Exuberance: The Passion for Life
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50. “The beautiful branching one”: Wilson A. Bentley, “Some Recent Treasures of the Snow,” Monthly Weather Review, 55: 358–59 (1927).
51. “wonderfully brilliant closing”: ibid.
52. No two will be alike: “New and beautiful designs seem to be as numerous now as when I began the work 40 years ago. While many of them are very similar to one another, I have, as yet, found no exact duplicates.” Bentley, “Forty Years’ Study,” p. 532.
53. “considering all the ways those molecules”: Fred Hapgood, “When Ice Crystals Fall from the Sky Art Meets Science,” Smithsonian, 6: 66–73 (1976), p. 71.
54. “it could snow day and night”: Kenneth Libbrecht, The Snowflake: Winter’s Secret Beauty, photographs by Patricia Rasmussen (Stillwater, Minn.: Voyageur Press, 2003), p. 102.
55. six hundred auroras: Blanchard, in his 1998 biography of Bentley, discusses these and other scientific contributions in detail.
56. a little cracked: Bentley was aware of his neighbors’ concerns. In an interview published after his death, he was quoted as saying, “A fool, and probably crazy, is what some folks call me, and they mostly demand to know what good it does to get all these pictures of just snow! I don’t argue with them.” Vrest Orton, “ ‘Snowflake’ Bentley,” Vermont Life, 2: 11–13 (1948).
57. “John Ruskin declared”: “Bentley’s Contribution,” Burlington Free Press, December 28, 1931.
58. “So long as eyes shall see”: Bentley, “Wonders and Beauties,” p. 191.
59. “insistent ardor of the lover”: W. A. Bentley and W. J. Humphreys, Snow Crystals (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1931), p. 2.
60. “Cold west wind afternoon”: December 7, 1931, entry in weather notebook, quoted in Blanchard, Snowflake Man, p. 214.
Chapter 3: “Playing Fields of the Mind”
1. a stuff which will not endure: “Youth’s a stuff will not endure,” William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act II, scene 3, line 53.
2. “In the sun that is young”: Dylan Thomas, “Fern Hill,” in The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas (New York: New Directions, 1953), p. 178.
3. “Natural selection”: Karl Groos, The Play of Animals, trans. E. L. Baldwin (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1898), p. xx.
4. Plein, meaning, in Middle Dutch: John Ayto, Dictionary of Word Origins (New York: Arcade, 1991).
5. “soup of behavior”: S. Miller, “Ends, Means, and Galumphing: Some Leitmotifs of Play,” American Anthropologist, 75: 87–98 (1973).
6. “went simply galumphing about”: Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits (1876; New York: Pantheon, 1966), p. 26.
7. “One, two! One, two!”: Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass (1871; New York: Signet, 2000), p. 138.
8. Rhesus monkeys running to play: D. S. Sade, “An Ethogram for Rhesus Monkeys: I. Antithetical Contrasts in Posture and Movement,” American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 38: 537–42 (1973).
9. facial expressions of black bear cubs: J. D. Henry and S. M. Herrero, “Social Play in the American Black Bear: Its Similarity to Canid Social Play and an Examination of Its Identifying Characteristics,” American Zoologist, 14:371–89 (1974).
10. “gives the whole world”: Groos, Play of Animals, p. 326.
11. “It exploded with joy”: George B. Schaller, The Last Panda (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), p. 66.
12. “Wombat play”: Barbara Triggs, The Wombat: Common Wombats in Australia (Sydney: University of New South Wales, 1996), pp. 79–80.
13. “hair-trigger mousetraps”: Carolyn King, The Natural History of Weasels and Stoats (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1989), p. 4.
14. “From whichever retreat”: quoted ibid., p. 6, from P. Drabble, A Weasel in My Meatsafe (London: Michael Joseph, 1977).
15. “extremely bad at doing nothing”: Gavin Maxwell, Ring of Bright Water (1960; New York: Penguin, 1996), p. 92.
16. “what soon became”: ibid., p. 102.
17. “would set out from the house”: ibid., p. 138.
18. Marc Bekoff, a biologist: M. Bekoff, “The Development of Social Interaction, Play, and Metacommunication in Mammals: An Ethological Perspective,” Quarterly Review of Biology, 47: 412–34 (1972). Among the general sources I consulted about animal play—in addition to those listed elsewhere in these notes—were F. A. Beach, “Current Concepts of Play in Animals,” American Naturalist, 79: 523–41 (1945); D. F. Lancy, “Play in Species Adaptation,” Annual Review of Anthropology, 9: 471–95 (1980); Paul D. MacLean, The Triune Brain: Role in Paleocerebral Functions (New York: Plenum, 1990); Marc Bekoff and John A. Byers, Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative, and Ecological Perspectives (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1998); David F. Bjorklund and Anthony D. Pellegrini, The Origins of Human Nature: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association Press, 2002).
