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It Rains Diamonds on Jupiter

Many truths about our universe contain an overwhelm of beauty and wonder

Andrea Gibson

Nov 8, 2021
7

Whenever I’m stuck in my writing, or stuck in my life in general, I’ll look up facts about different things. Facts about supernovas. Facts about ancient Egypt. Facts about the relativity of time. I can spend hours reading about the little-known magical details of our world. It thrills me to know so many truths about our universe contain an overwhelm of beauty and wonder.

Today, for example, while writing a love poem, I did some research on animals and learned that geese are very protective of their partners. If a goose’s sweetheart is injured or becomes ill, he or she will not leave their mate’s side even if it’s freezing and the rest of the flock is headed south. Can you see it? A goose couple snuggling in a goose-made igloo? The healthy one bringing the injured one a hot bowl of worm soup? Who knew geese were the posterbirds for loyalty.

Learning that fact got me thinking about something I read a number of years ago––birds have different accents depending on where they live. For example, sparrows in Brooklyn have noticeably different voices than sparrows in Winnipeg. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to date the person who listened so well they figured this out? Bird watchers (or bird listeners) are now, in my mind, the epitome of hotness. Binoculars and multi-pocketed khaki vests––pheromone stimulants.

Now that I’ve shared that fact, another of my favorites comes to mind: Our ears never stop growing. What I’ve always adored about this is it’s like a biological guide for living. Our ears get bigger and bigger everyday of our lives as if asking us to listen more closely with every passing minute. I have little wrinkles on my ears and it makes me so happy to imagine they are ear stretch marks, telling everyone who sees them, Look, with each year of my life I’ve grown into a better listener! Some of my favorite sounds: the exhale after a first kiss, sidewalk tap-dancing in New Orleans, baby goats squealing for alfalfa snacks, my three dogs falling asleep after forty solid minutes of cursing out squirrels.

The final fact I’ll share with you today is a random one, but it’s too lovely to leave out: It rains diamonds on Saturn and Jupiter. Do the beings of Jupiter wait for rainstorms to propose to each other? Is bad weather on Saturn called “love weather”? Do the weather-beings on the weather channel ever say, “Tomorrow will be shiny, sparkling, a dream day for the Kardashians”? I’m not a big fan of earth-diamonds; Propose to me by tying your first gray hair around my finger, or weld me a ring whose stone is the first tooth the tooth fairy stole from beneath your pillow. But I’d still love to see a diamond downpour. What kind of umbrella would I need to survive the magic of Jupiter? If I ever get to witness it, friends, I sure hope you’re there with me.

Love, Andrea 🖤

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7 Comments

  • Kari O'Driscoll
    I panicked a little when I read the raining diamonds part because as a total cynic, I imagined that Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk would seriously up their space race game and start an intergalactic war to see who can get there first to steal the diamonds an…
    See more
    • 28w
    • Author
      Andrea Gibson
      I never even considered the possibility of diamond thieves on Jupiter! I'm gonna hope that never happens!
      Glad we are here on this planet at the same time, growing our ears together. ❤
      • 28w
  • Sonya Nikiforov Griffin
    Hi Andrea, I wanted to make sure to tell you that as an avid bird watcher I feel instantly elevated after reading your post. Thank you for making my day and for leaving me to imagine a downpour of diamond cats and dogs for the rest of it. Sending so much love your way.
    2
    • 28w
    • Author
      Andrea Gibson
      I love that an avid bird watcher read this post! It fills my whole heart with joy. Thank you for sharing!
      • 28w
  • Lianna Devereaux
    I was JUST thinking about how awesome it was that, nearly every where you went in NOLA, you would run into a live piano player after about 9 pm. I spent maybe 4-5 days there back in 2019, and that was one of my MOST FAVORITE PARTS.
    One of my favorite "most random facts" I googled after a conversation during undergraduate: the difference between mammals and marsupials is the placenta. A marsupial is a mammal with a detached placenta; all other mammals have them attached. This is why marsupials (kangaroo, koala, etc.) have pouches: the fetus can only grow for as long as there are nutrients in the placenta. Once that's used up, they have to crawl out (only centimeters big!) and finish growing inside the pouch. (Mama marsupial's got a nipple for milk there.) Other mammals don't need the pouch/nipple combo, since the attached placenta's nutrients can be replenished until the baby's grown enough.
    • 28w
    • Author
      Andrea Gibson
      Oh I loved that about living in New Orleans. Music everywhere, all the time, for FREE! It was beautiful. And I love the fact you shared. It's one my partner talks about often and never ceases to wow me. ❤ The world contains so much magic.
      • 28w
  • Sabrina Dorronsoro
    This post was exactly what my heart needed. Such beautiful words. I love the idea of looking up facts as a way of unsticking yourself. There's so much wonder in this world if you just remind yourself to look. Thank you for sharing!
    • 28w
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