Ruth on the Run: Out of Left Field, I Know

From the time people started gathering in communities, control was a big part of the game. Controlling tribes, controlling hunts, controlling harvests, controlling each other.

The game is the same today; as soon as we are born, we are controlling. Of course, as newborns, we have to be if we want to survive. With our cute little crinkled faces crying for milk, we get the mama to move fast to satisfy our hunger.

As we grow, we learn to control our parents even more, sometimes to a negative, but they are also controlling us. They control our environments, our food intake, our clothing, our cleanliness, and our schooling.

It's no wonder when we grow up and out of the house that we want to lose control for a while, but it is also no wonder that we tend to gravitate back towards that "control" for comfort and sustenance.

Sameness is safety. It is also bland and flavorless, like food marketed to a population for convenience that bears no resemblance at all to a real food. So, in essence, the control of our lives goes far beyond our insular family units. We are bombarded each day by media and advertising and news whose sole aim is to control our way of thinking. And I believe, because we've been stripped of power in the kitchen to the workplace or to the community or even our own free time, we are less for it and are not living to our potential and are a depressed society.

Variety is the spice of life, as the old saying goes, but how little variety do we really have in our lives? Many days are spent identical to the one before that and the one before that.

Change is hard to accept and our bodies and minds sometimes fight very hard to keep it at bay. We want comfort and stability and sameness; we don't want surprises and events that make us feel uncomfortable.

All that, which is based on my observations and humble opinion, bring us to our latest stop in our journey around the southern tip up the western side of Florida.

We anchored just off shore of Cape Sable to stay in the shelter of land for the waves that would be more buffeting due to higher winds building during the day. A part of the Everglades, the only activity allowed was primitive camping and day visits. We spent a lovely time on the beach collecting shells, standing on the edge of the wild, and enjoying dolphins, pelicans, herons, and terns. We also found burnt out campfires just over the dune and a beautiful mosaic spiral of shells done by some artful spirits.