Sciurus sapiens astro was a fun story that I wrote on a lark. It's about squirrels becoming the dominant species on the planet, religion, and the Astrodome.

The rise of squirrels

I am not one of these scientific types who believes in only what you can see, as you might gather from these Web pages. There is a biological, scientific story of the planet, of course, but it makes no sense without spiritual insight. I believe that we are all ascending into a greater reality, which is causing major planetary changes.

However, when I wrote this story, I allowed myself to imagine. If mankind did such great environmental damage to the planet that it effectively hosed itself (always a choice), then it seemed to me that squirrels could survive it. They have survived urbanization, and thrive in it. Nothing seems to phase them. So, if squirrels were to survive in the ruins of our cities, how would they get on?

Well, they might develop opposable thumbs and consciousness as humans tend to (narrowly) define it. Given that sort of consciousness, what sort of spirituality might they have? Considering their diet, they would probably venerate nuts. Also considering that they live in trees, they might find the ruins of city skyscrapers to be godlike in their scale.

Also given that Houston, built on a swamp to begin with, would be among the first to go if global warming caused the oceans to rise, the only thing visible to the formerly Texan squirrel would be these skyscrapers, sticking up out of the seas. And when the oceans lowered again, what might be revealed? Why, the Astrodome, of course, that marvel of 1960s space-age architecture.

I was living in Austin, Texas when I wrote this story and was a frustrated Astros fan (like every other Astros fan), and I admit to having a certain fondness for the 'Dome. It's ugly, it's cold and uninviting, and I can't explain why a true Astros fan would miss it, but there you have it.

Squirrel religion

I admit to having a bit of fun with religion in this story. The moment you externalize God, place God outside of yourself, then you are just creating arbitrary rules. The squirrels turned extinct humans into gods, much like humans turned ascended masters and angels into gods. Neither is true. But having done this, the squirrels begin to construct supporting arguments for this being the truth, all of which are arbitrary and based on the egos of the few.

In this story, the squirrels discover the Astrodome and make it sacred. It becomes the basis for a new religious sect. Over time, the true story of the birth of this sect is lost, and the Astrodome recedes into the ocean again, leaving squirrel descendants to ponder the myth and wonder which parts are true.

Of course, in the process of doing all this, the squirrels completely neglect anything that is remotely spiritual and focus on minutiae that do not matter, such as the Astrodome itself or, worse, Astroturf. Humans have been doing that for millenia. For example, focusing on an instrument of death instead of on the life of the person who was put to death.

What I learned

The main thing I learned from this story is that it comes from a fairly pessimistic place:  the human race dies out, only to be replaced by the descendants of squirrels. And this will never happen. I've learned that earth changes are not a negative thing. It's not the end of the world; it's the beginning. Change your attitude. You want to see positive change? Then see it, and stop seeing the negative. What we focus on is what we create.

Mrbopgrass

For those who wonder, or are too young to recall, MrbopGrass is simply Astroturf, that great sin inadvertently inflicted on baseball by Judge Roy Hofheinz, who dared to dream of watching real major league baseball in air-conditioned comfort in Houston.