The lime tree trimmed of dust-laden leaves and dense, dead branches, bathed in the morning sun, next to the palms, relieved from drooping, dead frons, and the freshly raked catchment circles highlighted differing trunks. The corner appeared to be smiling, birds flittered about in the new splotches of sun and shadow. Indeed the refreshing sunlight and bird songs were a balm to my senses, my heart, and lungs.
Lungs! Bingo! Our lungs suffer under an invasion of air pollution. The little alveoli in our lungs struggle to expand and contract under the heavyweight of contaminated air. People with asthma or sensitivity to air pollution are likely more susceptible to a virus. Have studies correlated the degree of air pollution to the density of COVID-19? If so, why is it kept silent?
There are many scientists, doctors, specialists, and enthusiasts who have broad knowledge regarding the health of the earth, animals, plants, germs, pandemics, stars, ecology, and cosmology. We need to hear their stories, yet communication channels dominated by the political agenda make directives that contradict diversity by the hour or the day.
Conversely, we have politicians and government workers who care about the law, and the welfare of the people and planet. It is imperative for trustworthy scientists, and health specialists to speak out about the effects of pollution on COVID-19. Domesticated, farmed, and wild animals are targeted and blamed for this virus, yet they too are victims of callous oversight by commercial and political officials allowing inhumane conditions and contamination of the animals and the planet by commercial farm, industrial, and medical wastes.
It is time to wake-up regarding these callus behaviors to which we have become accustomed. Our routines are compromised, work is interrupted, and family responsibilities are different. Our financial circumstances are unstable, and we are experiencing fear for our health and that of our family and friends. Freedom out-side our homes is limited. Masks are mandated. Our abilities to obtain definitive answers to our concerns are often ignored or outright lies.
Each moment we witness heroic men and women rushing to meet the needs of sick, fragile, needy, or frightened people. Neighbors are checking in with one another via phone or a shout from a balcony, and drivers are doing grocery pick-ups for their communities. Public agencies are cheering one another and supporting first responders who are rushing to assist with floods, tornadoes, criminal behaviors, fires, accidents, and emergencies.
In the meantime, impatient companies, individuals, and bullies are disregarding safety measures shouting, “We need to get back to normal!” We cannot go backward; we must go forward. Business, as usual, was not healthy for the planet nor many people. It was often unhealthy, unbalanced, unequal, and harmful.
We are in semi-lockdown, confined situations, dependent on others for special needs, and worried about, “What next?” During this time, we can ponder scenarios for the next chapter of life. Governments must be encouraged to work together to clean the environment of pollution, balance the equality of health, safety, law, business, and opportunities for all people. Each country, state, community, and individual have a responsibility to reinstate health upon the planet.
As we all move forward, we must prohibit individual, corporate, or governmental activities that harm the environment. Manufacturers must be held liable for all their waste, and produce only biodegradable or recyclable products. Products sold in glass, plastic, or aluminum containers must have a deposit and return policy to reduce waste discarded on the land.
This time is an invitation to move forward, no longer separated by the color of our skin, different languages, religion, or ethnic histories. We can speak out for one another, and demand our leaders represent us equally. We can model cooperation rather than corporations.
We can develop governments where no officials or country leaders can dictate actions contrary to health or freedom, where structures support equality and health for all, where a man in a suit and tie has no more importance than a woman in jeans and bare feet or an immigrant youth. We can demand that men and women are respected and paid equally, that sexual abuse is no longer tolerated, and no man can lawfully violate a woman’s sovereign right over her own body and medical decisions.
Let us use this disruption to ponder new ways, dreams, and possibilities, to resist intimidation by dictators, bullies, and fears. Let us confront the bullies and stand peacefully, yet firmly for a clean, just planet. Together, we are more powerful and wiser than false actors pretending to be benevolent leaders.
The lime tree, freed from the shadowing limbs of darkness, is bursting forth upon a strong trunk and strengthening branches. New buds, flowers, and young limes are growing, encouraged by the sun and fresh air.
Nature shows us the way.
M. Chandler McLay © April 12, 2020