Swan Sanctuary

It is not uncommon for unawakened human beings to be lost in thought. Ruled by their ego, they create their own suffering as they ride the waves of thought like a roller coaster, their emotions constantly dipping and rising. They become caught in a vicious cycle, not realizing that their emotions feed their ego and their ego becomes like a parasite, sucking up negative emotions, which in turn create more negative emotions. Some people become so trapped in their own thoughts that they pay little attention to the world around them.

Other species, like us, are also intelligent and capable of thought that enables them to learn, to navigate, to make decisions, and to care for their young. They are dependent upon their ability to tune in to their surroundings, literally, for their very survival. They must remain aware and observant of what is going on around them or they could easily become prey for a larger animal. A predator, too, must be able to observe closely and accurately in order to hunt successfully; for its life and that of its offspring depend upon it. Animals rely on their senses, such as hearing, smell, and sight, and in some cases, taste and touch also play a part.

How often do we tune out, rather than tune in to the world around us? With our human advancements from television and movies up to the present day of smartphones and social media, most people are tuned out most of the time. You may have had the experience of speaking to someone who was intently engaged with their phone and so completely distracted that they did not hear you.

We must begin to reawaken our senses. A good fiction writer knows that she must involve her readers with all five senses. We must make every effort to tune into the life that is all around us. We must learn to do as all other species do – to stop, to look, and to listen. We may not think that our survival depends on this; but then again, maybe it does.

In my mind, one could never, ever have enough flowers. I collect gardening catalogs. I refuse to throw them out until I receive a new one. I can spend hours browsing through the catalogs and circling flowers, shrubs, trees, and vines that I want to grow in my garden. My desire to have endless flowers is not a completely selfish one. I know that the more diverse I make the landscape, the more I provide for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. I lay awake at night “landscaping” in my head. My ideal home would have lace on every window; and there would be a window facing all four directions, providing plenty of light for the houseplants. Every room would be filled with bouquets of fresh flowers and herbs.

Many people forget about their gardens once the plants are in the ground and their enthusiasm is only rekindled once they can harvest what they had planted. For me, each season presents new gardening possibilities. Now is the time for me to begin ordering garlic and spring blooming bulbs. They will be planted just before the ground freezes. Summer snowflakes, winter aconite, early tulips, and snowdrops will emerge through the snow bringing delight to our winter weary senses. Later on, hyacinths and daffodils, mid and late spring tulips, will be joined by flowering shrubs, redbud, dogwood, crabapple, plum, cherry, and other fruit trees. Some of them will bloom almost overnight and after only a couple of short weeks the flowers are gone. This makes me sad, but it also signals that spring is here to stay for a while and makes it’s promise that summer will follow.

It is the gradual changes and the emergence of early blooms that help us get through the last bitter weeks of winter. Throughout the winter I can grow paperwhites and amaryllis indoors to brighten the dull weeks of cold temperatures and post holiday blues. The brilliant colors help to carry me through and lift my spirits. With a little effort I can surround myself with flowers year round. They are the gifts that we have been given to balance life’s challenges. I know that as long as I have an endless supply of flowers (and organic dark chocolate) I can face almost anything.

In the wake of Hawaii’s devastating fires that took place this past week, I heard a news interview in which a woman told reporters that money grabbers are already making offers to buy the land from those who have lost their homes. The newscaster referred to them as predatory land developers, which aptly described the seedy, greedy, investors. I am certain that the now homeless residents are still in a state of shock and unable to think clearly or to make rational decisions. The wealthy moguls know this and they are taking advantage of Hawaii’s victims, causing them further distress from which the bottom of their lives has seemingly fallen out.

We are familiar with the predatory lenders who took advantage of home buyers not so very long ago. If I look at this objectively, I know that in Nature, in every species, predators go after the weak, the young, and the old. They do not attempt to take on the young and strong, knowing that they themselves could be killed. I am currently reading a book about Hymenoptera – wasps, bees, and ants of which there are at least 150,000 known species and about twice that many that have yet to be discovered. Even predatory wasps prey on eggs, larvae, or pupae for their prey. Rarely, do they go after the adult insects. Life eats life – and sometimes it eats them while they are still alive.

I cannot help feeling angry at the wealthy human predators of the world who take advantage of the less fortunate. The truth is, regardless whether we are an insect, a raptor, a cheetah, or a human being, we are each responsible for our own life. Is this suffering that we inflict upon one another a part of our human dilemma? We resist our suffering. We prefer to blame, to seek retribution and revenge, believing that every bad thing that happens to us is unfair. We refuse to acknowledge that life is quite simply, challenging. We differ from other species because we do not know how to let go of the past and move on. Instead of allowing what was, to pass beneath the bridge under our feet, we erect a dam. We seek to gather supporters and accomplices for our cause and ultimately, to wage war, both in our personal lives and that of our country. Human predators gain power by feeding off the emotions they elicit from their victims.

