March 28, 2024

Autumn Thoughts

Rehoboth Ramblings

Posted

When I heard about the fire at the Senior Center, I thought how the theme for this year could be summed up by a few words from the Beatles classic song “A Day in the Life”: “I read the news today, oh boy.” Repeat as necessary. What a shame to have such a vital meeting place in our community go up in flames. Seeing the ruins of the not-very-old building also made me think about all the wildfires on the West Coast, of whole small towns reduced to rubble, and lives upended, not even to mention those who perished horribly. And the choking smoke far and wide! Those photos of San Francisco! Murky orange darkness hovering over everything, so dark all the lights were on the daytime, giving new meeting to darkness at noon.

I’m sure many people around here have family and friends out west. California is one of my favorite places to visit and I hate to see all the wildfire damage. Apparently, all the nasty smoke is ruining the grapes in this year’s harvest too, a terrible blow for all the wineries.  I have really enjoyed the huge variety that the West Coast has to offer visitors, and we had been hoping to visit the Pacific Northwest right about now. But I’m not going anywhere these days anyway, except for day trips to outdoor beauty spots around here.

With all the bad news to write about (where would I start and how would I stop?), it’s been a real sanity saver to go for walks on the beach or on nature trails. The highlight of a recent beach visit in Little Compton was seeing a young harbor seal resting on the beach, attracting a crowd. Naturally, at first we were worried about the seal even though he looked OK, but two lifeguards were doing a great job of watching the animal and keeping gawkers from getting too close.

We learned that this seal had been tagged at Woods Hole and apparently was so used to people that he often hauled out on a beach regardless of an audience. It was fun to see this marine visitor. Still, I prefer it when wild animals are more cautious around people, for everyone’s sake. You see those videos of people in Yellowstone getting charged by a bison they’ve managed to annoy. How stupid can people be? Don’t ask.

We’ve been watching a lot of nature programs on TV. Yes, they do have a plot, of sorts. First we see the snow melting and spring arriving, then it’s summer, then autumn, and then back to winter and possibly hibernation for certain creatures. I wish I could be one of those hibernating creatures this coming winter.

For upbeat programs about animals, check out the series from the renowned Columbus Zoo (“Secrets of the Zoo”) on the Disney streaming channel. You can see how much care and affection the vets and zookeepers give all their animals. I’ve only been to the zoo there twice in recent years and there’s so much more to see, whenever it is that we get back to Columbus.

Disney also offers two excellent programs about Jane Goodall, both her ground-breaking work with chimpanzees and her years of dedication to environmental issues.  The program “Jane” has wonderful, seldom-seen footage of her early years working with chimps in Tanzania, and “Jane: the Hope” explores how she has worked tirelessly for decades to save wild animals and preserve endangered habitats, in Africa and elsewhere. Jane Goodall, now 86, continues to inspire young people to make the world a better place. Hope is what we need in these tense and turbulent times. Giving into despair isn’t going to help.

Emily Dickinson wrote that “hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” Speaking of singing and soul, here’s a  great quote from the legendary soul/gospel singer Mavis Staples (from the documentary “Mavis!” streaming on HBO Max): “I’ll stop singing when I have nothing left to say, and that ain’t gonna happen.”

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