The Easy Life

We don't receive The Discovery Channel because, as with all logical decisions in the world of satellite television, (like I need two dishes on my house because the public television stations are coming from a satellite that is at a bad angle from the first - huh?) we don't receive any of the interesting channels. As a result of this we have to get most of what we watch from Netflix. We have finally gotten to the point where we are only watching things from Netflix or itunes with the exception of American Idol - which is certainly not worth the $29.99/month. Long story made long, we can finally cancel our satellite! Because of our house's placement (we are sort of nestled between two large-ish hills - officially hills because I think they are taller than 500 feet but less than 1000) we cannot get regular antenna reception at all. Therefore, it would be a big move to completely cut ourselves off of any live TV. I keep thinking, what would I do if I wanted to watch some breaking news?

Anyway, not the point.

We have been enjoying Planet Earth on DVD, thanks to Netflix, because we don't get The Discovery Channel. There are six discs in all, with three episodes on each one. Disc One's three episodes ended up being watched 4 or 5 times - the kids couldn't get enough of the amazing stories about the incredible animals literally a world away from your basic zoo experience.

Oh, the injustice in the animal world!

It is incredibly sobering and awe-inspiring and deeply sad and confusing simultaneously. I am sure many of you are familiar with March of the Penguins and the treacherous life of the Antarctic penguins - the gut-wrenching, daily struggle for survival in a world almost completely inhospitable to any kind of life. The battle of the snow leopards, in their cliff-side lairs, consumed with hunting to feed their young. The incredible scrambling up and down after agile prey - always waiting and watching and desperate for food. The heart-breaking story of the giant panda and the life spent eating bamboo, so void of any real nutrition it has to feed constantly and it's milk is so poor in quality it can hardly ever keep it's young thriving and healthy. (I wondered why the giant panda and it's healthy baby we saw at the San Diego Zoo last summer was such a big deal... )

What twisted my 7 year old's brain was the jump to the story about the birds of paradise. A life where the climate is perfect for living and food is so abundant that they have the free time to stand around and clean up their "display area". They filmed this bird carefully tossing dead leaves from his little clearing, scratching branches with pieces of dead wood and leaves. Their biggest concern is finding another bird with whom to mate. A serious concern, to be sure, but a far cry from the birds who spend four months of the year, an egg balanced on their feet, huddled together in -75 degree winds and snowstorms.

We are on the second disc now, and the theme continues. Some animals have plenty of time for playing and relaxing and eating leisurely, some spend their entire existence in a literal fight to the death with the harsh realities of nature. What gives them this drive, the instinct, to fight so fiercely to live? We watched about the ibex the other night and how, in only one lost fight against another male, they can lose the right to ever be permitted to mate. They showed the alpha male, followed by his entourage of ibex ladies, with whom he is allowed to choose from and mate with whenever he pleases.