The Very Nature of Things

     During the recent March madness of college basketball, those who were glued to the screen saw a lot of competition.  There was a prize to be won, a title to earn and a trophy to claim.

     The dictionary defines competition as: the act of competing; rivalry for supremacy, a prize, etc.  a contest for some prize, honor or advantage.

     Here in the South, there was even a competition between man and nature.  I called it North Carolina P. vs. California D. aka, pollen vs. duster.  When the millions of southern pine trees produce pollen, everything is yellow.  It covers the streets, sidewalks and one of the most noticeable fixtures would be vehicles.  It does not matter what color the car is, during pollen season, it is yellow.  This did not sit well with my husband, the car nut, aka, clean car nut.  He has in his possession a tool called a "California Duster".  It is a hand held dust mop.  It's long strings are treated with something that makes it catch and hold dust and it seems, the dirtier it gets, the better it works.  So, everyday, during the reign of pollen, he would retrieve said mop and dust off his truck.  The next morning, it looked just like it had before he started.  I mentioned to him that I thought he was fighting a loosing battle, but he was not to be outdone.  In his own mind, he did reign supreme, but, I think the trees were just done doing their thing.

     Of course, without competition in the business world, there would not be the plethora of products available to us.  Even in the cottage cheese business there is competition.  Not only are there many brands to choose from, but I have discovered that two of the bigger grocery store chains, who have their own name brand of cottage cheese, have something else going on with it.  The lids do not interchange with each others cottage cheese containers!  I always figured there was some person sitting on a beautiful white sandy beach, sipping a drink that had a little umbrella in it, watching the waves roll in, who had the monopoly on the cottage cheese container.  Not so.  Since I use above mentioned containers, instead of the pricey plastic ones, to store leftovers in, I have my own competition in the kitchen trying to find a lid that will fit.

     Competitiveness is alive and well in the natural world too.  Most species compete for a mate or a particular territory.  Anyone who has raced two horses back to the barn, has felt the surge of power beneath them when one horse thinks the other might pass.

     Competition is everywhere, it is the thing that makes things tick.  It lies at the very heart of the human spirit.  Without it, no one would have ever picked up a basketball, a golf club or a bat.  There would not be weekends of watching race cars fly around a track and cottage cheese would have never left the farm.