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| When the temperature warms in the Spring here in Santa Fe, NM, these insects "hatch" from eggs laid in the cement crack of our back portal. |
This annual event, depicted in the picture above, is happening even in this time of global "uncharted territory". Here's a link sent to me by my East Coast "baseball buddy" to cheer all of us up with simple actions we may all employ during this pandemic.
Mike Piazza, a baseball catcher who played his last MLB year for the Oakland A's, now in the Hall of Fame and living in Italy, shares what happened in Italy when schools were closed country wide. The Italians, as they often do, gathered in the town's piazza. This country is experiencing the "fall out" of this heretofore common behavior. He admonishes, "Stay home."
Well, of course . . . I remember in grade school when I had the measles, my sister scarlet fever and my brother the chicken pox and my youngest brother was less than a week old. The latter was taken to my Grandma's, me in one room, my sister in another room of our house with my brother in another. We were lucky to live in a large farm house with many bedrooms! My mother, an R.N., was very busy taking care of all of our needs and protecting us all. I cannot remember who stayed with us when she went to her mother's to take care of my newborn brother. Those few weeks were not easy for my mother. Her simple "isolation" practices to contain the viruses were effective as we all "got well" without contacting each other's virus. And our mother brought my youngest brother home to the delight of all of us.
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| My youngest brother on the right and his daughter on the left on May 21, 2016 in Kansas City where they each live. |
So while the global community is dealing with this pandemic COCID-19 virus, whether it is a weaponized coronavirus as Francis Boyle suggests, or transmitted to humans from bats or snakes as others have written, it would behoove each and every one of us to institute "good hygiene practices". During the latest Democratic debate both candidates detailed what they have personally instituted for themselves. And, of course, they avoided close contact with each other and no one else was visible in the CNN Studio except the three moderators.
As our Presidential has dramatically bumbled the national preparedness for this pandemic, many of the individual state governors have stepped up. We are blessed to have an awesome governor here in New Mexico. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a miniature (in physical statue) powerhouse, was proactive early on in mobilizing the state resources to minimize the impact of this virus. It seems daily she is updating her guidelines for each and every New Mexican. Postponements and cancellations as well as closures, as in all public schools beginning on March 16, are rapidly occurring. The message is clear: each and every citizen should practice social distancing which seems to be the politically correct term just now.
The prudent message is STAY HOME if it is possible for you to do so. I wrote in the last post how difficult, if not impossible for some, it is to change. When individuals are uncomfortable, change is more likely to occur. So "the silver lining" of actually grappling with (not denying) this pandemic, to me, is the possibility for collective and individual change.
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| Katie Stoyka's captured rainbow in Santa Fe, NM July 27, 2019 |
May we BE in the moment without fear and may we each BE fluid with joy
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| Butterfly Beach, Santa Barbara, California May 20, 2014. |
so we are able to strengthen our immune system, strengthen our social network both near and far, and strengthen our ability to open our hearts.
Pandemic
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love--
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
By Unitarian minister, Lynn Ungar 3/11/20
Perhaps the "silver lining" includes for all of us a deepening connection filled with love for all BEings, as the above poem speaks?
In these challenging, unsettling times, let us all continue to
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