EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Ten, Number Three March/April 2001 PHYSTY AND ME By Guy D'Angelo Eastertide, 1981, a cold windy night at Robert Moses State Park on Fire Island, NY. I am watching a young twenty five foot sperm whale nicknamed Physty. Physty lifts his large tail out of the water, catches the wind and sails across the boat basin that has been his home for the past six days. Within minutes the whale is at my feet against the dock. I kneel down to pet him knowing that he will probably bolt away as soon as I touch him. To my surprise, Physty doesn't swim away. Instead he raises his huge bulbous head out of the water and begins to scan me with a continuous train of loud clicks. I feel the sound penetrating my body. I put my hand in the notch halfway down his head. The sound pierces my hand and travels up my arm. The whale feels like a firm, warm rubber tire. During this encounter, I'm speaking to him, saying "Hello, how are you, what are you doing?" I put my hand on the tip of his lower jaw where I can feel his budding teeth. I feel the sockets in his upper jaw. We remain two curious creatures trying to figure each other out for at least five minutes! In that brief encounter, I sense no fear in either of us; we are both part of God's Creation. Physty is a creature of the deep ocean; I am a creature of the land. Both of us are children of the Creator traveling together on this wondrous planet Earth. Retired chemist Gaetano "Guy" D'Angelo, a member of NACCE Board of directors, lives in Center Morisches, NY. gnkdan@fnol.net Home     Table of Contents