“The world has changed. I see it in the water. I feel it in the Earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, For none now live who remember it.” - Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R Tolkien
This week my eldest daughter has been musing about a career in Park Service. When she talks about it her eyes get wide and she stands up on her toes, gaining momentum, orating her dream of a career amongst the trees where she feels peaceful co-existence. As a musician, how could she fulfill two callings, she wonders? I can see her now in the park ranger uniform with the tan and brown hat capping her stands of wavy hair, gently pulled back, sitting by a campfire playing the guitar for visitors. She has always had a thing for Smokey the Bear.
I love her questions. She's as cool as they come, this 16 year old. The star drummer at her high school. A superlative comedic performer. A kind hearted, hard working young woman. Many things could satisfy her but nothing does like trees. Also she listens to her mama who wishes she had thought of the park service sometimes.
Early this morning I walked along the Gulf Islands National Seashore at Johnson Beach. This is the national park at our back door here in Perdido Key. While yesterday in Pensacola we had heat advisories, this overcast morning I enjoyed 74 degrees at 6:30 am.
My back ached as I walked the last half of my beach outing (cut short due to pain). I've been working out fairly consistently with a trainer for almost a year, but the inner workings of this body now suffer during perimenopause. Some inner inflammatory beast pulls on my back from within, sassing my internal landscape with pointy fingers and forcing me to counteract in any way I can. I now think about it a lot - how I move and what I may wish I had done a bit differently if I hadn’t doubted my own susceptibility to this problem. It’s like the upside-down in there and I am ready for Eleven to stand in front of me with her hand extended in a healing rage for my sake as I am set free from its tentacles and the climate change of my body. I was a superhero… until I wasn’t. Doubting I would age wasn’t the problem. Of course I would age. Doubting I could make a difference in how I would feel didn’t serve me well. I might have been able to make a 15% difference. 15% less pain and strain would be great as the issues compound. I didn’t take into account our rapidly changing landscape of stress, technology and lifestyle and the effect on my being. This life is indeed beautiful. But I cannot escape that my body is mine to love and serve. Just like this Earth-body we enjoy. Still, if Eleven is anywhere around?...
Here are some lovely pics of a sand live oak which hid a labyrinth of shelter for some red-winged blackbirds. They released a familiar song-to-buzz and zipped about the beach in arcs amongst a larger group, adding significant energy to the air. Anyone know their call? It is mesmerizing against the waves and the rising sun.
The beach is still flat in large swaths from Hurricane Sally. Recovery is so slow. This morning I saw little roped off areas (almost two years later) protecting what I assume are dune restoration areas. Our favorite boardwalk path through the dunes still isn’t reopened yet. None of the beach accesses have been rebuilt. If it takes our government this long to respond to Sally, what will happen if destruction speeds up just a little bit? What will happen in Yellowstone where today a video captures major devastation, roads washed out from flooding due to hard rains and snow melt. Hard, sudden rains are a part of climate change.
This little beach morning glory reminds me there is time but it is fleeting. A few hours in the grand scheme of things is what we have to impact our trajectory. There will be unexpected grace. There always is. But there will also be great challenges. And we have to meet them with willingness, humility and simplicity. Empire governments and corporations don’t like to act like morning glories. They want to bloom all. day. long. And not all of them should.
Today, let’s all take some wisdom from this little flower who knows how to rest and certainly can grow in unexpected places.
