Maritime Miracle

Maritime Miracle

Pearl Rosewater embodied the spirit of cosmic truth and light. “When I grow old,” she often said, “I’ll wear purple and ride busses and not care what anyone else thinks of me.” An enigma to many, Pearl lived up to her name in multiple ways. Pearl loved pearls. Pink pearls, or white pearls, black pearls or blue pearls; the color mattered not to Pearl so long as they were real. Some describe natural pearls as rare things, fine, admirable and valuable. Most who knew Pearl would use the same adjectives to describe her as well. Faux pearls were an abomination in Pearls mind, and any attitude or behavior not truly authentic found no quarter in Pearl’s personality. There was nothing “faux” about Pearl Rosewater.

Pearl also identified with her surname, “Rosewater” by never dousing herself in any other fragrance. Pearl Rosewater always left the scent of roses wherever she went. Thus, Pearl Rosewater was not only lovely to behold, she smelled good too. “What’s in a scent? A rose by any other is just a flower.”

To neighborhood children, Pearl Rosewater was a cat lady. One should dispense with any mental image of a stereo-typical crazy cat lady. Pearl didn’t house forty felines or even one for that matter. Her household pet lived in an aquarium. Neighboring kids called her the cat lady for reasons other than pet ownership. Partly, it was those cat-eye shaped glasses she wore day and night; whether perched on her pointed nose or dangling from her thin neck, secured against loss or misplacement by a chain of multi-colored pearls. She was also known for her cat-like fascination with birds, but the primary reason they called her “cat lady” was that she seemed to be purring whenever she sat motionless while contemplating a flock of birds. A doctor might suggest an advanced adenoid condition but that is not relevant to this story.

What made Pearl mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand is not her love of pearls, comparisons to cats, or the ever-present scent of roses. Pearl is an enigma primarily as a result of her choice of a pet. During her motionless reveries Pearl longed for companionship, connectivity to another living creature. “I’m not just human, being in this world,” Pearl was likely to say, “but a spiritual entity being human.”

Several times a week, Pearl spent hours sitting longingly in the aviary of Sampson’s Zoo, situated next to the aquarium. After a time with her birds, Pearl enjoyed watching Oscar the Octopus as he interacted with other creatures in the aquarium. One fateful day her reverie in the aviary was interrupted by an esoteric plea that only she could hear. Oscar called out to her for help. She rose as if in a daze and walked cautiously toward his tank. Oscar spoke to her directly and distinctly. “Pearl, save me.”At first she thought she might be going mad but Oscar continued to share with her telepathically a tale of imminent calamity if he were to remain in his present quarters. She turned to walk away when she heard him tell her he would make it happen that she could take him home.

In a flurry of activity during the next three days, legal documents came to her that named her as care giver and guardian of one six-year-old octopus. Included in the documents was sufficient financial awards to make it all possible and to sustain them, Oscar and Pearl for at least a year.

“Fine”, she thought to herself, “What then?” Oscar assured her with a catch phrase. “que sera sera.” To this day no one can say how it all came to pass. Another enigma?

By the end of the week, Oscar’s new tank home sat in Pearl’s guest bedroom. She sat on a chair staring and thinking about her new pet. “I heard that" he mentaled, "and I’ll not be your pet, Pearl. You longed for companionship as did I and both our prayers were answered. A thought is but a prayer. The universe, your universe manifests your reality. What will we do? Bring me your paint brushes, Pearl.”

And so began the world’s most famous human-animal phenomenon.

Surely you have heard of animal painters. Humans have enabled artistic muses of dogs, dolphins, parrots, elephants, even a rhinoceros to name a few. Various approaches are employed to press a paint brush into service. Some creatures hold the brush in their mouth. The rhino paints with its upper lip. Primates with opposable thumbs fair slightly better but all of these “artists” produce abstract art in varying degrees of consistency and value. Some notable examples include “Pigcasso” the painting pig, “Mr Bailey” the painting monkey, “Cholla” a painting Mustang pony, “Koko” the gorilla and “Congo” the chimpanzee. One of Congo’s paintings sold at auction for more than $25,000 more than 40 years after his death.

But Pearl Rosewater alone successfully assisted Oscar, bringing out unbelievable talents. She recognized in him a desire to communicate between species. They perfected walking in the spirit together. Oscar uses tentacles to manipulate his brushes with the dexterity of a master.

Oscar is a muralist.