings and emotions around each experience are different, even though the farm experience was real and the TV one was fake.