201021 See the Day Live the Season Second Wave Change

Oct 21

Squirrel condo: two large luxury nests in a quiet suburban setting. 

   It has been gloomy and rainy lately but this morning it is warm and windless, though still drizzling. In the morning, first thing, I like to go out and see the day. In the summer it meant greeting the sun already up, but lately it is seeing the sky brighten (or not!) and catching the squirrels frantically preparing for winter. Indre and Robin have begun to go out too to see the day, as part of their morning ritual, take deep breaths of the morning air and make their own weather predictions. 

   What a lot of work trees do each year! I have had September in Quebec and October in Ontario to contemplate the faith and fortitude of trees. In the spring they wake up and begin producing flowers and leaves in the thousands. In summer their fruits ripen for the reproduction of their species but amazingly for a huge food source for wild animals and humans alike. (They also grow in girth and height and extend their roots.) Then in autumn they cast off the summer's abundance with abandon, fruit and leaves, and prepare for their winter sleep. Their mindfulness (!) of the seasons as a circle, spring as rebirth, winter for rest, can be a lesson for human living. 

   We tend to paint the seasons as a mere backdrop in the ever-forward march towards our human future. We curse the snow of winter and the heat of summer when it interferes with economic productivity. What if we embraced the presence, the "now", of the seasons, and let ourselves follow nature's lead: jump into spring bursting with new growth and productivity, work and play through the summer to reap a rich harvest in celebration and prepare for the winter, there to rest and shelter until the new year. This idea brings a sense of calm that is new to me as winter approaches. Rather than dreading the cold weather's intrusion into the machinations of life, I can cherish this time to snuggle down in my warm house in fat socks and sweaters and prepare warming winter dinners with the magic of preserved summer fruits and piles of root vegetables and squash. (Okay, as a city dweller I have to shop for the foods of summer's harvest.) I can find winter tasks, take the time to read and learn and put our home in order after a busy summer, in readiness for the new spring of activity and growth. 

   As I write, the wind is picking up and leaves are being dashed to the ground with the rain. Where are my slippers? 

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By the way:

   Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the bar... I am annoyed that scientists and politicians talked about a second wave as if it were a given, then Ontario moved to stage 3 of reopening in August and by September numbers of covid cases were on the rise again. Was it time for a tempered allowance of illness and death such as the USA has adopted? Is there an acceptable number of covid cases which can be accommodated by the health system and balanced against the economic health of the country? 

   Speaking of economic health, Canadian billionaires are doing fine, thank you! The Tyee reported that the top 20 billionaires each made a billion more dollars from March, 2020, while millions of Canadians saw their poverty levels get worse.* Remember that those billionaires did not "make" that money themselves. They sold products to the poor and middle class, and they paid minimum wage (at least WAY less than what they paid themselves) to thousands of employees so they themselves could have a covid-safe property in some luxury corner of the world. How many minimum wage earners does it take to make a billionaire? How many privileges (being white, family wealth, education, connections) does one need to become a billionaire? I do not dispute that they worked hard to get where they are, but so did thousands more work hard so they could eat Kraft Dinner while the billionaire ate lobster and crème brûlée. Alberta gave corporations a tax break this year to help them stay afloat. If they had given the poor and middle class that tax break the corporations would have earned more because their customers (the poor and middle class, what's left of them) would have been able to afford the corporations' products! 

   It is simply unconscionable that our "front line" workers, who are most at risk of infection and who often live in the most hard-hit corners of cities AND who mostly have to take public transit to work and back are also earning little enough that more than one family member must work to put food on the table. Is there one politician in all of Canada who can't afford a house or a car? Is there one million dollar CEO who would take a pay cut to help out employees who are struggling. These are not new ideas: the risks and poor wages of essential workers and the uneven tax system have been addressed repeatedly in newspapers. I am wondering how we CAN EFFECT change? Which political party has this on their agenda? The difficulty is that many rich individuals and companies also carry weight with politicians. Their self-interest is being served by the current system. These same inequities expose the systemic racism rampant in housing, employment, education, health care and the processes of law. The self-interest of corporations and the wealthy also stands in the way of climate change, because it represents an expense or loss of income which they don't want to absorb. 

   The whole social and political system needs an overhaul. Now, while parts of that system are undergoing dramatic changes because of covid, is the time to go big, not back. Again it isn't just me who's talking about this: but we have to start talking louder, with our votes and with where we spend money as consumers. 

  Take from this blog what suits you, leave the rest behind. Keep safe and warm.

Mumma Yaga

* https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/09/17/Canadian-Billionaire-Wealth-Skyrocketing-Pandemic/