Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly.....

Oh, listen sister
I love my mister man and I can't tell you why
There is no reason why I should love that man
It must be somethin' that the angels have planned

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly
I gotta love one man till I die
Can't help lovin' that man of mine
       ~     "Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine"  by  Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern


Some very strange things are happening.  Dead birds are falling out of the sky.  Dead fish and crabs are washing ashore.  And everywhere we turn, people are offering up their own theories about why. 

Some have tossed out an idea that the birds were perhaps struck by lightening and/or high-altitude hail.  Others speculate that they were startled to death from firecrackers on New Year's Eve - but then that theory doesn't pan out when we look at the birds who have fallen since the fireworks of 12/31/10.  Still others think there is a terrorist plot in action, an alien attack -- or a governmental experiment gone wrong.

The dead fish and crabs washing ashore are subject to equal amounts of speculation.  Marine biologists point to large kills in the 80's and 90's.  If every one of these large kills was located near the Gulf of Mexico some would support the idea that this is a delayed reaction to the gulf oil spill of many months ago.  But, the Chesapeake and the shores of England are hardly in the same vicinity.

My patients and their families spend hours sitting in their hospital rooms discussing the videos they see on the news releases.  They engage any and every one they can in the questions that seem to be lingering in the minds of many yet remain mostly unspoken: "Could this be a sign of the end times?"  "Isn't there something about this in the Book of Revelations in the Holy Bible?"  

Like most people, I am at a loss for any explanation to these strange occurrences.  Maybe the Apocalypse is at hand.  Maybe it's some scientific phenomenon.  Maybe it's a fluke of nature.  And maybe, just maybe it's like the woman sings - "I can't tell you why."   We may never know the whys behind it all.  But the fact remains that "fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly" ....  And one more fact remains:  people are gonna be talking about this for a very long time!