342. The Season

Neil the Seal is back in Tasmania.

This is a thing that happens. Every year, Neil the Seal returns to Tasmania. Wildlife staff move him off roads. He returns. The cycle has a name now: the season.

The specific incident this time involved a road. Neil was on it. Wildlife staff had to move him. There is an institutional memory about Neil that suggests this is a known situation with a known response. The response is: move Neil.

Seals are large. An animal of Neil's type occupies a road in the way a car occupies a road: completely, with no awareness of the problem this creates. He has decided the road is a reasonable place to be. The road cannot argue with this. The road can only be closed.

Tasmania is an island south of Australia that has many natural wonders: wilderness, caves, ancient trees, marine life. Tasmania now also has Neil. This is an addition. Whether Tasmania requested this addition is not documented anywhere I was able to find.

The part I keep thinking about is "for the season." Neil returns for the season. This language implies Neil is using Tasmania the way someone uses a summer house. He travels a considerable distance, arrives in Tasmania, selects a road, and makes himself comfortable. The road has a government on it. The government has a department. The department has a procedure. The procedure is: move Neil.

The procedure is not: prevent Neil from returning. That procedure does not appear to exist. The existing procedure assumes Neil will return, and it is correct about this.

Neil is exactly as expected. He is the most expected thing in Tasmania right now. He has been expected since last year.

The road has reopened. Neil has been moved. Next year, Neil will be back.

This is the season.