One might almost think humanity has outstayed its welcome here on Mother Earth.
I don’t think I can even remember all the midden that has hit the windmill. Between the pandemic and the fire tornadoes, it has been one hell of a ride. The effects of climate change are making themselves conspicuous. We’re launching into what is predicted to be one of the worst hurricane seasons on record. The Midwest just had a land hurricane, called a derecho, 110-120mph straight line winds snapping trees in half, lifting roofs off buildings, bending empty grain silos in half, and decimating the power grid. People in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will be without power for weeks.
At my house, we’re fine. We’re lucky. Our neighborhood was among the first to get power restored. Not because we’re rich or all White or anything. Actually, we’re a pretty diverse bunch here. No, we got power back quickly because all our power lines are buried. Yep. Pretty easy. We were dark for about 15 hours, and without internet for a day and a half. Cell service came on shortly after internet. I almost feel guilty about how lucky we were. Bury the power lines. Genius. Let’s do that from now on.
Overwhelm, exhaustion, anxiety, fear and hopelessness are through the roof throughout the region. We’ve taken a beating and we are about to snap like one of those old trees that just snapped like a matchstick in this derecho. And our government is dragging its feet like never before and not being any kind of helpful at all. In fact, the “man” that tenuously holds the highest office in the land has stated, in regards to our “liberal” cities, “Let them rot.” How very Presidential.
As usual, Iowans are taking care of each other, and that may be the silver-lining in this mess. Maybe folks will see just how divided we’ve been and just how little the current administration is doing to even acknowledge this disaster. I lived through the flood of 2008, which was horrifying, but this is worse. Cedar Rapids lost half of its tree canopy, and I’m sure other affected cities are similar. That is going to make it a whole lot harder to keep our cities cool. Many of the trees that survived may be so damaged that they can’t make it through an extreme winter, and yes, we do seem to be in an extreme weather cycle. We need rain, and it’s nowhere to be seen.
Lots of doom and gloom to wallow in right now. And to wonder about.
Like, have we finally pissed-off Earth-Mother to the breaking point? Is She really trying to kill us? Or is this just what it takes to get our attention? To be brutally honest, folks, I’m thinking the latter is the case. She’s been trying and trying to get the message across and only a handful of people have been listening, so now we’re being forced to pay attention in a whole new way. Up close and personal.
If you are reading this, chances are, you get it. You know what’s up. Climate change is as real as Greta Thunberg. Our lifestyle mitigates it a little bit, but we are still seeing the effects of it regularly. July 2020 in the US was the hottest on record in the northern hemisphere, second hottest for the globe. We’ve had more winters in the last five years where it was literally unsafe to go outside for more than five minutes at a time than in my entire lifetime. I have no memories of homeless people being found frozen solid before about four years ago. This is real and you know it as well as I do. So I don’t want to preach to the choir.
I want to tell the choir to love each other, be kind to each other, take care of each other, because those who refuse to understand — or simply don’t care — are going to be thrashing and fighting and wasting and spewing and shouting as loud as they can the opposite message. Everything will be fine if we just burn more fossil fuels and pollute more water. Who needs air, you can’t make any money off it. These national parks need to be put to work. There’s oil in them there pristine hills and we’re gonna go rape it out of them. So buckle up.
I have nothing hopeful to tell you today, other than to say, I know you. I know your capacity for love. I know your capacity for resistance. I know that you love this planet and want to see it be a garden again, and honestly, if you’re looking for a life purpose you could do a hell of a lot worse. We have to stand together, in our love and strength, and love people into wakefulness, even if they are utterly unlovable. We have to hold this line. We have to get out the vote. There are things we can be doing right now that will help immensely. Volunteer to drive people to polling places. March in the streets to save the post office (it’s not just about voting, it’s about people dependent on vital life-saving medication or supplies being delivered through the mail; it’s about not having to pay $14 dollars to send a birthday card to your gramma; it’s about being able to receive professional journals, or your kids’ Highlights magazine; it’s about small business being able to afford to ship items to people in far off places; and yes, it’s about safely being able to vote no matter who or where or how healthy you are).
Keep in touch with your circle and support each other. Be the person that a friend can express any idea to and receive valuable feedback and real encouragement from. Band together to do as many right things as you can. There is always more than enough love to go around. Let’s use it.