Aftermath
Linda Soller | May 27, 2024
I was running late. I came in from putting the bird seed out when I saw the aftermath of an overnight raid. The raccoon had brought down two birdhouses. I knew one had emptied just days before but felt sure the other had been holding eggs. Irritated I kept telling myself it was nature at work, not my responsibility. That was my excuse for not dealing appropriately with the aftermath.
Nature gets blamed for a lot of things. Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, floods, fires, volcanoes, and combinations of those events create chaos for humans. The destruction is what we see on the news and what we discuss over coffee. We’ve seen it before. But we rarely dig deep and do something about the aftermath. That being said we are fairly quick to blame human error, laziness, even stupidity when we see people who are without a home, without a job, or who appear to lack motivation to “improve” their lot.
When destruction has taken place who are we to judge those who are impacted? When insurance says we won’t rebuild elsewhere or differently, then people will rebuild where they were. When a family lives from paycheck to paycheck a hiccup in the cash flow could end it all. Suddenly they may find themselves struggling to just survive. When illness eats up the savings and costs a person their job the aftermath may well be no home at all. We don’t know what puts a person on the street.
The nature around my home keeps throwing lessons my way. Sometimes I try too hard to manipulate nature to have what I want. Sometimes I reject the parts of nature that interfere with the parts I like and find acceptable. This most recent lesson was no different. By hanging those birds houses in those places, I set them up for attack. Hanging them right back was/is not a solution. Finding a better place will certainly impact my view but will make my neighbors safer. By making my neighbors safe we all benefit. I’ll continue to share the story of the knocked down birdhouses, but I hope to add how I dug deeper to address the aftermath.
Be kind, be brave, have faith! : ) Linda
PS – This week as we remember those who fought for our freedom let’s not forget they came from all races, and religions. They fought regardless of their income, education, political affiliation, or geographical heritage. They fought together.
