I missed writing my regular Friday blog post because I forgot it was Friday (until dinner time) and on Friday I’m supposed to do something. So, today is Saturday, and I’m writing.

There seems to be less and less to say and less motivation to say it.

Things have changed over the past few weeks. It is sort of a COVID-19 free-for-all. Each family or home is deciding to isolate or not to isolate, to wear a mask or not to wear it; resuming life, working, socializing, getting haircuts – or isolating and feeling ready to burst with longing for normalcy and companionship. This morning I found out that one of my friends has the virus and am sending prayers for healing.

Protests continue over racism in our country – we’re each for this or against it; angered by the lack of wise leadership on many levels or confused; and, alternately, hopeless and hopeful.

In our little neck of the desert, we’ve had wildfires running rampant nearby. A friend evacuated from her home last night (close to the mountains and fire). We watch the billows of smoke, hope for winds to settle and moisture to arrive. Another thing over which we have little control. Personally, this means – with my twitchy lungs (asthma) – that I must stay indoors. I am grateful for air conditioning, since temperatures are over 100 degrees, but my mental health is rapidly deteriorating without my daily time outdoors – in the backyard and taking our vigorous daily walk. Sigh. I also am beginning to feel additional body weight from this inactivity. Inactivity in my body and mind lead me to a dullness and discouragement. 

My eating habits are weird – watermelon and pistachios for lunch, cherries and chocolate almond flour muffin for breakfast – maybe a salad for dinner or not…maybe tortilla chips and carrots and sugar-free chocolate chips. Eating at all different times of day. Food seems boring and effortful. Sleep habits are discombobulated.

Watching British mysteries on television, building villages on Minecraft, laughing or chatting with friends and family, texting, playing games, and looking through Facebook /Twitter/Instagram seem to be the going pastime activities. John monitors the tornado season and the fire season. He stays abreast of the big picture and is always eagerly learning.

I should be grateful, counting my blessings, meditating, doing yoga. I should be more involved in something beyond my little realm. But right now it seems like it is just my lot to put one foot in front of the other and tidy (slightly) our home.

My Resolve this week is to get out of doors one way or another. We need Mother Nature’s healing touch. I need my body to feel alive and my breath to be strong and clear. Things change every day – forecasts, protocols, conditions. The Earth, even in fire and storm, is a source of stability, beauty, and regeneration. We give thanks to our Source for this gift and I will get my body out where it can experience this renewal. Blessings on your week.

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you’ll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?

The sun above the mountain’s head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.

Books! ’tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There’s more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.

She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless—
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:—
We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.

– William Wordsworth, The Tables Turned