It's been nearly ten months since I last posted, and every one has laid heavy on my mind. I'm one of those for whom writing about a subject is thinking about it, and both the end of trump's reign of error and the success of covid19 infections, which are related, has demanded I do a lot of thinking but very little writing. But here it is, nearly solstice, so I must say something.
Solstice is important to me as it's also our wedding anniversary. This year marks our 30th. But neither of us has bought or made the other a gift. I think it's the mere fact we remain as a unit that is the gift. It is also the year I turned 60 and that likewise was a gift to remain alive and comparatively healthy in a year marked by so much death. That is not to say we haven't been touched: both my wife and I have seen a dozen or more patients for whom infection hastened the end. She has endured several illnesses that leave us nervous that she's been infected, and through her I've also been suspected of infection. Testing has proven us free of that worry. Now, a vaccine has been developed and released that is promising, and I received it 2 days ago; I experienced the smallest symptoms as my immune system kicked in yesterday, enough to ensure that I don't want to have anything like that.
Solstice is important to me too because, as Dr Robin Kimmerer of the Citizen Potowatomi Nation has said, "Winter is a teacher of vulnerability." This year has not lacked for lessons in vulnerability and I have no doubt winter promises to bring more, probably harsher, lessons. As Elizabeth Dias points out, for most of human history and even for many humans today, winter is a period when simple survival is the aim. "Winter is a primal time of death and loss, and a time for grief. It reminds us that darkness, not only light, is part of the recurring rhythm of what it means to be human...The great irony of winter is that the moment darkness is greatest is also the moment light is about to return. Each year the winter solstice comes with the promise that the next day will be brighter."
Our solstice darkness of the past four years has opened to what we hope is the brighter period of Joe Biden's presidency. I have great hopes for this, but what I think many of us have learned is that we can survive. But many of us have not survived, neither trump nor covid 19, and we must not lose sight of this. This is what people like me need to remember, that some of our neighbors are struggling, on multiple levels, with simple survival.
