fjfmq

-Cooan idiom: "nmqtnmqt mn mn7 7 mntn7" [lit: Tiny plants eat dead large animals; meaning: Often the smallest forces defeat the big ones eventually]

I had a dream last night involving the characters from the musical version of Phantom of the Opera. Except that the Phantom (in addition to his other talents) could also sense when earthquakes were coming (no prizes for guessing why my mind was on quakes. At least my relatives are safe -- they live in Shanghai and in Fujian province, praise the Lord). Also, Christine Daaé turned into a mermaid partway through.

Why do people always wish they could fly? I know I did, as a kid, and probably still do at times. But when I stop to think rationally, the ability to swim -- combined, of course, with the ability to breathe underwater (or else at least to hold one's breath as long as a whale or dolphin can) -- has more benefits.

1. No falling! You don't have to expend energy to stay above the seafloor (as you would to stay above the ground as a flying creature).
2. Beautifully alien sights. Fairly anything a bird can see can be seen in Google Maps, but much of the ocean is a question mark. Yet, the sensation of being "over everything else" can still be experienced in the water, you're just over a very different environment.
3. Access to any part of the world. Flying creatures have to land on landmasses, and since there are separate pieces of these, they are limited to islands (albiet large ones) for their rest. Swimming animals have one contiguous sea in which they can travel or sleep at any given time.
4. Less weather fluctuation. Water has what chemists call a "high specific heat", basically meaning that it takes a whole lot of sun to make it heat up, and a whole lot of cold to make it cool down (this is why soups take so long to cook). The swimmer is not hampered by hail, snow, or high winds either.
5. More space. Seventy percent of the earth is covered in water, and again, flying things have to occasionally land, so they're tied to the land to some extent. Swimming animals can utilize the whole vast expanse of water (to a particular depth, due to pressure differences).
6. Bigger creatures supported. Birds have a huge laundry list of lightening factors, such as size limits and hollow bones. Whales? Ha. Blue whales beat even the largest (non-flying!) land dinosaurs because the water supports their weight.

Reality check. If, conversely, you're reading this list while swimming, this might be a good time to count your fingers.