The World Spins On...

...as the wild geese fly

Five years ago, I was living in a 500 sq. foot cabin in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. It was beautiful and sometimes daunting. Our water was hauled in, we chopped wood, there were bobcats and cougars all over the place, the rocky road to the cabin was so steep no one wanted to plow it, and I loved every second of it.

Believe it or not, that year was a recovery gift after 12 hard years of running a couple of businesses, farting around as an author, writing, family care, breathing….you get it.

It’s very interesting to have a part of that mountain life back here in the devastated hills of North Carolina. We do not have potable water, but we do have electricity and internet. They are cleaning the reservoir which flipped over so the bottom is on the top and the top on the bottom. We flush and boldly use the cheap dishwasher sometimes, but we shower and gather water from FEMA, the Red Cross, and One World Kitchen.

Despite the crap some people have posted and what one ex-president I cannot bear to name has said, FEMA has been amazing here. My simple mind cannot understand the level of stupidity that would make someone believe a man like that when I am standing right here and being helped.

It’s important to remember that humans are animals, and we can adapt to our environment. Women, and especially Broads, are very good at this. Turn off our water, and we will figure it out. It helps if you have been a camper your entire life and have jumped into lakes and rivers all over the country.

People here have been giving, generous, kind, and reaching out in ways I hope will continue. Despite what or who we believe in, we all have everyday needs, and I have seen a new-found sense of happiness in people who have discovered the joy of giving, helping, caring, and not judging.

There are food stations, clothing stations, water stations, showering stations, laundry stations, counseling stations, medical stations, and many of them are staffed by volunteers who simply want to help. I arrived home ill, despite every shot available in the universe, but when I can breathe in public, I will find a place for my own hands.

It’s odd how the world keeps spinning even though, in my universe, I am surrounded by so many things that are not normal at all. You’ve seen the videos and photos. The sun came out this morning, and the leaves are turning, the sky is blue. Everything is the same, and nothing will ever be the same again.

The sound of chainsaws and roaring trucks hauling debris is constant now, and just as I am about to write the next paragraph, birds are swimming in my bird bath.

I have been thinking a lot about the great poet Mary Oliver’s beautiful poem, Wild Geese. I won’t share it all because, as a writer, I am always aware of copyright, but look it up, and here is part of it, Mary, it’s for a good cause…

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Here, like wherever you are, the days fold into one another, and there is some sense of normalcy in that lovely fact.

This week, think of my geese and listen for your own. The next time you order an Arnold Palmer, throw some vodka in it and remember you are a Broad, and Broads can survive anything.

And now, as we did in the old days of journalism…###…this one is over.