Winter Storms And Healthcare Personnel

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Winter Storm Blasts East Coast

One of the biggest winter storms on record came rumbling into the East Coast in January 2016. Although we only had some "sympathy rain" in California – watching the intense news coverage made me feel like I should stay home, if nothing else, as a show of solidarity. Actually, that sounded good to me.

Any excuse to bake, prepare nourishing soups and catch up on reading. The to-do list also included practical things like sorting through drawers, but whoever does practical things at times like this?

Winter Soups

Soups in winter nourish and warm our hearts. It harkens back to the collective memory of an ancient hearth with wide bubbling pots hanging on iron hooks over a crackling fire. Homemade soups I prepared were Roasted Beet/Garlic Soup and Pasta e Fagioli (pasta and bean soup).

Essential Personnel

One thing I didn't miss was being identified as "essential personnel." Over many years I have been essential personnel; the folks who don't get to hunker down and stay home during a storm. Nurses and healthcare workers who provide direct patient care still have to get to work.

While elective surgeries can be cancelled and rescheduled, patients in hospital units still require round-the-clock, skilled medical care. Wound dressings need to be changed, tracheal tubes must be suctioned, and medications still need to be delivered on time.

Travel Bans

The news media went wild trying to fill up over 24 hours of constant video of the storm. There are only so many falling snowflakes that you can watch. With 24/7 coverage, I was hoping to see some stories on how they were manning hospitals, especially when New York City called for a travel ban.

“Road travel ban in effect in New York City starting at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Anyone not authorized to be on the roads will be subject to arrest, and their car will be towed.”
 

Alas, despite my tweet suggesting the story line to CNN and ABC, I didn't see any in-depth reporting on it. Oh well, so much for the suggestions of the little people.

Working In The Storm

When I lived in Maryland, I was a Registered Nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital on the Pediatric unit. A winter storm careened into the area, it was the December 1992 nor'easter. Perhaps not as large as the recent one, but, it was a storm that, nonetheless, would shut down the area.

I was scheduled to work several 12-hour night shifts during the storm. Plans were coordinated for personnel to sleep over at the hospital between shifts, if they desired, as it was not at all certain one could make it home or back again. Abandoning fellow workers and forcing them to carry on past their already completed 12-hour shifts was simply not an option.

Get To The Hospital

I packed a small bag and prepared a lunchbox to help tide me over the long 36 hours. Volunteers in the community with 4-wheel drive vehicles offered to transport healthcare workers to and from the hospital. I hitched a ride with a local driver and we chatted aimlessly as we inched our way along snowy roads. 

We made it through the storm, patients were cared for and my shifts completed. I managed to get some sleep despite the odd circumstances and I was happy to return home once the storm had passed.

Thank You To Those Who Serve

Police, fire, medical personnel look out for us. In this recent storm, the National Guard were also called up as well as municipal workers.

I often think of those who quietly provide our healthcare and public services. They work nights while we snuggle in sleep and they cover 3-day weekends that the rest of us enjoy. They care for us in the background while we carry on in our daily lives of sturm und drang. I deeply appreciate them, especially now that I can stay home during storms.

Thank you for your service.

 

Man walking in snow: Carlos Barria/Reuters
Shoveling snow: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Umbrellas in snow: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

The Beauty Of Dawn

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The Quiet Beauty Of Dawn

Early to rise, the lingering darkness of night surrounds you. A faint lightening of the horizon tells you dawn is on its way.

A hush is felt with this awakening, you whisper so as not to disturb small creatures as they begin to stir. No need to holler or yell, anticipation tucks its paws under and quietly waits.

A Poem By Rumi

You're grateful to be awake so early this morning and even more pleased that you're up and outside already. This rarefied moment rolls within you as if the beginning of time is calling your name.

It brings to mind the poem by Rumi. You have no desire to go back to sleep. The words play silently on your lips. Don't go back to sleep. 

No, sleep is out of the question. Not because you can't, but because you don't want to sleep. Not now, not while you stand witness to an awakening.

Dawn Spills Across The Sky

Gathering momentum, dawn spills across the sky scattering pigments across miles of space. It's the promise of a sun that has come to warm us, to bring us to life.

A sun upon which we are utterly dependent. When the sun snuffs out, the Earth will expire with it.

Today, however, such thoughts are whisked away on threads of pink clouds and evaporate in a brightening sky.

Let’s lift our hearts in the wonder of our fragile existence and in the strength of our courage to face another day. For this day we have been given.

Let’s savor the gift.

Today is here. Today is now. Today we rejoice at another dawn.

Sometimes It's In Your Backyard

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Photography Near Your Home

Sometimes you don't have to go any further than your own backyard to enjoy little moments with nature. Even if you don't have a backyard, there is usually a park nearby where you can take a peek inside your local greenery.

Observe the details around you. Especially in winter, the weather is often inclement and longer trips may not be possible, so the greenery of nature that is right next to you becomes a source of inspiration.

Macro Photography

Taking macro photos with an iPhone is tricky. There is a tiny place where it is in focus.

