SKY GAZING

The Isolation Blues;

reflections during covid-19

“winter fuel”
early days of autumn

the early days of autumn 
are a mild marker of hard change just ahead
we know what that means
and even when you know it’s coming
it doesn’t make it any easier to take when it arrives;
trees dropping their body of leaves 
stand naked in the gray landscape
cold wind winding through branches of little resistance 
thermometer dropping steadily 
an attempt to get our attention 
before it’s too late to finish errands 
intended to be finished before now
wood piles stacked and organized 
in preparation for winter at its worst 
the pantry stocked with harvest provisions
and boxes of pasta waiting for consumption

although the mind can move at the speed of light
my body needs to take its time
on days and mornings like this
when I’m still feeling
the after-effects of yesterday’s toils 
the collateral noise of this world
and its important business
of stock markets and politics
an unrelenting barrage 
on my spare time 
and lofty intentions of
trying to make some sense of it 
all the while abiding the congestion of time and local space
and everything I need to get done today

I look overhead
and I see seven Canadian geese
in open sky heading north
in an asymmetrical V
five on one side
two on the other
the lead goose honking instructions
(or something)
the others haphazardly reply

this is my much needed break 
on a day such as this
and I return to my tasks
with much better odds in my favor

thirty minutes later 
I hear another honk
it’s a lone goose unhurried
flying back from the same direction he just came
he must have forgotten something…

It’s been eight months now since covid upended life as we knew it and here we are entering what could be a long and worsening winter of covid-complications (smack me if I’m sounding too pessimistic).  Our usual list of winter preparations are expanded this year with the additional concerns of not knowing quite what to expect next. I know how many cord of wood I need to make it to mud season but I have no idea how American unemployment numbers are going to look or the state of our democratic institutions come spring. 

A friend of mine shared this story with me years ago, about what he would do when the cares of the crazy world got to be too much. He was working in the woods on his wood lot and it was the middle of the afternoon about this time of year. And while he worked he would also be thinking a whole list of things in his head; the state of global affairs, the American stock market, the price of gasoline and used cars, his personal list of work projects (their success or possible failure), what he was going to have for dinner that night and the meaning of life in the extended cosmos. You get the idea. He would find himself becoming overwhelmed by the entirety of it all and getting more and more uptight as he went on. Then, this one day he just stopped for a moment and looked up to the sky…Immediately, everything in his mind just fell away and there was nothing but the open space of blue sky, white clouds slowly moving, a light breeze on his face.  The sky had been there the whole time and had been for years, but his mind was consumed by the details of the day; what had to be done and the how of doing it.  From that day on, whenever he caught himself with this constricted and stressed feeling he would practice what he called “sky-gazing” – stop for a moment, stop thinking and look overhead to the spacious sky. It was a way to “re-boot” and restore a more relaxed approach to the rest of the day. Nothing in the imperfect world had changed or gone away but there was a new way of viewing it and experiencing it.

 This is what I’m doing in the poem “Early Days of Autumn.” When I look overhead and see the geese, my mind is taking a much needed break and releasing the congestion of way too much thinking.  

this is my much needed break 
on a day such as this
and I return to my tasks
with much better odds in my favor

If recent stressors are beginning to take their toll you may want to consider “sky-gazing” as a regular part of your daily routine. It also combines nicely with a leisurely walk and a hot cup of coffee… 

Please continue to take care everyone.

In the woods,


Dave

October 22, 2020

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