This is just what I needed to read in this moment. Thank you so much. I just finished reading Robert McFarlane‘s book Is A River Alive?, And in it he describes the turtle rescuing happening in Chennai, India. Yes there is a world of goodness if we can only discover it for ourselves.
What a lovely moving essay. Thank you. When we are overwhelmed by all the noise in the news, we discover that people are doing hard precise work on Florida beaches for sea turtles. It is these seemingly small things that get us through the destruction we see happening before us. I love a sense of the ancient here and the sacred. I note the sentence on poaching because there are always opportunists whose greed defines their lives. Kudos to the people on the beach and everyone who makes an effort to help the world and the creatures who share it with us.
Tears of gratitude for your career change. It may not have given you the cash flow to buy your current home full of memories, but your newsletter is invaluable to those of us searching for hope in the dark. Like the nest and egg savers, you do the hard work of giving us insight and hope, if you can find it.
In my minds eye, I'm picking up all of your precious memories, your books and beds, you and Marz and your loved ones and placing you gingerly in a basket of the softest cotton balls pointed in the direction of a moonbeam that will guide you to your new nest. A new nest with no sewage overflow, with views of the night sky, with trees that bloom and shade. This is where you will land. Let you heart guide you.
I hope your move goes well. A similar thing happened to happened to my husband and I on June 1, 2021. It was my husband’s first day of retirement and the granddaughter of our nice long time landlady contacted us and announced that grandma was too old to manage our condo anymore and she was now managing it and the rent was going up next month by several hundred dollars. Our old landlady died a few months later and we had bought a house in North Bend by the end of the month with the help of a realtor accustomed to selling to people in the coast guard.
At our old place there were snapping turtles who migrated away from their pond in May to an area near our condo to lay their eggs on the banks of a ditch next to a bike path. When this happened I would keep a vigil to keep dogs, pedestrians and cyclists from bothering them and gently herding them off the paved path as necessary. I don’t know how the turtles are doing in Boulder Colorado. The ponds where they live on the university campus are the only place in the area they were known to live. We need more people everywhere to care about our wildlife and wild places.
Thanks so much for your post, Shanley. It is a much-needed inspiration in very troubled times. If we canoot pay attention to the minutae of nature and life as you do here, the battle is lost. We're in Alberta and have our own political craziness. We look to your post and your dear mother's every day.
I'm so sad for you having to move. It is traumatic in the best of circumstances, but when it isn't your choice, well.... Merz will feel it also. Any chance you can negotiate with the owner to buy it?
Shanley, you are such a wonderful writer! I always look forward to reading your essays, but sometimes I just have to read one over and over, because it’s so beautifully done.
I’ve shared this one with friends because your very necessary message of hope is just perfectly expressed. In the midst of your own hardship, you are doing the good work of bringing love and light to countless lives with your literary (and literal!) gift of grace.
I pray that unseen hands are preparing a safe and comfortable nest for your future!
Take heart, Shanley--There is a world full of good people out there. I submit for your perusal a front page article by Nina Shapiro headlined: "ICE put man returning to India on the wrong plane at Sea-Tac." This was in the Seattle Times edition of Thursday, April 23rd. You may find it in your local library or I can send you a copy. ICE insisted that the man had to go on that plane, despite the insistence of the flight crew to the contrary. Once airborne, the good people started their work--and there were lots of them. I highly recommend this article. I won't spoil it for you, but it's a cockle-warmer.
RE: House. Could someone buy your house and then rent it back to you? Just askin'....
This is just what I needed to read in this moment. Thank you so much. I just finished reading Robert McFarlane‘s book Is A River Alive?, And in it he describes the turtle rescuing happening in Chennai, India. Yes there is a world of goodness if we can only discover it for ourselves.
