Quiet Comfort out of COVID Chaos

Outdoor Shots Challenge July, 2020

Back in February when we first began to hear about a deadly virus that spreads easily and quickly I paid attention. At that time the problems seemed to be centered on the other side of the world so my anxiety levels weren’t tweaked to any degree. But in the weeks that followed as this new and unexamined threat flew around the globe carried by its human vehicles via air, sea and land it began to occur to me that the world as we know it was under a siege that we hadn’t prepared for. I decided to keep my very small business to the internet rather than offering my services person to person and kept myself voluntarily quarantined.

My husband, on the other hand, works in a business that was considered essential so we became vigilant about a whole new type of germ warfare. Heading into battle armed with hand sanitizer, bars and bottles of soap, homemade alcohol wipes (what a fiasco that was) and paper towels at about 10 times the volume we’d been using before just to feel comfortable sitting down to dinner or to watch a movie. Fortunately we do our shopping at “big box” stores so we had as much toilet paper as we needed and plenty of staples and canned goods to keep us supplied for an extended period, whatever that might be.

As time passed and we stayed healthy we continued our shifted routines and added new ones as the need arose settling into new patterns at home. At the same time we watched as the waves of illness and death peaked and rolled and the news media juked and jived with any and all facts, speculations, fear hype and denial wound up in a tangled mass. A positive test result on one of the people who worked in the same company as my husband triggered new fears and precautions and ratcheted up the stress levels for us both. And so we carried on and waited…

Finally, as spring progressed and the weather warmed we started to spend more time outside. We planted a garden, played with the dogs, walked in the woods and enjoyed the chance to be outside and do things other than covid-related cleaning and fretting.

During that quiet, homebound isolation I had the pleasure of extra time to read and write and contemplate the monumental changes the whole world is facing. It got me thinking about little things. Tiny pleasures, easily brushed off while engaged in daily hectic work and school and everyday chores and obligations.

Wandering around the yard and the gardens and woods I started to notice hidden things. Not that they’re actually hidden but many of the things that are so blurred by the veils of busy-time and "normal" concerns we forget to remember to look at them. I realized I don’t have a schedule to keep, I can spend time listening to birdsong or keeping track of the spring flowers as they follow their ancient cycles of blooming rotations. Crocus, lily of the valley, daffodils, tulips, iris and columbine. The insects came, the owls hooted their courtship and the goldfinches donned their brilliant yellow feathers.

The wonders that so easily get lost in the shuffle of our busy lives became re-ingrained in my awareness, as pure and vibrant as they’ve always been - when I’ve taken the time to pay attention. The bees and mosquitos, crickets and butterflies trigger memories and fantasies and now I can follow along, wandering deeper into thought and Self and pure experience. I can creep slowly up to a bumble bee working diligently on stripping the bleeding hearts of their pollen and ensuring another generation of their beautiful host. I can note the growth patterns of the reishi mushrooms that push forth from the hemlock trees and watch the crazy, zooming, twirling play of the squirrels sprinting around the back yard and chattering in full voice.

I’m not a photographer per se. I don’t have special equipment or lighting or sets and I don’t get paid for the shots I take (yet) but I’ve heard it said that a talent that is truly yours is one that you just can’t help doing. I have over 10,000 photos in the gallery on my phone and that’s after editing to free up space in the memory. Stopping to capture an image I see in the moment is pure joy for me. Just the idea that I can tap the screen on my phone and enjoy that moment again and again is magic in its purest form and I get to wield that magic at the slightest whim.

I took this photo with my Samsung Galaxy S9 and enlarged and brightened the colors with Google Photo. I wish I could lay out the exact steps and engagements to recreate the pic but, for me, this is all fluid and graceful, life-affirming in its simplicity.