Swan Sanctuary

Earlier in the season I bought a reel mower for cutting the grass, which is mostly weeds, in my yard. I was cutting it early on Sunday morning and I did not have to be concerned about waking up my neighbors, since the only sound it makes is the turning of the cutting blade. I wanted to get it done because rain was predicted later in the day. It was a lovely morning and for an hour or so, the only other sound was the singing of the songbirds. The quiet was soon disrupted when a neighbor across the street started his gas powered mower.

I continued my slow trek back and forth across the yard, stopping occasionally to clip those areas that the mower could not reach, with grass shears. This is how yards used to be cared for before the invention of power mowers and string trimmers. A little while later, the neighbor walked over to me and this is how the conversation went: 

“Would you like to borrow my push mower?” he asked. 

“No,” I replied. (I am pretty sure that my reel mower was a push mower since pushing it was what I was doing.)

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“I am positive,” I replied, adding “I like to listen to the birds.”

“Well, you’re a lot tougher than I am,” he said. (He was at least twice my size and most likely half my age.)

Noisy, gas powered push mowers have given way to riding lawn mowers. Those with sizable yards, have riding lawn mowers, I suppose because they don’t want to do anything that even vaguely resembles actual work. A yard can be cut in a fraction of the time it would take with a push mower, leaving them more time to drink beer and watch television. Men (and women) feel powerful sitting atop their riding lawn mowers, in the same way that having a big pickup truck gives them a sense of power. They can sit on them and drink a large glass of sweet tea and smoke cigarettes, while the powerful machine beneath them does all the work. Some of the commercial riding mowers even have air conditioning inside an enclosed cab. The drivers generally need to wear ear plugs to drown out the deafening noise. When the mowing is done, they take up their gas powered string trimmers to “weed eat” around shrubs, trees, and edges that the mower missed. These often require wearing goggles to prevent dangerous things flying up into their eyes.

A short time later that morning, I looked across the street and saw that the neighbor had strapped on his bottle of herbicide. He was judiciously spraying the weeds around his yard that he had just mowed. This is what I am surrounded by and what is typical in most neighborhoods. I cannot change the mindset of people who are completely ignorant about the damage they are causing to our planet. All I can do is continue taking care of my yard in a sustainable way, to continue creating habitat for the birds and insects, and hope that one day a few will take notice of the example I am setting.

When confronted by antagonistic, angry people, I will not enter into conflict. As soon as I realize that someone wants to argue and they have entered into that mode where they only want to be heard and do not want to listen, I walk away. If I encounter such a person on the phone, I simply hit “hang up.” A screaming match, when neither person is listening to the other, serves no one. 

We have all experienced people who, when they are extremely angry, ranting and raving as though they were possessed, literally fill a room with volatile energy – energy that they suck from other people. If we do not react, it is like poking a tiny hole in their balloon of rage, where it will slowly begin to deflate. It takes two people to argue, so if one refuses to play, the game must end. 

Of course, sooner or later, problems must be addressed. This can happen when the person calms down and is willing to enter into constructive conversation. Sometimes that requires a third, unbiased person to mediate. In some instances, such as road rage, we can usually allow the irritated person to pass by. Being the object of someone else’s anger can often feel like a physical blow, even if they never enter your personal space. A verbal punch can pack almost as much pain as a physical one.

Gossip is another way that people attempt to engage other people in their anger. Getting another person to go along with their story feeds their ego. Anger and gossip can be encountered on a daily basis, especially in work situations. We can choose to not take offense at something someone said. We can choose not to participate in gossip. These two things are similar to two of the four agreements advocated by Don Miguel Ruiz. 

This is not a normal topic of conversation for me, but working in a motel has presented me with people of two different extremes. There are those who are friendly and who are generous with their compliments. Others walk in with a chip on their shoulder from the get-go, ready to fight with the first person they see. I am grateful to have reached a state of serenity in my life. My feathers do not get ruffled and I remain grounded in my no conflict zone, regardless of those who try to shake it.

At last it is beginning to feel like spring. We can open up our doors and windows and step outside without a coat, anticipating the wonderful sounds and smells of fresh air and bright sunshine. But, the disappointment is like that of a child on Christmas morning, who had hoped desperately to get the bicycle he had asked for – only to find shirts and socks underneath the tree. 

