Thoughts from the Weekend

What an odd mix it's been for me, camping across the vernal equinox. My tent was pitched between a mound of lingering snow and the muddy morass of thawing ground. The days with stormy windblown clouds brought bursts of sunshine amid spaces of misty chill, prompting frequent adjustments of clothing layers.

Long walks and hours of firelight made room for thoughts to mingle. The world in turmoil, man made and natural, I wondered for our future. With lungs full of fresh crisp air and eyes full of Spring's green joys, I felt that familiar harmony, but still my mind returned to darker signs.

Since checking on personal friends and family in Japan, I've learned of others, extended connections, who are displaced and missing. It all serves to remind me that this larger disaster is full of smaller stories, each of them life-changing to those involved.

And this is only one outburst of a Mother at the end of her rope. This is only one symptom that things are not entirely right- with the way we are treating the Earth, with the way we are treating each other.

Yet, it's not the unhappy ending to the tale, despite the scars it leaves. I see others move to help those who need it. I hear people talk about opportunities for change. We have been shaken awake, at least temporarily.

I watch the frost dissolve from my frozen camp as the sun ascends, and I go out on the trail in search of signs of Spring.