Early Bird...

Of Worms and Writing | Non-Fiction

06:35 brewing blurry morning coffee

06:30. Rise from slumber. Still dark outside.

A splash of cold water on the face, brush teeth, amble towards kitchen, weigh 20g of medium roast Sumatra beans, grind them, boil 300g of filtered water, pour 40g for initial bloom, wait 24 seconds, then proceed at 8g/s. Three minutes later, enjoy a first cup of java and a banana. Breakfast.

What to write about? Today is Friday. “Early bird catches the worm,” they say. Does it matter? There are more worms than birds. There are enough worms for everyone. Fact. Four of every five of Earth’s creatures is a worm, and they number around 325 quintillion living individuals.

Up to 30 per cent of parasitic worms may go extinct in the coming decades because of climate change and other pressures, like early birds. With over 50 billion birds worldwide, you may wonder what species accounts for the most significant proportion of this figure. This is also a question that has been answered.

You might be fascinated to learn that the most common bird is the domestic chicken, with roughly 22 billion. Yet some species are in decline; maybe they don’t get up early enough, or there aren’t enough worms around where they are. So, perhaps it does matter, being early.

12:53. Past lunchtime. I spent most of the morning reading about earthworms. Received another decline from an application sent weeks ago. No matter. Must start writing. No, wait. Must get food first.

A small salad later. Need coffee. Brew another cup. Have a Gauffre de Liège for dessert, and read “The Liege of Leaves” (BotSN, Claw, Ch. IX).

Now, we are ready to write about early birds. Or, how not to be a greedy bird: Stop gorging yourself on all the worms.

Earthworms are the unsung heroes of the planet’s ecosystems: Unnoticed below our feet, they grind up soil and dead matter, recycling essential nutrients and moving air and water deeper into the ground. Without them, soil health would suffer, and plant productivity would falter.

You may have surmised by now that this is not at all about worms, that there is a subtext that has wormed its way between the lines, a parable of sorts about habits and acts of consumption. Sustainable? Reasonable? Rational? Radical? Reciprocal? Insufferable.

I had a chat with a street worker a few years back; the people we don’t thank for cleaning our streets from the rubbish we throw everywhere, wherever we go. Cigarette buds, cans, plastic wrappers, and take-out cartons are strewn about often right next to readily available trash bins. He had a lot to say about attitude.

The world has gone mad—crazy, no respect for anything, disgusting, you know, it starts with the parents.

I nodded. We talked more about how the town has changed in recent years, then wished each other a good day and parted ways. I have never seen him again since, but the trash I still see daily.

Recently, someone dumped their broken monitor, cables and all, into the local river. Excited by the heavy pull, a fisherman, baffled by his catch, managed to retrieve it with great difficulty. People walk past with their dogs and leave minefields behind. At least those minefields are biodegradable.

The other day, I overheard a group of young adults argue against working in an office:

Work is such a drag; 9 to 5 is for boomers. I want to make an impact now; I don’t want to commute and sit at a stupid desk all day.

I can understand the aversion to commuting. What about the impact? Anyone who is born has a considerable impact, not the kind of impact they are thinking of.

We could calculate a person’s average lifetime carbon footprint, assuming a lifespan of 70 years. There’s your impact right there: 16 tons of impact each year, amounting to over 1000 tons of CO2 per person. Some countries have lower averages, but ideally, the global average would need to drop under 2 tons per person annually by 2050. Less impact is better.

I read that the world’s GDP in 2023 was 105.4 trillion, projected to rise by 2.7% in 2024 and 2.2% in 2025. How long would one individual at an average wage need to work for one trillion? How long would it take to climb one trillion steps? One could calculate this; the math exists, but a person who could achieve such a feat does not.

Out of coffee again. The day doesn’t go as I thought it would. Here I am ranting about obvious stuff, stuff anyone can read about a quintillion times over. Next to me lies the Book of the New Sun. Maybe read that instead of brooding over yet another decline I have received today.

Two hours later. Severian is such a doofus. I won’t mention any details, but if he had done a certain deed in Chapter VII of the “Claw,” then, well, he wouldn’t be Severian. I must confess I love this book. But what about those one trillion steps? You’re curious now, aren’t you?

Alright. It would take an average person approximately 190,000 years to climb one trillion steps, climbing eight hours a day. At an average salary of 25k p.a., it would take 40 million years or one million lifetimes of continuous work to earn one trillion. To date, we have at least one person with a net worth of over 300 billion, only 700 billion to one trillion. And then what?

You may say the math is flawed, and you may be right. The world is flawed, and so are we. There is no way around it. We live our lives to the best of our abilities, knowing that we can solve most of our problems, but seldom do so for reasons. But what do I know? Nothing.

“I also know,” said Candide, “that we must cultivate our garden.” —Voltaire, Candide (1759)

18:31. It’s nearly time for supper, and I haven’t written a word about Hein and his friends Kay and Felice, who have joined him on his quest to find the Sacred Earthenwood Tune.

I lied. I did write a bit. Aelia, the village elder, revealed part of the prophecy, foretelling their arrival in this strange world Hein has escaped to.

And from the heavens, they shall descend when he nears his ascent. One to unlock his tomb, one to reveal what remains in the shadows, one to heal what lies shattered in the tower where eternal darkness breeds. (—Spherean, Ch. 17)

I better get back to it. There’s still lots to do for the Carter ebook and print edition, which you can soon preorder! Early bird…

Read Next

If you are looking for a special speculative fiction deal, look no further.

TFTD Community

Thank you for reading. To all new subscribers, welcome and thank you for joining! Please leave a comment and say hi in the chat or on Discord, or drop me a line via DM or email. I am always happy to hear from you.