I stepped outside to work on my garden bed, where I was serenaded by lawn mowers, string trimmers, chain saws, a rototiller from across the street, and loud trucks flying by on the road. These sounds were occasionally drowned out by the roar of aircraft above me. Children screaming incessantly from the preschool on the opposite corner and music blaring from someone’s window, also filled the air.

I began to mow the lawn when I was blasted with a strong scent of herbicide, followed by cigarette smoke wafting from the yard next door, the smell of dryer sheets coming from two doors down, and the stench of diesel fuel and exhaust from tired vehicles.

This was not what I had dreamt of longingly for these past winter months. I dreamed of the fresh fragrance of flowers and rich humus. I dreamed of petrichor and the pure scent of clouds. I saw myself taking deep breaths of fresh air – not struggling with asthma that makes it difficult to take a breath at all.

I pictured swarms of silent butterflies feasting at my flowers. I imagined hearing the swift flight of hummingbirds darting from flower to feeder. I dreamed of hearing bees buzzing as they worked to gather pollen. In my mind, I heard only the sounds of Nature, of squirrels chattering and birds calling out to one another. The reality is that the sounds my soul longs to hear, cannot be heard above the din of continuous noise that pervades modern human life.

The frequency of school shootings has become almost commonplace since the one that happened at Columbine High School in 1999. The number of guns being made and sold should be cause for alarm, but instead of banning them, more people are buying them. I have heard that there are more guns than people in this country! The violence in our world has become the most infectious disease – not COVID. Our children (and in my case, grandchildren and great-grandchildren) are being manipulated and influenced through the media and we are doing nothing to stop it. The deaths inflicted by guns are worse than any plague or insect invasion. Guns are the worst idea to ever originate in the mind of man. If we are ever to achieve world peace, it will not be until the day that every last gun is disassembled and no longer recognizable. 

The brawl behind the school building to settle a dispute, has escalated into cyber bullying and death threats. Our children are not learning how to be contributing members of society, but how to protect themselves in an increasingly dangerous world. Instead of looking for peaceful ways to resolve conflict, they mistakenly believe that they can confront violence with more violence. Today’s adults are not showing them a better way. Racism may have slightly subsided, but it appears to be rearing its ugly head yet again. 

Yesterday’s Uvalde, Texas elementary school (elementary school!) shooting that resulted in the deaths of 14 children and one teacher, is one more horrific tragedy that could have, should have been avoided. School for most children is due to let out for the summer in just a few days. Now 14 children won’t have a summer to enjoy and their surviving classmates will be forever scarred. Are we becoming numbed by the frequency with which these rampages are happening? 

Children imitate what they see adults doing. It is the things we do and not the things we say that leave them with lasting impressions. It is up to us, the adults in the world, to put away the implements of hatred and show our children that kindness is the greatest weapon we can use against our enemies.

Why and who came up with the idea that humans need to eat three meals a day? Our bodies are easily trained to expect food at certain times when we fall into a routine of feeding them; but eating only when we are actually hungry has been wisely suggested. People eat for numerous reasons other than actual hunger. They eat out of habit. They eat to assuage loneliness. They eat because they are bored. Sometimes they eat because of nervousness. Very obese people eat automatically, often without even realizing they are doing it. 

With so many non-foods available, people not only eat more than necessary – they eat junk foods filled with calories that have almost no nutritional value. They tax their bodies with added flavors, colors, sugars, fats, preservatives, and other non-pronounceable chemicals. In most cases, it would be more beneficial to not eat at all, than to eat those products parading as food.

I have given a lot of thought to the consumption of food in recent weeks because of a 750 pound man who was living in the motel where I am working. It took five or six men to carry him into the building because he was unable to get up or walk. He sat and slept in a chair 24/7. His wife, also obese, zipped around the motel in her electric wheel chair, toothless and always chewing whatever she had just popped into her mouth. She was missing a leg, presumably from diabetes. 

