Life Lessons
Summer seems to be winding to an early the end. Brown and yellow leaves are already falling due to the drought that has taken its toll here in Rhode Island. While the drought is much worse in other parts of the US, not to mention Africa and South Sudan, even here in Rhode Island where there are 400 miles of coastline, crops are lost. The farm where we buy vegetables has ploughed under a field of corn—not enough rain to ripen the ears. Signs about no campfires or grilling are posted in the state park. While we are steps away from the bay, our grass is like straw, and I water our tiny herb and tomato boxes nightly.
With the heat we have stared swimming in the bay at high tide. Efforts by Save the Bay and others have made Narraganset Bay a safe place to swim. At high tide 6 more feet of water roll in making the salt water on our beach deeper, cleaner, and colder—a refreshing treat after a day of work, weeding in the garden, or a humid AM walk with Conner.
I am preparing to head back to Palestine after a 2 ½ years hiatus thanks to COVID. In March 2020, I passed through the JFK airport the day before entrants were monitored because of COVID. I was maskless at the time but am no more. While few people mask up in public, working in Express Care, as the urgent care is called, routinely see patient who test positive for COVID. Friday was an 11-month-old who stared at me with that uninterrupted gaze that age can muster, as I tried to reassure her worried parents troubled by her cough. Last week the 4-year-old who brought it home form daycare, much to the chagrin of his working Mom, was the highlight due to his glee at the stickers that looked like him. We’ve come a long way with diversity in our stickers!! It is also a relief to be able to offer Paxlovid to patients over age 12, but it isn’t perfect, as we know from the news about President Biden’s experience--He turned positive again after completing the 5 days of pills. And some people can’t manage the side effects—stomach upset is the one I’ve heard the most.
You get COVID if you have had the vaccine and you get COVID if you don’t! Evolving science is tough to explain and this pandemic hasn’t done much to inspire trust in medicine or public health. Accolades to Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, who has called for a reset at the CDC.
So we muddle on. I take joy in winning over the scared kids by showing them how the otoscope light shines through their finger,s then make a game of looking in their ears and that of their parents as we complete the exam. I delight in their excitement about using the tongue pushers (no long blades thanks to trauma informed care) as drumsticks and testing the various acoustics in the room—exam table, chair, cabinet . . .
Then at home there is the joy of vine ripened tomatoes and basil from our garden. Watching the ebb and flow of the tide with the phase of the moon and the magic of constantly changing light and clouds are the gifts of living near the shore.
When we walk along the beach we carry a bag to pick up trash, in addition to Conner’s poop, This shoreline once had a road and cottages that were destroyed by several hurricanes (1938 and 1954) and a rising waterline. The trash from current and prior lives is amazing: plastic straws – I promise to never use one again; leather shoe soles and torn flipflops; pieces of glass—chards from windowpanes; bottles new and old; clamming gloves and shovels; rusty nails, door hinges and unidentifiable pieces of iron from an era long ago. My greatest find this summer was a machete alongside a triple layer chocolate cake and a pile of royal blue candy foils. The labeled plastic cover and plate had one remaining piece--a party that was too much for the chocoholics.
I am preparing my final Fulbright segment with colleagues in Palestine. To my chagrin, they have resisted planning too far ahead. “We can schedule the workshop the week before we offer it,” I was told. My lesson in how they cope with the uncertainty of the Occupation. In other words, schedules and plans change quickly—a checkpoint closed during the morning work commute; an access road suddenly impassable due to piles of gravel and dirt that wasn’t there last week; and a protest on campus that closed the university for several days. They can’t afford to plan too far ahead. I am reminded to practice mindfulness and stay focused on the delights of the moment.
May you find your way forward with the current uncertainties and challenges in today’s world.