I hope that the Hawaiian people will stand strong in the face of the land developers and real estate tycoons. I hope they can look them in the eyes and tell them calmly, simply, flatly, definitely, no. I pray they will retain their personal power and be made stronger and not weakened by their tragedy.

It is easy to lull oneself into believing that the warm sultry days of August will never end. Many people begin to complain about the relentless heat, which I do not understand; because most of them have air conditioning. Some people; however, seem to thrive on looking for things to complain about. If they cannot complain about the weather, they complain about their physical or emotional distress, whether real or imaginary, or about some person who has wronged them.

While these days hover around 90 to 100 degrees fahrenheit, it can be a bit uncomfortable at times; but I relish every one of them. I know that soon enough I will have to begin piling on layers of clothing in order to stay warm. Where I live, desertification of the land around me has resulted in weather extremes. The nighttime temperatures drop drastically and daytime temperatures soar, with little vegetation to absorb the heat and moisture, or to create enough humidity and clouds to give us rain. There is nothing to slow the speed and ferocity with which the wind slams into existing structures. Creating windbreaks, by planting strong evergreens close together, is the only means by which we can protect our homes and our gardens from wind damage. The problem is that it takes a few years for the trees to grow large enough to do any good.

Much of the desertification, which is land that is literally turning into desert, has been created by modern agriculture. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s came as a result of successive planting of monocultures and leaving soil bare and exposed to the elements. Fortunately, more farmers are turning to regenerative agriculture, planting cover crops, switching to polycultures, and eliminating the use of herbicides and pesticides.

I have worked for the past two and a half months to restore the depleted soil here. It has been challenging. The soil was dead and insects nearly non-existent. Little by little, I am re-establishing biodiversity within this tiny piece of land. Slowly, much more slowly than I would like, I see Nature returning and I feel immense gratitude for the small changes that I have been able to implement. I am reluctant to see August slipping away, knowing that the first fall frost is lurking just around the corner. I will continue to do all that I can, for as long as I can. While most are already looking ahead to autumn and the ghoulish celebration of Halloween, I am already anticipating next spring’s garden.

It is no coincidence that I have enjoyed better health as I have aged. This is opposite of the majority of people, whose health declines as they advance in age. As a child I was sick a lot. I developed asthma at the age of nine, after a two week illness. Our family meals consisted of meat (usually fried) and a mushy vegetable from a can. Salads consisted of iceberg lettuce, carrot, celery, cucumber, and tomato; or cottage cheese with canned fruit on top. These meals were accompanied by white Rainbow® or Wonder® bread, butter, and a glass of milk.

When I was in high school, a health food store opened up down the street and I began to learn about the poor nutritional quality of the food that I had grown up on. I began eating and baking whole wheat bread and using honey in place of white sugar. I rarely ate fast food, which was just beginning to grow in popularity. During my twenties, I gave up drinking sodas entirely. After the birth of my oldest daughter, I took up running; but I still came down frequently with colds and flu. By my thirties, I gave up drinking milk and stopped adding creme to my coffee. I began to eat less meat. I often thought that I would like to be vegetarian; but changing the way I had cooked for so many years felt daunting; and I did not feel that I had the time it would require to completely revamp that part of my life. I was often told that we needed to eat meat for the protein and that vegetarians were not healthy because most did not know how to combine foods to make a “complete” protein. Others insisted that the only source of vitamin B12 was meat. I continued to eat what I believed to be healthier. I read labels, avoiding preservatives and other additives. I switched to buying mostly organic produce, free-range eggs, and grass fed meats.

I have met a number of vegans over the past twenty years. I admired them for ethical reasons and for their commitment. I too, had seen the alarming truths of factory farming and animal agriculture and I was disturbed. However; I still wasn’t sure if I could succeed at switching to a completely plant based diet. I began to think about other cultures in the world that have been vegetarian and appeared to be perfectly healthy. Then, I watched a documentary called What the Health. This film presented the most convincing argument that I have yet heard for eating a plant based diet. Numerous grassland species are plant eaters – and they are some of the largest, strongest, and most muscular species on the planet! Buffalo, elephants, moose, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, cows, sheep, and gorillas are some of the largest animals in existence, and they are herbivores. Of most primates, from which we descended, only a few eat meat and then, very rarely. These animals clearly get enough protein from grass plants to build muscle. In the program I watched, athletes and men who participate in IronMan triathlons, have switched to vegan diets and have excelled more than they ever did when eating meat. Chronically ill people have been able to discard their pharmaceuticals only two weeks after switching to plant based diets. The lie we have been told, about protein, is being exposed.

I am healthier than most people my age, who still consume largely meat based diets; but I do not need any more convincing. I always feel better when my meals consist mostly of salads, fruits, and vegetables. My body has been telling me the truth all along. I know that by making the leap away from meat, to a vegan diet, I am taking one more step in doing what I can to care for our planet and the life that inhabits it.