Nature Connection: In The Wake Of Disappointment And Dread

Like many others, I woke before dawn the day after the election and sat, stunned, as I waited for the coffee to brew and the sun to rise. Of course, we had just turned the clocks back, so I had to wait much longer for the latter. My phone began dinging with texts as my daughters and friends awoke to the same devastating news.

Many of us chose to go outdoors and walk in nature that day to calm our nerves and remind us that old Mother Nature was still puttering along, preparing for winter. Squirrels were still busily gathering acorns, crows were gossiping as they kept watch for hawks, and trees let go of their leaves which danced all the way to the ground. None of them were watching TV or reading the news, and I followed suit.

Later a friend would send me a few lines from a Mary Oliver poem: 

“It is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in this broken world.”

It was good to be reminded of this, that life goes on with us or without us. I think we tend to forget this. The newly elected administration has promised to decimate environmental protections and regulations and open up public lands for fossil fuel mining and drilling. Everyone cried, “economy, economy” when they hit the vote button, but the reality is that without nature there is no economy, no food, no energy, no water, no air. All come from nature. So do most of our medicines and building materials, though we’ve gotten very good at making fake stuff that will never break down and is filling our world and our bodies with poisons. We seem to think that science and research can keep us one step ahead of the inevitable illnesses and deaths this will cause, but that is sadly not true. We are damaging our planet much faster than it can recover. We are also able to create and unleash all sorts of interesting things on a genetic and cellular level, but with no regulatory expertise that can keep up with them. Think cloning and engineering of fetuses and viruses in labs, among other things, as well as all sorts of chemical weapons. We’re messing with nature just like little kids in a candy shop, but we have no grownups left to take care of our tummy aches.

I find myself vacillating between sadness and anger, as I’m sure many others are doing. I tend to be a positive person so I’m looking for ways that I can be helpful, ways that I can actively work to keep things on an even keel during these dark times. It’s discouraging, knowing half the country voted against the things I love and hold dear. My gay and trans friends, my friends of color, the immigrants that live and work in my neighborhood, many of whom are new citizens, and all the hardworking people that maintain our national parks and nature sanctuaries, as well as the children in our schools, and of course, all women, have been given notice that our rights are in danger of obliteration.

This morning, I once again woke well before dawn. I knew going back to sleep wasn’t going to happen. There were too many images, questions, fears, and thoughts racing around in my mind to allow that. I went downstairs in the dark, opened the back door and stepped outside. It was very still, very dark, and yet above me the stars sparkled away, stars so old our brains hurt trying to imagine the measure of time. I stood there a long while, taking in the quiet, the peace, the reassurance that no matter what I thought or did, the stars would always be there.

Later we drove along a quiet road where the leaves shimmered gold and rust in the early morning sun. An otter left the marsh and ran across the road in front of us, causing my heart to skip a few beats, but we all survived unharmed. It made me realize we all have many close calls with injury or death in a lifetime, many close calls with the more difficult and harmful side of human nature as well. Most of these are random but now we are looking at harm being imposed on purpose. Is this really what we want as a country? 

Mother Nature is not giving up and neither should we. We are living in difficult, dangerous times, not just here in America, but around the world. Ignoring climate change won’t make it go away. Pretending that nature doesn’t matter won’t change the fact we need her to survive. It will just make it harder, especially as climate change causes more lethal natural disasters. 

If you see Mother Nature smirking today, know she isn’t happy with us and that this isn’t going to end well if we stay on this path. Don’t say she didn’t warn us. We are daring that old dame to show her power, and to paraphrase an old saying, “Hell has no fury like a woman scorned.” We could find ourselves in the same predicament as the dinosaurs. Oh well, then we’ll all become the fossil fuels we so adore.

In the meantime, those of us who can need to roll up our sleeves and pull up our big boy and girl panties and get to work. We have a few years to find energetic, smart, thoughtful and creative problem solvers to get in the ring for the next round. We’re looking at you, young people. It’s time to stand up and show us what you can do, because apparently the rest of us have failed miserably.