SACRED SHELTER

May 15, 2020 Diane Varner

Home was her sacred shelter and like a gypsy, she carried it with her with her everywhere.

All her life she sought smooth, slick surfaces yet mastered the challenge of jagged ones too. Because moisture was essential for movement, she was eternally grateful for the night’s dew. In those damp, marvelous moments of freed motion, contentment flourished as luscious, moonlit landscapes were quietly traversed. Such was the daily rhythm of her fragile life.

When the years slowed and her movement lagged for the last time, she tucked herself safely into her home. With her last breath, she left dreaming of gliding effortlessly.

After many moonlit nights passed and her shell had become but a puff of soft dust, she quietly returned. This time, she did not carry the weight of her sacred shelter on her back. Instead she possessed weightless wings to forever fly home.

A MIRACLE

May 15, 2020 Diane Varner

My thoughts while visiting a favorite pond during the early days of Covid-19…

There is complete silence with the exception of an occasional caw of the crow and a squawk from a scrub jay. No overhead planes, no motors, no man made noise - the absence of it all is absolutely exquisite.

What must the animals imagine as their natural habitats return? Do they now wonder if their ever-so-quiet new worlds will remain?

I wonder and I worry. I’d like to tell the soil, the plants, the trees, the sky and all the earth’s creatures that we have finally come to our senses. That we too have returned to a more gentle, natural existence. But I know this is not so. As soon as we can, we will all return to a frantic pace, distancing ourselves not from each other but from the silence that longs for our daily presence.

I will return to this pond soon and perhaps find myself solitary and in silence again. I hope so. But for now in this mystical moment, I stop and cherish the beauty before me and say “thank you” for this brief time when the entire world literally stopped moving. This silent, serene moment is nothing short of a miracle!

VULTURE'S BAIT

April 22, 2020 Diane Varner

No more shelter in place?
Yay! Let’s all embrace!

NO!

Don’t take the vulture’s bait,
it will NOT be great.

Trump and his cronies are insane,
break the insidious chain.

Stay safe inside,
let time abide.

We will be OK,
do it the human way.

United & strong,
we won’t go wrong.

-Diane

A THUNDERCLAP

April 2, 2020 Diane Varner

For several years now, I have repeated in exasperation: We can’t continue on this path of greed and destruction of the natural landscape. It is unsustainable. We need to STOP this. We need a thunderclap!

The other morning, my husband looked at me and said, “Well, Diane, you got your thunderclap.”

I winced. I certainly didn’t want this - a highly contagious virus spreading death and upheaval and immense sorrow around the world. What I did want was climate change to be recognized and greed to stop and more compassion, tolerance and kindness shared among ALL of us.

But here we are in this very troubling time. I find myself in disbelief and grief. I passionately plead to family and friends to be safe and just stay home. I readily admit, I am scared for all of us.

We are living in a crisis. But all crisis’ can provide deep insight into ourselves and our society if we take the time to reflect upon them. But will we? Will we take personal time to wonder why this virus showed up, why there was a pandemic and why so many had to die? Will we ask why so many recent floods and fires? Will we ask ourselves the very difficult question: Are we or any of our actions responsible for it?

I believe we will have the chance to change our ways and make this a better world if we choose to, but will we? I don’t have the answers to my own questions but as David Quammen said in his interview with Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee in the podcast, Shaking the Viral Tree, I am hopeful.

I encourage all of you to listen to this podcast. It is not only scientifically informative but also insightful about how we have landed in this pandemic and what we can do to help prevent more of them.

In these sad, scary times, I remain HOPEFUL! Be well everyone, stay safe and LOVE each other.

- Diane

QUIET ISOLATION

March 27, 2020 Diane Varner

In quiet isolation,
the heartbeats of hundreds can be heard.

***

I hope each of you are weathering this global storm as best you can.
May we all remain as healthy and happy as possible.

- Diane