Hello my friends,
I have spent the past week trying to absorb as much of the warm autumn colors as possible. The days are getting shorter, next week we turn the clocks back, and I have an urgency within me to make the most of these golden days. Yesterday I drove to Sandy Ridge Reservation. I hadn’t been since the end of September, and I was hoping that the dry conditions I saw at that time had gotten better with October rains. Unfortunately it was even worse off than one month ago. There were very few water birds there and I was just beginning to feel like the hour-long drive had been wasted when lo and behold! Two Sandhill Cranes appeared before me. This was the first time I had ever seen this species, and I was bowled over by how gorgeous they are.
I’m a bit preoccupied with the upcoming election in the United States. It has me worried. It has me disheartened. I try not to think too much about it, about the impact it could have. To be completely honest, this reminds me of the feeling of waiting to see if the lump is cancer or not. I have the same sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Pre-2016, I never had this feeling at election time. Since I first started voting in 1984 I have voted for both Republican and Democrat candidates. I don’t know if it’s the rise of social media, or what – I’m sure social scientists have different theories – but something has changed in this country that breaks my heart. There is a young man, maybe thirty, who I see fairly often at Beaver Marsh. Soft spoken, walking his dog, sometimes with a camera, friendly, eager to help. One day recently I figured out which car was his in the parking lot, and it is covered with the most vile, obscene, hate-filled political bumper stickers I have ever seen. I’m sitting here at the keyboard just shaking my head, because I don’t know what else to say.
So.
I won’t say anymore about that topic. But I just wanted to let you know that it’s so weird for me these days, dealing with my feelings about the election on top of all the other normal things that I stress out about. Because I think that many of you who live in the States are probably feeling the same way, no matter which candidate you support. I found this article about political stress very interesting. And I found this article about ways to deal with stress to be very helpful.
I hope you have a good week. Be gentle with yourselves.
Love,
Michelle xoxo