What a lovely moving essay. Thank you. When we are overwhelmed by all the noise in the news, we discover that people are doing hard precise work on Florida beaches for sea turtles. It is these seemingly small things that get us through the destruction we see happening before us. I love a sense of the ancient here and the sacred. I note the sentence on poaching because there are always opportunists whose greed defines their lives. Kudos to the people on the beach and everyone who makes an effort to help the world and the creatures who share it with us.
I hope you quickly find your new shore, your new nest, in a community as compassionate and giving as the one aiding the turtles.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece of work with us.
WELL, IF THAT DOESN;T MAKE YOU CRY, YOU JUST AIN'T HUMAN.
Tears of gratitude for your career change. It may not have given you the cash flow to buy your current home full of memories, but your newsletter is invaluable to those of us searching for hope in the dark. Like the nest and egg savers, you do the hard work of giving us insight and hope, if you can find it.
In my minds eye, I'm picking up all of your precious memories, your books and beds, you and Marz and your loved ones and placing you gingerly in a basket of the softest cotton balls pointed in the direction of a moonbeam that will guide you to your new nest. A new nest with no sewage overflow, with views of the night sky, with trees that bloom and shade. This is where you will land. Let you heart guide you.
I hope your move goes well. A similar thing happened to happened to my husband and I on June 1, 2021. It was my husband’s first day of retirement and the granddaughter of our nice long time landlady contacted us and announced that grandma was too old to manage our condo anymore and she was now managing it and the rent was going up next month by several hundred dollars. Our old landlady died a few months later and we had bought a house in North Bend by the end of the month with the help of a realtor accustomed to selling to people in the coast guard.
At our old place there were snapping turtles who migrated away from their pond in May to an area near our condo to lay their eggs on the banks of a ditch next to a bike path. When this happened I would keep a vigil to keep dogs, pedestrians and cyclists from bothering them and gently herding them off the paved path as necessary. I don’t know how the turtles are doing in Boulder Colorado. The ponds where they live on the university campus are the only place in the area they were known to live. We need more people everywhere to care about our wildlife and wild places.
Beautifully written. I felt your pain and your hope. You will find another wonderful home because home is what you make it.
https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/2017/08/from-the-archive-on-losing-a-house-by-mary-oliver/
Yes other homes will arise. But it is so hard, and sad, to be made to leave a house you love. Sending comfort.
Thanks so much for your post, Shanley. It is a much-needed inspiration in very troubled times. If we canoot pay attention to the minutae of nature and life as you do here, the battle is lost. We're in Alberta and have our own political craziness. We look to your post and your dear mother's every day.
Very best. Carole and duane
Very well written. Thank you for the inspiration.
I'm so sad for you having to move. It is traumatic in the best of circumstances, but when it isn't your choice, well.... Merz will feel it also. Any chance you can negotiate with the owner to buy it?
Shanley, you are such a wonderful writer! I always look forward to reading your essays, but sometimes I just have to read one over and over, because it’s so beautifully done.
I’ve shared this one with friends because your very necessary message of hope is just perfectly expressed. In the midst of your own hardship, you are doing the good work of bringing love and light to countless lives with your literary (and literal!) gift of grace.
I pray that unseen hands are preparing a safe and comfortable nest for your future!
Mary, I love your work, but thank you for this especially poignant essay.
I just realized Shanley wrote this. Beautiful.
Take heart, Shanley--There is a world full of good people out there. I submit for your perusal a front page article by Nina Shapiro headlined: "ICE put man returning to India on the wrong plane at Sea-Tac." This was in the Seattle Times edition of Thursday, April 23rd. You may find it in your local library or I can send you a copy. ICE insisted that the man had to go on that plane, despite the insistence of the flight crew to the contrary. Once airborne, the good people started their work--and there were lots of them. I highly recommend this article. I won't spoil it for you, but it's a cockle-warmer.
RE: House. Could someone buy your house and then rent it back to you? Just askin'....
Love and best wishes from a complete stranger!
Is there a way to configure a daily digest of email? My inbox is getting out of hand.