19. “He won’t say”: Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters (New York: Harper Colophon, 1982), p. 15.
20. “Young bulls love to chase things”: Katy Payne, Silent Thunder: In the Presence of Elephants (New York: Penguin, 1998), pp. 72–73.
21. Young sea lions: Marianne Riedman, The Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), p. 338.
22. Harbor seals of all ages: D. Renouf, “Play in a Captive Breeding Colony of Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina): Constrained by Time or by Energy?” Journal of Zoology, 231: 351–63 (1993).
23. Biologists studying harbor seals: ibid.
24. “One animal, probably a subadult”: George B. Schaller, Hu Jinchu, Pan Wenshi, and Zhu Jing, The Giant Pandas of Wolong (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985), p. 150.
25. Japanese macaque monkeys: G. Eaton, “Snowball Construction by a Feral Troop of Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata) Living Under Seminatural Conditions,” Primates, 13: 411–14 (1972).
26. young wolf’s first experience: John Fentress, “Animal Emotions: Wolves,” paper presented at conference on animal emotions held at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 28, 2000.
27. ravens pushing themselves: Bernd Heinrich, Mind of the Raven (New York: Cliff Street Books, 1999).
28. dancelike behaviors: Payne, Silent Thunder, p. 63.
29. “He’d whirl in a circle”: Ronald Rood, How Do You Spank a Porcupine? (Shelburne, Vt.: New England Press, 1969), p. 61.
30. The porcupines, in solitary play: A. R. Shadle, “The Play of American Porcupines,” Journal of Comparative Psychology, 37: 145–49 (1944), p. 147.
31. Young weasels and stoats: King, Natural History of Weasels and Stoats.
32. “The random high spirits of youth”: P. Chalmers Mitchell, The Childhood of Animals (London: William Heinemann, 1912), p. 242.
33. “in order that they may have surplus energy”: ibid., p. 245.
34. facilitate an animal’s ability to move: J. Byers and C. Walker, “Refining the Motor Training Hypothesis for the Evolution of Play,” American Nature, 146: 25–40 (1995).
35. Very young cheetah cubs: T. M. Caro, “Short-Term Costs and Correlates of Play in Cheetahs,” Animal Behaviour, 49: 333–45 (1995).
36. Serengeti lion cubs: George B. Schaller, The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972).
37. even domestic cattle will play: A. Brownlee, “Play in Domestic Cattle in Britain: An Analysis of Its Nature,” British Veterinary Journal, 110: 48–68 (1954).
38. Sea lions and seals play: Reidman, Pinnipeds.
39. Dolphins have been seen: Rachel Smolker, To Touch a Wild Dolphin (New York: Doubleday, 2001).
40. “stretch their necks above the surface”: Hope Ryden, Lily Pond (New York: Lyons & Burford, 1989), pp. 215–16.
41. He smelled, touched, and tasted: Joyce Poole, Coming of Age with Elephants (New York: Hyperion, 1996), p. 157.
42.
Birds also play: W. H. Thorpe, “Ritualization in Ontogeny: I. Animal Play,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, series B, 251: 311–19 (1966); Heinrich, Mind of the Raven.
43. Play is conspicuously rare in reptiles: Play has been observed only rarely in reptiles, presumably due to their limited energy and thermal resources. An interesting exception is a Nile soft-shelled turtle at the National Zoo in Washington who played with several objects added to his tank (including a rubber hoop, sticks, and a basketball). Unlike reptiles in the wild, however, this turtle had his metabolic and food needs met by others. G. M. Burghardt, B. Ward, and R. Rosscoe, “Problem of Reptile Play: Environmental Enrichment and Play Behavior in a Captive Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle, Trionyx triunguis,” Zoo Biology, 15: 223–38 (1996).
44. “The young of the Komodo dragon”: P. D. MacLean, “Brain Evolution Relating to Family, Play, and the Separation Call,” Archives of General Psychiatry, 42: 402–17 (1985).
45. communal den of spotted hyenas: C. M. Drea, J. E. Hawk, and S. E. Glickman, “Aggression Decreases as Play Emerges in Infant Spotted Hyaenas: Preparation for Joining the Clan,” Animal Behaviour, 51: 1323–36 (1996).
46. “Not a single night had passed”: Ryden, Lily Pond, pp. 87, 104.