I had tried fasting several years ago, but not very successfully. I am revisiting this concept, though, because I firmly believe that it may be the key to maintaining health. I also believe that it can be beneficial in helping a body to heal from sickness and from injury. In fact, humans are the only animals that do not employ this method of healing. Injured or sick animals forego food and water for days or weeks in order to allow their bodies to focus on repair. Plants too, regularly enter into a dormant state in order to rest from the taxing work of growing, producing flowers, and setting seed. Our digestive systems need regular rest from their job of digesting the food we put in them. At the very least, we should be giving our bodies a ten to twelve hour fast every day between dinner and breakfast. This is after all, why it is called breakfast. 

Contrary to what we have been told, we will not starve if we do not eat for a period of time. When undergoing a fast, it is important to drink a lot of water and to reduce physical activity. The benefits far outweigh the initial discomfort and our bodies will thank us by rewarding us with improved health.

Winter is fighting to maintain its control here in this part of the country and the birds appear to be somewhat dazed and confused. We are in our seventh month of winter and I am sure that like me, they are ready to be done with it. It is not uncommon to see irregular visitors at my bird feeders in spring and autumn, when the birds are migrating. Last Friday, however, I saw three species that I had never previously seen in this setting. 

My bird feeders are situated just outside my kitchen window, where I spend a great deal of time at the kitchen sink, cooking and washing dishes. I get to observe the birds’ comings and goings on a regular basis. We had a hard freeze Friday night and again on Saturday. I suspect that this brutal weather, bearing down on us so late in the season, caused the birds distress and it could have possibly blown them off course in their migration.

I was truly delighted to see a Spotted Towhee on the 10th of May. I saw it again on Friday. I was more than a little surprised when I saw a Western Meadowlark a little while later. Then I saw very briefly, a small bird with brilliant blue. I believe it may have been a Lazuli Bunting, though it did not stay long enough for me to make a positive identification.

In spite of the unfriendly weather that is the rule here, I have counted more than a dozen small bird species. There is also a hawk in the area, which I believe has a nest nearby and takes advantage of the easy prey around bird feeders. Yesterday, there were three baby squirrels having a meal on the ground below the feeders. Global warming and climate change is making life difficult for many species. I help them out by offering black-oil sunflower seeds and more. I have had my hummingbird feeders up for a couple of weeks, but have not yet seen the only hummingbird species indigenous to the area – the Broadtail. I am waiting for the soil to warm enough so that I can plant agastache and other flowers that they love. In the meantime, they have only my meager offerings to help sustain them.

I cannot help wondering why humans have created a society where so many are dependent upon man made products. The Earth has provided us with so much, for free, and yet we disregard much of it. Human mothers are provided with all that they need to nourish their baby for at least the first six months to one year of its life. Doctors and hospitals now readily admit that breast milk is far superior to any man made formula, so I am always surprised when I see mothers feeding their babies from a bottle. Like so many  things that have come to be accepted as “normal,”  baby foods, baby paraphernalia, and toys are completely unnecessary for the raising of a happy, healthy child. All of the bottles, pacifiers, baby monitors, breast pumps, and more are marketed to the new mom-to-be so that the manufacturers can make huge profits. 

The panic over the current shortage of baby formula is unnecessary panic. Prior to our modern methods, wet nurses would come to the rescue whenever a mother was not able to nurse her own baby. That could be a solution today as well. It is no different than the panic over possible food shortages. I have mentioned in previous blogs that there are many great sources of nutrition that we regularly kill, like dandelions. People may have to learn how to garden and how to cook, if they want to survive. They may even have to eat insects to supply protein in their meals. Starvation is not our only option should the economy collapse. We can learn to think outside the box and it would behoove us to welcome back some of the old ways, which have served us for hundreds of years.

The sad thing about modern perceptions is the common belief that a woman’s breasts are put there only for men to fantasize about. The girly magazines, strip joints, and sex stores have so demeaned women and held them hostage to patriarchal power that we have lost sight of the most important aspect of womanhood. 

Instead of worrying about a baby formula shortage, maybe these women should be worrying about whether or not they are providing the necessary bonding (that happens between a nursing mom and her infant) and that is vital to its emotional health and development. Worry is a man made waste of time and humans are the only animals that indulge in it.