In fact, we think nature holds rather still, that is, until you're trying to get a macro photo. Things must be absolutely still for a perfect focus. Suddenly you notice just how much plants are swaying in the wind.

I have to smile as I wait for a breeze to pass. "Patience, little one," I say to myself.

One day, I struggled with a photo of a mushroom. The ground was soaking wet from the recent rains for which we were grateful, by the way, in our parched California. I needed to maneuver closer to it.

I had recycled the metal frame from a broken umbrella and saved the waterproof material shell, thinking it might come in handy to sit on. 

Sure enough, here was the moment. I pulled it out to sit on the grass so as better to see a mushroom that proudly displayed its brown cap.

The neighbor kitty popped over the fence and dropped into my backyard. 

"Whatcha doing down here?" she asked, my own backyard feline wildlife.

"Sitting on a tarp on wet grass, trying to get a photo of a mushroom," I replied.

Create Like No One Is Watching

We're staying with the theme of creating like no one is watching, without being self-conscious and without immediate judgment. Let creativity stretch. Look at things in a different light. For some that is painting, art journaling, and yes, photography.

What nature is sharing with us? Is the air crisp? Is the wind moving? The invisible parts of nature are speaking to us.

My Raggedy Mushroom

The mushroom picture I tried to get was quite a challenge. The depth of focus in macro photography is very short, meaning only a portion of my complex mushroom would come into focus. 

I had watched this mushroom when it first appeared in my backyard, smooth and round initially. Then, it opened its lower gills and all the edges frayed and split creating mystical dimensions of undulating mushroom flesh.

I never really got the photo I wanted of this mushroom... but that, too, is part of the process. Knowing that I still had an interaction with nature was fulfilling. Let’s keep creating.



Little Holiday Videos

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A Quick Peek Into The Season

Christmas baking and decorations make this holiday season a busy one. There's little time for writing, however, here are a couple of videos taken with our iPhone.

Going To The Tree Farm

Traveling to a Christmas tree farm in Woodland, California this year, we picked out our tree. You can cut down your own if you're feeling like an ambitious woodsman. Pre-cut trees are kept fresh in buckets of water. The workers will take off an inch from the trunk for those of us who don't own a saw. 

One of our favorite Christmas tree species is the Noble Fir. After picking out a humble 6-foot tree, we took the tag to the workers and requested shaking and netting. Shaking it removes loose needles and dirt and a net can help get it home.

A sense of humor is needed when the farm is crowded with holiday shoppers. Tree farm personnel demonstrated their funny-bone with the bottom line of this sign for the tree nets. Just kidding, of course!

Dramatic Winter Skies

Winter skies like to dance at this time of year and I captured some traveling clouds with the time-lapse feature on my smartphone. Music was then needed. The song I Wonder as I Wander evokes seasonal skies and is sung with layers of harmony by The King's Singers.

I had to giggle when I noted that I wandered in my neighborhood and I wondered if there were more Christmas decorations than usual, or had I not noticed them before? I included their photos in the video to connect with the song's lyrics.

 
“I wonder as I wander out under the sky
How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die
To save lowly people like you and like I;
I wonder as I wander out under the sky

When Jesus was born it was in a cow’s stall
With shepherds and wise men and angels and all
The blessings of Christmas from heaven did fall
And the weary world woke to the Savior’s call.”
 

Our Creativity

It's okay if our creative process is not a professional production. The joy is in the creating.

With so many professional examples around us, it can be intimidating to pursue our own attempts. Remember when it was simply fun to create and we didn't worry about the outcome?

Wishing you a holiday season filled with wonder as you wander and may the new year be a source of joyful discovery.

 

Winter Solstice Poem

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“Mother of Air, Goddess of the limitless skies.
She is Owl Woman and will carry you through the long dark nights of winter dreaming.
The sun is reborn at winter solstice and days gradually lengthen.
A time of hope and anticipation.”
— Owl Woman artwork by Wendy Andrew

Winter Solstice Still

Still.
A slow breath, inhale.
Hold in the stillness of winter.
Even the Light becomes still in winter,
outer senses barely perceive it.
Embers of light smolder within our chest.
Our hearts, hollowed out,
make room for greater light.
A slow breath, exhale.
Flames leap to life.
Darkness is once again vanquished.

–Leslie Anneliese

From Darkness To Light

At the Solstice, the darkness of winter exerts its power and stakes its claim as the longest night of the year.

Yet, in the next breath, the darkness turns and starts a steady march to the shortest night of the year in summer.

Cycles of our lives. Our days. Our moments.

Hold on to the light. Spring is coming.

May your heart shine bright with peace and joy even in the darkness.

May your Winter Solstice be filled with expanding light, both within and without.

 

Autumn Colors

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The Colors Of Fall

Fall has its own set of colors that fill our senses along with the smell of cool air and the sight of falling leaves.

It is a season that inspires us to turn within ourselves as we prepare for the darkness of winter and the task of keeping the flame burning bright.  We tender the light so that we may make it through the dark, long nights and find our way back into the growing light of spring.

Color Therapy In Our Clothes

Colors of autumn tend to be red, yellow and gold, orange and brown. Warm colors that wrap around us and comfort us during the cooler days and nights.  I find the colors of fall begin to exert their influence on me as the temperatures fall.