47. Wolves, who form close packs: Bekoff, “Development of Social Interaction.”
48. Common seals engage: S. Wilson, “Juvenile Play of the Common Seal Phoca vitulina with Comparative Notes on the Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus,” Behaviour, 48: 37–60 (1971).
49. “merely nuzzled each other”: Personal communication from Desmond Morris to S. Wilson, quoted ibid.
50. “Something was obviously amiss”: Benjamin Kilham and Ed Gray, Among the Bears: Raising Orphan Cubs in the Wild (New York: Henry Holt, 2002), pp. 254–55.
51. “almost delirious with excitement”: Cynthia Moss, “Animal Emotions: Elephants,” paper presented at conference on animal emotions held at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 28, 2000.
52. “rush together, heads high”: Joyce Poole, “Family Reunions,” in The Smile of a Dolphin, ed. Marc Bekoff (New York: Discovery Books, 2000), p. 122.
53. “Protected, comforted, cooed over”: Joyce Poole, keynote address to the 22nd Annual Elephant Managers Workshop, presented by Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, Fla., November 9–12, 2001.
54. “elephantine joy”: Moss, Smithsonian lecture, 2000.
55. “The bird suddenly stretches”: William J. L. Sladen, “Social Structure Among Penguins,” in Group Processes, ed. B. Schaffner (New York: Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation, 1956), p. 45.
56. African wild dogs: R. D. Estes and J. Goodard, “Prey Selection and Hunting Behavior of the African Wild Dog,” Journal of Wildlife Management, 31: 52–70 (1967), p. 57.
57. powerfully reinforcing opioid systems: A. P. Humphreys and D. F. Einon, “Play as a Reinforcer for Maze-Learning in Juvenile Rats,” Animal Behaviour, 29: 259–70 (1981); W. W. Beatty and K. B. Costello, “Naloxone and Play Fighting in Juvenile Rats,” Pharmacological and Biochemical Behavior, 17: 905–7 (1982); J. Panksepp, J. E. Jalowiec, F. G. DeEskenazi, and P. Bishop, “Opiates and Play Dominance in Juvenile Rats,” Behavioral Neuroscience, 99: 441–53 (1985); L.J.M.J. Vanderschuren, R.J.M. Niesink, B. M. Spruijt, and J. M. Van Ree, “Effects of Morphine on Different Aspects of Social Play in Juvenile Rats,” Psychopharmacology, 117: 225–51 (1995); L.J.M.J. Vanderschuren, E. A. Stein, V. M. Wiegant, and J. M. Van Ree, “Social Play Alters Regional Brain Opioid Receptor Binding in Juvenile Rats,” Brain Research, 680: 148–56 (1995); Jaak Panksepp, Affective Neuroscience (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 248.
58. “brain source of joy”: Panksepp, Affective Neuroscience, p. 280.
59. play probably increases gene expression: ibid., p. 291.
60. Trout raised in hatcheries: Research findings presented by Michael Marchetti and Gabrielle Nevitt to the Ecological Society of America in August 2000, Science, 289 (August 25, 2000).
61. “the brains of domestic rabbits”: Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, in The Works of Charles Darwin, vol. 21 (London: Pickering & Chatto, 1989), p. 59; first published in 1871.
62. “learns during play”: Jane Goodall, In the Shadow of Man (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988), p. 156.
63. “Inasmuch as new objects”: William James, The Principles of Psychology, vol. II (1890; New York: Dover, 1950), p. 429.
64. “susceptibility for being excited”: ibid.
65. “It’s cat and monkey spirit”: Eugene Walter, as told to Katherine Clark, Milking the Moon: A Southerner’s Story of Life on This Planet (New York: Crown, 2001).
66. The systems in the brain: Panksepp, Affective Neuroscience.
67. “There was a child went forth”: Walt Whitman, “There Was a Child Went Forth,” in Leaves of Grass, ed. Sculley Bradley and Harold W. Blodgett (New York: Norton, 1965), p. 364.
68. “an acting out of options”: Heinrich, Mind of the Raven, p. 294.
69. “One by one”: Quoted in Cynthia Asquith, Portrait of Barrie (London: Greenwood Press, 1954), p. 220.
70. Highly creative children: E. P. Torrance, “Priming Creative Thinking in the Primary Grades,” Elementary School Journal, 62: 139–45 (1961); J. W. Getzels and P. W. Jackson, Creativity and Intelligence (New York: Wiley, 1962); M. A. Wallach and N. Kogan, Modes of Thinking in Young Children (New York: Holt, 1965).
