A Work In Progress

By Diane Wyzga, Island County, Washington, U.S.

Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington, this is a reverie on what COVID-19 and the reciprocal shelter in place has taught me, so far:

Clarity, confusion, ignorance, observation, springtime birds returning from wherever they wintered, anger, divisiveness, uncertainty, left versus right, fear, awareness, experiencing longer than normal wait times, short supplies, long lines, masks of every shape and size, solitude, loneliness, pain, every possible learning experience, gathering and happy hour on Zoom, lack of leadership, bravery, patriotism, fascism, greed, generosity, a herd of Kashmiri Mountain Goats strolling a main street in a village in Wales (maybe window shopping), resilience, views of the snow-capped Himalayan Mountains seen from India for the first time in 30 years, inventions, interventions, nationalism, awareness, creativity, 3-D printers, frontline responders, people in the shadows, mindfulness, the importance of self-care, self-compassion, self-forgiveness, rituals at a distance, saying hello, saying goodby, walking, coffins balanced on chairs in funeral homes, friends and allies, more American lives lost in two months than in eight years of combat in Vietnam and no flag at half-mast for them, stupidity, obfuscation, starry starry skies, empathy, science, global efforts, politics, pathologies, patience, a family of wild boar (dad, mom and three little piglets) tapping thru an empty intersection in Haifa, Israel, and stories - so very, very many stories to be heard …