Beauty – ND #133

Posted on May 26, 2022May 26, 2022 by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments

Rhodo Bloom – Photo: L. Weikel

Beauty

The beauty of this rhododendron today begged to be shared. I can’t imagine any of us are immune to the horror we’ve all witnessed over the last several days. How awful is it that the Buffalo massacre on 14 May 2022 was followed merely one day later by two more shootings (in Houston, Texas and Laguna Woods, California). And the horror of yesterday’s massacre at an elementary school is more than many of us can take.

There’s a part of me that’s holding out hope that the outrageousness of so many recent assaults on our fundamental values of freedom, equality, and the sanctity of keeping our little kids alive and safe at school will galvanize us as a nation.

My skin crawls when I hear these talking heads of Authoritarianism chide and deride Democrats for ‘politicizing’ the gun issue when 21 people were just murdered in a 4^th grade classroom. Or when I listen to them tell us all we need to do is ‘harden our schools’ to make them safe.

What utter bullshit.

Grief

I can only barely register the grief being felt by the families in Uvalde, Texas tonight. I say ‘tonight’ as if it will subside within a few days or weeks. Surely we all know in our hearts that their lives will never be the same. Just like the Sandy Hook parents. The families of Uvalde will live with this forever. But the thing is, so will we.

We’re all traumatized. We’re all reeling from the senselessness. We’re all horrified by the knowledge that our government is stocked with at least 50 Senators who place more value on lining their pockets and furthering their careers than they do on protecting their fellow citizens and constituents.

There’s the trauma. And there’s the grief.

Hope

I wanted to write tonight and lead with some beauty because we must not give up on each other – or ourselves.

Our country is falling apart at the seams. But we’re the ones who can and must mend it or create a new one.

Look at these photos and drink deeply of the beauty. Take heart. Gather your courage. We must act on behalf of all our babies.

Petal – Photo: L. Weikel

(T+133)

Total Lunar Eclipse – ND #132

Posted on May 16, 2022May 16, 2022 by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments

Tonight’s Total Lunar Eclipse – Photo: L. Weikel

Total Lunar Eclipse

Standing in the middle of the vast expanse of fields and forest a few minutes ago, I was awestruck by the fact that the clouds were literally parting before my eyes to reveal the total lunar eclipse.

How many times have we sky watchers dare I say religiously trekked outside to bear witness to eclipses and meteor showers and all manner of celestial events, only to be thwarted by cloud cover? Too many to count, including quite a few missed opportunities documented right here in this blog. But not tonight.

A Big Deal

The myriad articles I read about this particular eclipse promised it would be especially spectacular. Tonight’s full moon in and of itself was special, as it is in its perigee (closest to the Earth in its orbit) and thus is considered a ‘super moon’ and should appear larger than usual. And the color of the moon when it enters the shadow of our Earth is supposed to be particularly ruddy due to lingering detritus in our atmosphere from an underwater volcanic eruption in January, off the island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai.

This was one of the easiest eclipses I ever remember witnessing. I didn’t have to stay awake until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. (or worse, get up at 4:00 a.m.). The weather was unbelievably pleasant, and the chorus of all manner of peepers and tree frogs wrapped around me and provided a surround-sound of reassurance. I kept telling myself that their astonishing resonance was proof to me that, at least as of this moment, our biosphere is healthy.

I did note a surprising blanket of silence from the rest of the creatures* that usually engage in midnight chatter or posturing. But the amphibians were totally into tonight’s ‘blood moon,’ and the companionship they provided me was truly a gift.

Total Lunar Eclipse – closeup – Photo: L. Weikel

Had To Share

I hope it goes without saying that I could not stare up into the vast reaches of space contemplating the Big (and Little) nuances of our existence without a yearning to share it with you.

We’re now right smack dab in the center of the first eclipse season of 2022. As if this total lunar eclipse isn’t powerful and significant in its own right to suddenly reveal things we may need to jettison from our lives, there are some additional aspects occurring this week that only add to the significance of what we’re all experiencing personally, nationally, and globally.

That said, while I’m sure I don’t need to remind any of my readers, if you live in PA make sure you VOTE in the primary on Tuesday. Make sure our voices are loud. And clear. Remember: this is a Blood Moon.

*Although at this moment, a fox has begun shrieking in the field across from our house. I guess the show’s over!

(T+132)

Just Can’t Even – ND #131

Posted on May 3, 2022May 3, 2022 by Lisa Weikel 5 Comments

Things are getting pretty damn dark – Photo: L. Weikel

Just Can’t Even

I just can’t even. That’s a weird sentence, isn’t it? And yet I bet all of you knew not only exactly what I meant – and also why I said it.

Our country is careening toward the cliff of theocracy. And we worried about the Taliban?

If anyone had even the slightest doubt recently about where our country is headed – led by a minority of well-organized fanatics – let the fog be lifted from their eyes now. Of course, I’m speaking of the leaked first-draft opinion of the Supreme Court that takes a sledgehammer to Roe vs. Wade, and which very well may become the ‘law of the land’ in June.

And yet, just what does ‘law of the land’ even mean, if this disgusting opinion that essentially relegates women to chattel in the eyes of our government takes effect? It means the ‘law of the land’ means nothing. It means no one can rely on Constitutional rights as determined by the highest court in the land beyond the next lifetime appointment by a president not even elected by a majority of Americans.

Constitutional Rights Stripped

There are so many things falling asunder in our country at the moment, it’s hard to even keep track. Everywhere we look, the tenets we were raised to believe were the hallmarks of our great nation, the so-called Great Experiment that has served as a beacon of democracy and freedom to the world, are being bulldozed. Razed. Demolished in a fever-dream of minority rule that makes a mockery of everything we stand for in the world.

If the concepts propounded in this leaked draft opinion become the rule of law in this country in June, you can rest assured that every other right you have come to believe is as fundamental to your life as breathing air will also be ripe for being ripped out from under you.

I’m talking the right to use contraception in the privacy of your own home.

The right to marry a person of another race.

The right to marry a person of the same gender.

And throughout all of this, the right to vote.

Imagine

Imagine, my dear male readers, if the government decides to punish you for spreading your sperm in any other manner besides ejaculating into a female. And I’m talking even when you’re all by yourself. You know: in the privacy of your own home.

No; I didn’t think you could imagine that. None of us should have to imagine it as an example to try to bring home the enormity of this potential decision. And yet, we could even take this analogy further and not be guilty of hyperbole. Women will die.

Our country is facing some very dark, dire days. I hope it’s not too late to save us all.

(T+131)