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.
Thank you, Michele. I started this weekly "hope for humanity" piece as a way to try and remind everyone that it's easy to see the world in a very dark way in the times we are living through, but we mustn't forget all the wonderful people out there still fighting for a sustainable and livable future. It has turned into a way of bringing myself peace, when I'm struggling with hope for the future.
Great feature. We all need an uplift. We are trying to enjoy family, neighbors, and friends in get togethers and meals. We also try to respect our small piece of the earth where we garden organically....and pull a lot of weeds. I have been observing bees in various blooms, birds taking a drink from our pond, and the smell of various flowers including my fab viburnum.
Packing belongings around wide-eyed little ones in a home that contains lifetimes of memories is a too-poignant image I carry in my bones. Thoughts and prayers, Shanley.
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.
Thank you so much, Dorothy. The career change was absolutely worth it, and has given me so many things, I just can't qualify for financing right now without income history in the same field. We are embarking on a new a adventure, and are just grateful to do it together.
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 did indeed cry the 12 mins you mentioned reading this piece and have forwarded it on to my Florida friends -- thank you for taking the time to write so feelingly, esp when you are being moved from yr own nest (but not from the memories)
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?
Moved to tears, feeling your sense of loss at moving from a home that has held so much love and so many memories. Feeling deep gratitude to the people carefully relocating turtle eggs to safety in the dark instead of sitting comfortably in front of a TV. Feeling so grateful that you share your gift of heart, wisdom, vulnerability, and communication to illuminate in these troubled times.
Today I chanced on to a writer who said that quantum entanglement means that having HOPE actually affects reality. I’ll take it.
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.
Thank you, Karen. I will have to look into "Is a River Alive?" and the turtle rescue in India.
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.
Thank you, Michele. I started this weekly "hope for humanity" piece as a way to try and remind everyone that it's easy to see the world in a very dark way in the times we are living through, but we mustn't forget all the wonderful people out there still fighting for a sustainable and livable future. It has turned into a way of bringing myself peace, when I'm struggling with hope for the future.
Great feature. We all need an uplift. We are trying to enjoy family, neighbors, and friends in get togethers and meals. We also try to respect our small piece of the earth where we garden organically....and pull a lot of weeds. I have been observing bees in various blooms, birds taking a drink from our pond, and the smell of various flowers including my fab viburnum.
I hope you quickly find your new shore, your new nest, in a community as compassionate and giving as the one aiding the turtles.
Thank you, Steve.
Packing belongings around wide-eyed little ones in a home that contains lifetimes of memories is a too-poignant image I carry in my bones. Thoughts and prayers, Shanley.
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.
Thank you so much, Dorothy. The career change was absolutely worth it, and has given me so many things, I just can't qualify for financing right now without income history in the same field. We are embarking on a new a adventure, and are just grateful to do it together.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece of work with us.
Beautifully written. I felt your pain and your hope. You will find another wonderful home because home is what you make it.
You couldn't be more right, Carletta.
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.
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
I did indeed cry the 12 mins you mentioned reading this piece and have forwarded it on to my Florida friends -- thank you for taking the time to write so feelingly, esp when you are being moved from yr own nest (but not from the memories)
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?
I fervently hope life favors you in some way--some way to reward you for all the good you do and the hope you arouse in everyone...
Moved to tears, feeling your sense of loss at moving from a home that has held so much love and so many memories. Feeling deep gratitude to the people carefully relocating turtle eggs to safety in the dark instead of sitting comfortably in front of a TV. Feeling so grateful that you share your gift of heart, wisdom, vulnerability, and communication to illuminate in these troubled times.
Today I chanced on to a writer who said that quantum entanglement means that having HOPE actually affects reality. I’ll take it.
May the path rise to meet your feet. Xoxo
Wishing for you to find another home to cherish & enjoy.