COVID-19 Pages: Bee Balm ‘Fireworks’ Thank You. Tidal Connections.
July. Honeybees flit and fly from one white clover blossom to another. Below and out of sight, root nodules fix nitrogen, good building soil. At dusk, bats flitter above to feast on insects. A pungent odor late at night drifts in open windows. Skunk, on the move. Dogs keep away or face the spray.
Fiery red bee balm attracts pollinators and hummingbirds galore.
A constellation of fireflies (or should you prefer, lightning bugs, actually beetles). The scarlet explosion of bee balm rockets atop stems six feet tall. A seasonal draw for hummingbirds, hummingbird moths, a variety of bees and other pollinators, the plant is a perennial that spreads by runners. Small predators hunt among the leaves and interstices. Habitat worth observing.
River people, the original residents of this land, left tools, shaped beads, place names still used today. Portion of exhibit at Connecticut River Museum, 2019.
Everything human made decays. All of nature is tidal, circular. Born, grow, blossom, reproduce (or not), mature, decline, end. Recycle. Begin again. Nothing is lost, just reworked. Energy from one life form transfers to another.
What you feed will grow.
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) June 27, 2020
Three.
This year all is the same and yet everything is different because of a virus pandemic. Some countries have faced and handled a crisis; others deny science and put egos first; populations must now face the consequences. Nature's interlocked workings will not be ignored. Humans are not apart from their environment. So, read. Read more.
First place. There will be no Eastern States Exposition, The Big E, for 2020. A prudent decision to cancel in the pandemic.
Summer river.
Milkweed, intricate blossoms like jewels.
Reflecting on that sewage can tell scientists and community leaders for “early alerts on spikes in nearby COVID-19 cases, reports Yale and Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station research study” the headline in a story from May 2020 by Ed Stannard and Justin Papp which includes a link to an article from the New Haven Register also. This is fact, not fiction. Human waste reveals what some deny is happening. A bit ironic, that.
New COVID-19 sewage report posted for City of New Haven. https://t.co/C55DJk9oPx
— Jordan Peccia (@jordan_peccia) June 30, 2020
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Note: Books reviewed in part two, there is more reading to be done. This entry in the COVID-19-era journal is a celebration of American independence. There is more than one story to this nation and on the continent. Wear a mask, gloves, use hand sanitizer, wash hands, take precautions. Civilization has rules, wearing a mask is part of life now. Just as obtaining a driver's license is required to operate a motor vehicle and more training and testing to drive larger transports, responsibility to all involves respect for others, sharing the road, self-discipline. If “freedom” is doing whatever you want, then where does one person's freedom end and another's begin? No. Summer snooze.