AFTERMATH

August is sliding in to homebase after giving us quite a rocking month of weather, politics, financial rollercoaster rides and here in western Maine...bugs. Hurricane Irene never did come to our barnraising because she had downsized in plenty of time but she sure brought the flooding rains and did a little pruning of green wood with her 40-50mph breezes. Lucky for us, the trusses weren't delivered until Monday...during the aftermath of Irene. The first attempt was aborted because our street was underwater at the intersection of Rte. 26 but by noonish, you could see the pavement and the delivery was made. Timing is perhaps one of the lessons learned as one aquires wisdom. I recall myself setting the departure date for our honeymoon trip 28 years ago. Unfortunately, I was not yet in sync with Stephen and the job he was finishing took longer than planned. By the time we left, I didn't even want to go anymore. Nuff said about my flexibility. Somehow...timing was about my time or no time at all. We both complained a bit about how long the order date was from delivery but now that we are on the other side of the whole issue, it couldn't have been more perfect. Had the trusses been delivered sooner, the urge to get them up might have been strong and we'd have had the whole roof to worry about during all the media hype for the hurricane terrorist that they made her out to be. In the calm after the storm, I had a banner day for birds. First, in the flooding by a small pond nearby, I caught site of a great blue heron standing majestic and alert for frogs or whatever he could find. Then, upon return to our house, we got out of the car and heard the cacaphony of ravens overhead. Sure enough, they were on to a huge hawk...probably a Northern Goshawk and we watched mesmerized by the interaction and antics of the hawk versus 4 ravens. That was just prior to delivery of the trusses. Then, after they arrived, a beautiful bald eagle was circling overhead as I picked up branches that had been blown from the Hydrangea and the Birch and Pine. The sky was blue with billowy clouds racing by in a strong breeze and everything feeling poised for change. Today, the neighbor brought his logging truck by...and he and his son and our friend Greg all came by to help set the trusses in place. It's been a long time since Stephen was a roof monkey...in fact, before his surgery. Seeing him up a ladder in the peak of the trusses made my stomach roll and I realized just how anxiety keeps me from participating in dangerous looking activities. As a person who has had balance issues and ear pressure issues all my life...I tend to shy away from heights because they give me vertigo. But there he was...and breathing with the best of them. It's been 15 months since Stephen had his quadruple bypass surgery. His recovery was complicated by a paralyzed phrenic nerve and a partially collapsed lung. Last year at this time we were both crying while we harvested potatoes...he because he couldn't breathe and me because of watching him struggle. Today, I watched him climb a 20 foot ladder with his nail gun and yep...i was anxious...but he's never been 60 before and his physical limits have changed. Makes me wonder if there isn't some Fox News in my head telling me how horrible everything is going to be and how dangerous everything is and how we should all lock ourselves in the prison of their fearful hype so we stay safe and bored to death. The journey through his surgery was slow and long but it wasn't as horrible as some told me it would be. And Irene was so much less of a madwoman than expected. Perhaps we can as a species, settle ourselves into our Greater Selves to experience the calm of the eye rather than tune into all the hot air wind bags spinning their fury and fear on a foundation of maybes...and in that calm place, affirm the perfection of Earth's imperfection. Sssh. The Pileated woodpecker is laughing and beating a rhythm on a tree while the builder hammers away, chuckling to himself about how good it feels to take a deep breath while I watch and marvel at how much can change in a moment of time.