SEEN ANY HERMITS LATELY? Aristotle once suggested that a person who has neither the desire nor the inclination to live in the society of people would have to be either a beast or a god. Somehow, I don't think of hermits as being either one. I've heard about them all my life, but I can't say that I've actually seen one. But then again, I guess that makes sense. They're not exactly the type to put themselves in situations that would make such observation very easy. But, come to think of it, I don't recall that I've ever heard anyone else mention seeing one either, or knowing one. Have you ever seen one? It kind of makes you wonder whether or not the whole idea of being a hermit is some kind of urban legend. (Or would it be a rural legend?) When you think about it this way, they're almost right up there with the Abominable Snowman. There is also the problem of actually being a hermit. I mean, how could you? Where would you go to pursue such an ambition? You can drive from one end of this country to the other and not find so much as a single piece of unclaimed land. It's all taken, every square inch of it. This fact alone is enough to make hermits virtually extinct. I think it's highly interesting that the very word hermit always make you think of a man living outside the bounds of society, never a woman. Whenever I do ponder this I'm drawn almost irresistibly into musing on the role of women in society, namely the fact that it's primarily their creation. It started when we lived in caves. The women (for the most part) due to the demands of bearing, and taking care of, the children, remained (of necessity) at the cave site, while the men went out hunting, fishing and foraging. It's completely understandable that the women would socialize with each other in these circumstances, thereby nurturing the spirit of cooperation that is absolutely necessary for a successful society. The men, on the other hand, would quite often end up alone, because sometimes that's just the way of foraging and hunting and fishing. After thousands of years of living like this it sort of became ingrained in us, culturally that is. Except for technology I don't think it's changed all that much. These days, whenever you hear about some criminal being a "loner," it is invariably a man. Loner. It's just like the hermit word, strictly for the males. And the computer age has brought us full circle. Many of us are living in caves again, virtual recluses, sitting for hours in front of a cave door we call a monitor, conferring with ghosts we're convinced are real beings.; But maybe it's the last place to go to be a hermit. It'll Put the Fear of God in You, Boy
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