Evolution of the Swimming Pool

So, for fun, let us imagine that, once upon a time, my primate ancestor is a fat, healthy, apish gal, who is likely, statistically, to produce some kids. So, to achieve the successful life that she has, which ultimately resulted in me, she had to have a big brain.  By which I mean that she's smart enough to know where to find good eats and smart enough to not get eaten by a tiger.  Which, by the way, are both things I have been successful in.  So far.

 

Knowing that modern day gorillas spend nearly half the day eating, which I can appreciate, I imagine that auntie ape is spending some serious time in the banana tree carb loading.  I like to think that she is doing pretty well for herself because she's been lucky enough to have been born in a well organized, sort of upscale community where at least some of the kids don't get eaten before they breed.  Hence... me.  I wonder what a smart lady like her would do to occupy herself, considering she's already lugging around a big, energy intense brain, and considering that she doesn't have to spend all her mental energy on not getting eaten because the neighborhood watch doesn't allow dire wolf packs?  It's not like she can blog. 

I think she would keep her brain entertained by watching other animals while she does those boring jobs like picking termites out of a mound one at a time with a stick, or cracking enough nuts to fuel her voluptuous Venus of Willendorf-like body through a long winter.   Which may explain why I like to snack while watching TV.

And what life form with moving parts is going to be most numerous in this prehistoric, organic, u-pick, veg bonanza?  Bugs.  Just like camping - bugs are going to be on everything and you just have to get over it if you want to enjoy life in the Pleistocene. 

Brandon teases me about my addiction to skimming the pool.  He's usually chilled and ready to get out around the time I'm finished scouring the water column for specks of debris.  We get bugs and debris in our pool because there are trees and shrubs that grow next to it which are always dropping things.  I like the pool to have a shady side, and I like the privacy, so I skim out the bugs the filter doesn't get and flip them on the ground for the chickens.  I actually find it relaxing.  I even like to find a live bug, preferable a bee, and hopefully not a spider, and rescue it by placing it on the pool edge.  Then, I float in the cool water and watch the bug use it's many legs to clean off all the water before it flies away.  It's like watching bug yoga, or a bug contortionist.  It's funny that they are so finicky about the cleanliness of their eyes before they fly.  Safety first, you know.  

So, do I like to watch bugs because it satisfies a part of my brain that evolved from millenia of bug watching ancestors.  Maybe.  And does my swimming pool provide the opportunity for me to exercise that bug watching brain part.  Yes, I think it does.   Evolutionarily speaking, it's important for me to have a swimming pool, right?