When I lived in Germany, where cool temperatures in fall are prominent, I noticed my blue sweaters didn't feel right in October. I had an urge to wrap myself in the rich colors of the earth as I moved through grey days and cold nights. It was as if I needed to apply color therapy to my clothes, so I could settle into my autumnal surroundings.

When I lived in Northern California, I was impatient for the cooler temperatures of fall which come much later in the year than in Germany. It's not until mid-November that the trees start to show their reds and yellows and mornings have that familiar chill.

Color In Fashion

It used to be that fashion etiquette dictated when we could wear certain colors. For example, white was not to be worn before Easter or after Labor Day. Pastels were not appropriate for fall or winter.

Nowadays, those restrictions seem to have disappeared into archaic dictates of the past. But perhaps there was some deeper meaning? Or was it simply a fashion style?

“Designers want me to dress like Spring, in billowy things.
I don’t feel like Spring.
I feel like a warm, red Autumn.”
— Marilyn Monroe
 

Do you find you sometimes need to shift the colors you are wearing based on the season?

Holiday Colors

The holidays of fall have their own colors. Halloween emphasizes the colors orange and black and this is seen in the many pumpkins and gourds. 

Thanksgiving colors are rich with the red of cranberries, the orange of pumpkin pies, the brown finish on our rolls and turkey skins and the yellow of our butternut squash.

Traditional colors for Christmas are the ripe red of holly berries and the primary green of our Christmas trees. 

As we move through the seasons, take a moment to notice if the colors have an affect on you.

What Is Your Favorite Color?

I used to say I have a favorite color. Now, I've come to realize that my color preferences change throughout the year, depending on the season. 

Do you have favorite shades and hues that reflect the season you're in?

 

The Butterfly And The Fly

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A World Of Insects

“Change your thoughts, and you change your world.”
— Norman Vincent Peale
 

In a meditation group, Kate wrote:

“A butterfly landed on my hand today! It was beautiful. I mildly squealed and jumped up off the bench and it flew away. Not very zen. But I still feel really honored...””
 

Something To Consider

Wait, what? Would you be just as honored if a fly landed on you?

If not, why not? I asked this question in response to Kate's message.

House Flies Or Butterflies?

Isn't every expression of the divine dance beautiful?

With our human judgments of less and more, good and bad, we define the world's existence.

As if our existence could be defined.

It doesn't seem possible that God, the One Source, the Creator of All, whatever you call it, finds any created creature higher or lower than the other. Otherwise, it wouldn't be here.

One person commented back to my question:

“Because butterflies are butterflies, while flies are flies.”
 

Well, he has a point. Flies can be concerning if they spread disease, such as:

“* Shigellosis - bacillary dysentery and other diseases causing diarrhea
* Salmonellosis - food poisoning, typhoid, paratyphoid and enteritis. Although flies are capable of carrying these diseases, it is much less common than the shigellosis diseases.
* Bacteria causing conjunctivitis - this mainly occurs in Asia and Africa and the Pacific regions
* E. coli (Escherichia coli)
* Parasitic worms - especially tapeworms.”
— HubPages, Helen Murphy Howell
 

Yikes!

Still, they have a purpose here on this planet. Housefly larvae feed and develop in a wide range of decaying organic matter which is important for recycling of nutrients in nature.

Forensic scientists love them.

“Small House Flies are annoying because they are attracted to food and toilets, but their affinity for corpses makes they quite useful to Forensic Entomologists.”
 

The scientists use flies to help them gauge the amount of time a corpse has been decomposing.

A Day In The Life Of A Fly

“You will find house flies pretty much everywhere there are humans or animals. Flies love things like garbage, manure and anything else that left out in a warm environment (like food you left on your counter all day).

House flies don’t feed off of human flesh – they get their nutrients from spitting saliva on their food, which liquifies it so they can suck it up with their sponge-like mouths.”
— Kids World
 

We tend to think of flies as being dirty, but in fact, they, themselves, are very clean. A fly spends a lot of time cleaning itself.

Picture all those times you see a fly rubbing its antennae together. It uses its legs to clean dirt from every area of its body, then rubs its legs so the dirt falls off. Great for the fly, although that dirt is now dropped on your food or kitchen counter top.

Flies are also remarkable:

“Flies use their antennae to smell.
A fly can go 45 mph and beat its wings up to 200 times per second.
Houseflies existed 65 million years ago!”
— bugfacts.net
 

Miracles Of Creation

The miracle of life expresses in both the butterfly and the fly.

Ah, man, who deems that his judgment creates the world. 

Of course, I, too, would be more inclined to have a butterfly landing on me than a fly. Still, it's nice to learn about both of them with an expanded vision that can appreciate all of creation.

To be here at all, together, is an honor.

Another commenter added his thoughts:

“I would be more honored by a butterfly because butterflies seek nectar while flies have a tendency toward bad smells!

But there is a great video on Youtube called Mindfulness – The Fly. Perhaps your views are right after all...”
 

Video: The Samurai and The Fly