3 minute read
JIM EAGLEMAN
Next Article
“I have my books, and my poetry to protect me. I am shielded in my armor. Hiding in my room, safe within my womb, I touch no one and no one touches me…”
—Paul Simon I Am A Rock
My biologist training is getting tested these days, especially when I hear terms like epidemiology and virulence. I look up definitions, watch the news, try to educate myself, and wonder if there will ever be an end to the confusion? The Coronavirus is at the forefront of everyone’s mind—how to prepare, stay safe, and simply exist.
The virus continues to infect its way into our everyday lives, directly, and indirectly. Each day brings something new: more uncertainty, graphs of low and high curves, more hospital overload.
As we continue to maintain seclusion, home becomes sanctuary. Simply stepping outside to feel the sun and breeze, hear birds, can be comforting. We often hear nature can cure melancholy, clear heads, add clarity to busy lives. In these troubling times particularly, I want to experience more of nature’s healing.
But what can I do if my favorite trail is crowded, and parking lots at natural areas are full? While parks remain open with free admittance, hikers, dog walkers, and campers line up. Parks are people’s places, but social distance can be compromised. Many popular places were closed at the time of this writing.
How can I enjoy nature from home?
Like me, you may have already turned to some of your favorite authors. Reading can complete my day when I’m done with projects. It can comfort when restlessness or worry sets in. I scan the shelf for what’s next. Authors like Abbey, Leopold, and Teale provide a historic look, while writers like Weidensaul, McPhee, and Quammen write of today’s issues.
My favorite nature books and authors are enjoyed again leisurely, with no time constraints or deadlines. Reading takes on more significance with a second or third go round with a favorite. I am grounded with these treasured works. They are genuine and safe. I am brought back to a nature site or scene by the author with close observation or study. I admire that. Inspired, I hope to experience the same thing, to get out soon to see for myself. I read more closely and note particulars, not to miss anything. Then I think, “Will it ever be the same? Will things ever return to normal?”
Reading about calamities I start to see parallels. Biologists tell us interruptions in nature are part of the plan. Natural disturbances like fire, earthquakes, and flooding temporarily impact normal life. In natural systems, animals adjust over time as new environments are exploited. Widespread diseases in nature that reach epidemic proportions disrupt and may take years to recover. Yet nature will respond. There’s resilience. Nature abhors a vacuum and recovery of some kind inevitable. Uncertainties always exist— predictions can be well off target. Observations are reviewable from a perspective of trend and place.
A pandemic is far different. With this never before assault on modern worldwide humanity, we trust the medical experts and heed their warnings while understanding the assault can continue and strike again. We follow precautions and remain secluded. This appears to be the best method to lessen the spread of the attack.
As I follow the mayhem, try to make sense of what we learn, and follow stay-at-home protocols, my faith is science. Understanding how things work keeps me together.
I am self-quarantining, playing music, reading, hiking our property, and finding enjoyment in house projects. Recently several junk drawers and shelves in the house have never been better organized. And perusal of nature journals, stories, and discoveries continues to be a healing source of joy. While I am sequestered I am not sentenced to solitary confinement. I still have my freedoms and rights, and fortunately, my health, in my place of refuge—my home where I’m supposed to be.
I can do this. I am a rock!
