Skook watches me move stacks of books from one shelf to another. He doesn’t bother to try to get out of my way so I dodge around him the same way I’m stepping around the black plastic wrapped mattress, the portfolios and the miscellaneous boxes and bags that nest between the bookshelves.
We don’t bother discussing what I’m doing. We’ve had the discussion before and have agreed to disagree. Once in a while he’ll hold a stack of books while I shelve but it would a waste of time for me to try to have him help me actually do the shelving. In general, sasquatch love organizing things. In general, humans wouldn’t recognize sasquatch organization. It’s not like I’ve done a scientific study of this. Skook could be pulling my leg. He helped me organize our tools a few years ago. Rather, I asked him to organize the tools and then he helped me find them again so that I could re-organize them. And he said he was trying to keep his system simple for me.
It’s often asked by those who’ve never encountered a sasquatch – where’s the evidence? How could a huge animal remain undetected by science in the midst of the most sophisticated culture on the planet? According to Skook, one of the main reasons is that we (humans) don’t think like them (sasquatch). Sasquatch leave evidence of their existence all over the place. Skook has shown me artworks all over my neighborhood that were created by passing sasquatch. I never would have seen them myself. It’s not the sort of stuff that a human would create. A human would find a bunch of rocks laying around and stack them. Then he might sign his creation by scratching a symbol onto one of the rocks. A sasquatch would take the same rocks and rearrange them according to complex geometric and aesthetic patterns inspired by how they reflect light on a new moon. If she felt the need to sign the art she might pee on it. Or near it. Or she more likely she’d pee in a pattern that would be considered part of the art and not be thinking of leaving a signature at all. She would know that another sasquatch would recognize her scent on the rocks themselves.
Human culture is shaped by having evolved from small diurnal apes who lived in tribal bands. Sasquatch culture evolved in huge nocturnal apes who live mostly solitary lives. Sasquatch aren’t stupid. They’ve just not human. Nor do they have any interest in being human. (There are exceptions to every rule. Skook tells me stories. I’ll get to them eventually.)
I get new shelves set up for the MAH books. This gives me room to incorporate the three Bigfoot videos I’ve got as well as migrating over the larger books that didn’t fit on the previous set of shelves. I also get all the Lovecraft books on a single long shelf. There’s enough room that I toss in some Lovecraftian novels along with the Cthulhu Mythos stuff. I’m not really satisfied with the results of the move. Too many shelves in this block are still just random unorganized books. It’s an improvement over the last arrangement and the process of moving books around has given me ideas of other categories I’d like to set up.
Skook examines my handiwork. He shrugs at the MAH shelves. He looks at Lovecraft. He sniffs. He furors his brow. Then he takes The Dunwich Horror hardback and turns it upside down. He turns two of the role playing manuals around so the leaves are facing out. He scratches behind his ear and then taps the tops of The 37th Mandala and Darklost. He nods approvingly.
Sasquatch organization.
