Spring

Renewing life...fighting fires

I have to be honest. I was actually thinking of writing a post about “evil.” No, not the show on CBS/Paramount (very creepy and not fun at all). But the entire concept of evil and where it comes from and why it is important. Then decided, it was simply too depressing and I needed to write about joy instead.

So I asked myself what makes me happy today?

And the answer is “spring.” No, not the slinky kind of springs that meanders down the stairs. You know what we all used to do with our slinkies before we were so attached to phones. That childhood cylindrical steel spring toy that you could watch walk down the stairs and you were just in awe. Yes, I know we had rather simple joys back in the day. I do remember watching that toy do its thing and thinking how life couldn’t get any better than this.

Well until I got an etch-a-sketch.

You know the toy that is pre-graphic design programs or apps and where everything had a sharp angle. I still am at a loss to figure out how to make a circle on one of those things. And yes, I still think about how that could have been done when I am in one of my more nostalgic moods.

We did have gentler joys didn’t we?

No, this is not a well, back in my day, kind of post or an attempt to reach for the olden days. I truly am never quite sure why people like the olden days. In the olden days we didn’t have the technological advances which has helped society, whether in science or business. (and whether isolationists like it or not, globalizing business is actually good for business.) That society squanders advancements is not the fault of those who march forward, but the fault of those who embrace reactionary views and who think that the past offers some sort of respite from modern culture wars.

I have news for them, every age had culture wars. Every period or era had its contretemps and oversimplification of facts. Its just that we didn’t hear about it all the time. And yes you can turn it all off by simply unplugging yourself for awhile. It doesn’t mean it all goes away by any means. But what happens when you push yourself away from the keyboard and go outside is a rejuvenation of the soul.

That is why the new psychology recommends forest baths or nature baths to soothe those in distress. Think about it. Humanity lived for thousands and thousands of years surrounded by nature because we hadn’t learned how to bend the world to our will. But once we learned how to fashion the modern world, things changed. We changed. Out outlook on the world changed.

And not always for the better.

But we are also able to take charge of our own individual worlds and fix what ails us. Even in large cities, like New York, the center is a large park, which is filled to the brim with people on the weekends. Why? Because no matter our pull to live in a concrete jungle, we still need green grass and birdsong.

I suppose that is why my one requirement when we went house hunting, so many decades ago, was a screened in porch. I knew that there were going to be times that I needed to step outside the four walls of my home and hear tweets and twills. One of my favorite sounds is the call of the mating insect and the frog.

I watch to see birds building nests and as their fledglings move on to their own world. I also know that I am not alone, since the bald eagles Jackie and Shadow are one of the top youtube live streams. Watching that nest gives tens of thousands joy. The babies are even about to fledge.

I love when the flowering plants in my backyard spring forth and welcome the world with aromas and the smell of new life. The world waking from it slumber of cold, dark and death.

For nothing grows in the winter. There is a dearth of light and a feeling of impending doom. In ancient times, they had mythological reasons for the winter, a stolen daughter held hostage, a mother so desperate to regain her child she was willing to leave the world in darkness for half of the year, a recalcitrant God who cared only for himself and not for the world around him. Persephone is not a new story. It is how the ancients viewed the change of seasons. It is how the ancients viewed the lack of light and of warmth. When nothing grows, then there is no life, there is no future and there is very little hope.

So in spring we have hope. For the warmth, the beginnings of new life and of a new regime. It is the sounds and aromas of a world come anew from a hostile and unforgiving angry mother nature. But she is unforgiving of our foibles and of our selfishness. While we encase ourselves in her wonders we also need to remember that she has her limits as well. If we abuse the gifts we are given then we will end up with nothing and nature will punish us.

And if you don’t think that humans take a huge toll on the world around them, think back to the days of COVID. No not about the virus. But about the time we were quarantined. We went nowhere. There was less pollution. There were open spaces where humans once stood. And what happened? Nature found its way back. Animals whose habitats had been destroyed found their way into cities, flowers vibrantly bloomed as they had not been able to for years, and the sky shown very blue. If you really thought that we are the greatest of species think again. For no great species destroys the world in which they live.

Ok, so not so joyful right now after all. Perhaps as spring brings new life, that life we think about needs to be reevaluated and revamped so that we hand the next generation the joy that we have always experienced. For we need to remember that we are not the owners of the world, we are merely its caretakers.

****

Meanwhile, in this new phase of the October War, the Palestinians have decided to set Israel on fire. Not sure how a so-called indigenous people, who are supposed to love the land, thinks that the way forward is to destroy the land, but I am sure the Hamasniks, Islamists and their western asskissers will come up with some antisemitic reason that its ok to destroy mother nature. Apparently, these degenerates are celebrating burning the land all over social media.

Indigenous people are tied to the land. The last thing they want to do is to destroy it, no matter what. That is why every Jewish biblically based holiday celebrates the Land of Israel. There is a love of the land and a love of nature. That should teach you some more about what each side actually stands for.

IT IS DAY 573 OF THE HOSTAGES BEING STARVED AND HELD IN THE TERROR DUNGEONS OF GAZA 🎗️

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