Playfulness in childhood is also associated with increased creativity in adulthood: J. L. Singer, The Child’s World of Make-Believe: Experimental Studies of Imaginative Play (New York: Academic Press, 1973); L. R. Sherrod and J. L. Singer, “The Development of Make-Believe Play,” in Sports, Games, and Play, ed. J. Goldstein (Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 1989), pp. 1–15.
71. children’s ability to produce: J. N. Lieberman, “Playfulness and Divergent Thinking: An Investigation of Their Relationship at the Kindergarten Level,” Journal of General Psychology, 107: 219–24 (1965); J. L. Dansky and I. W. Silverman, “Effect of Play on Associative Fluency in Preschool-Aged Children,” Developmental Psychology, 9: 38–43 (1973); J. S. Bruner, A. Jolly, and K. Sylva, eds., Play (New York: Basic Books, 1976); J. N. Lieberman, Playfulness: Its Relationship to Imagination and Creativity (New York: Academic Press, 1977); J. Singer, “Affect and Imagination in Play and Fantasy,” in Emotions in Personality and Psychopathology, ed. C. E. Izard (New York: Plenum, 1979), pp. 13–54.
72. The level of elation: Singer, Child’s World of Make-Believe; Singer, “Affect and Imagination.”
73. two dimensions of play: L. A. Barnett, “Playfulness: Definition, Design and Measurement,” Play and Culture, 3: 319–56 (1990); L. Barnett, “Characterizing Playfulness Correlates with Individual Attributes and Personal Traits,” Play and Culture, 4: 371–93 (1991).
74. first and most strikingly apparent: Communication with author, 2000; Ellen Winner, Gifted Children: Myth and Realities (New York: Basic Books, 1996). Earlier studies also have shown the importance of high energy levels in creative individuals: V. Goertzel and M. Goertzel, Cradles of Eminence (Boston: Little, Brown, 1962); J. Bergman, “Energy Levels: An Important Factor in Identifying and Facilitating the Development of Giftedness in Young Children,” Creative Child and Adult Quarterly, 4: 181–88 (1979).
75. “It is better to have a broken bone”: Lady Allen of Hurtwood, cited in J. Scott, “When Child’s Play Is Too Simple,” New York Times, July 15, 2000.
76. “I am interested”: Margaret Mead, quoted in Schaffner, Group Processes, p. 21.
77. It was said of John Muir: Samuel Hall Young, Alaska Days with John Muir, in John Muir: His Life and Letters and Other Writings, ed. T. Gifford (London: Bâton Wicks, 1996), p. 678.
78. “child heart”: Charles Keeler, “Recollections of John Muir,” in Gifford, Life and Letters, p. 878.
79. “It’s my last chance”: quoted in Nathan Miller, Theodore Roosevelt: A Life (New York: William Morrow, 1992), p. 535.
80. “the boy in him had died”: quoted
ibid., p. 562.
81. “ ‘I am cherry alive’ ”: Delmore Schwartz, “ ‘I Am Cherry Alive,’ the Little Girl Sang,” in Selected Poems (1938–1958): Summer Knowledge (New York: New Directions, 1959), p. 161.
Chapter 4. “The Glowing Hours”
1. “flashing from one end”: Robert Louis Stevenson, “Crabbed Age and Youth,” in The Lantern Bearers and Other Essays (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988), p. 65; essay first published in 1877.
2. “stripped off himself”: Max Beerbohm, “The Child Barrie,” Saturday Review, January 7, 1905, pp. 13–14.
3. “I think one remains”: James Matthew Barrie, from his dedication to Peter Pan (play) (New York: Dover, 2000), p. x; first performed in London in 1904.
4. “Perhaps we do change”: ibid., p. xi.
5. “I can still remember everything”: quoted in Humphrey Carpenter, Secret Gardens: A Study of the Golden Age of Children’s Literature (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985), p. 119.
6. “Could you ask your friend”: A. A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner (1928; New York: Puffin, 1992), p. 31.
7. “with a way of saying”: ibid., p. 61.
8. “who was always in front”: ibid., p. 75.
9. “But whatever his weight in pounds”: ibid., p. 32.
10. “I don’t think they ought to be there”: ibid., p. 33.
11. “They wanted to come in”: ibid.
12. “Stornry good flyers”: ibid., p. 62.
13. “Can they climb trees”: ibid., p. 63.
14. “Climbing trees is what they do best”: ibid.
15. “Once, it was nothing but sailing”: Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows (1908; New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1994), p. 29.
16. “There you are!”: ibid., pp. 42, 44.
17. “The poetry of motion!”: ibid., p. 51.
18. “What are we going to do”: ibid., p. 52.
19. “We can’t all”: A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh (1926; New York: Puffin, 1992), p. 74.