After the Storm

The sun shines most days here in Arizona. Day after day, the sky is first yellow behind the Santa Catalina Mountains to the east of us, then briefly pale green, then blue, blue, true blue, for the rest of the day until evening when yellow, orange and pink precede sunset to the west. 

Ten years ago, September 11, 2001 was a perfectly clear day in Anchorage and for several days after, the evening TV weather showed those happy yellow suns all across the USA, from Anchorage to New York, Florida to Montana. I sat on the sloping grass in Elderberry Park looking out at the water and mountains across Cook Inlet, wondering "how can the sun be shining everywhere when the world has just ended?" Many people were out, just wandering around in the sun, perhaps exhausted from watching the Towers fall again, and again on the news, perhaps drawn by instinct into the sunlight that we so seldom enjoyed. I remember the clear blue sky and hungering for the 'normal' sight of a plane passing through it. The bright light of vulnerability shone on us; our naïve innocence melted in its glare. It was dawn; we did not know what that day, or future days, would bring. 

It's hard to start over. We are young as a nation, and like any youth, we take ourselves so seriously. After ten years, I am like many Americans, still trying to find myself in the ashes of grief and powerlessness. That is my word for 9-11 – powerlessness. The powerlessness of the passengers on the planes, the powerlessness or the men and women in the Towers, the powerless of firefighters in the stair wells, and police officers in the streets who went to work that day, pulsing, free, living beings. And the powerlessness we all felt as we watched them evaporate and rise to heaven in the spiral of souls we called 'smoke.' We lost them. They disappeared. And with them, they took what we so innocently called "freedom."

We are still struggling. We watch in dismay as those we've elected devote their time to political gamesmanship instead of working together to help us move on. If the passengers on Flight 93 could vote to die to save others; why can't they vote on a debt limit increase? These are good people, who begin their careers in public service with high ideals. It would be easy to judge them, but perhaps compassion is more appropriate. We are still at a crossroads. Their struggle, as superficial and self-serving as it appears, is the heart of our dilemma. Which way do we go? Is there a place of safety? How do we get back to 'normal'? Is there a choice that will move us away from powerlessness?

Luckily, it's not just up to them. In the book 1861, Adam Goodheart writes about events that led up to the Civil War. He compares it to 9-11, an event that 'changed the past as much as the future; rewriting not only our expectations of what was to come but also our sense of what had gone before." His impetus for the book was a collection of letters written just prior to the War, in which a career officer in the US Army stationed in Far West Indian Country, wrestles with his decision of which side to choose in the impending battle that would determine whether we would maintain this union called the United States of America. Though these letters, and his research, Goodheart determined "history is decided not just on battlefields and in cabinet meetings, but in individual hearts and minds."

I think we are most powerful when we focus our hearts and minds on the Four Fundamental Freedoms Franklin D. Roosevelt said everyone in the world should enjoy in his 1941 State of the Union address. These are the paths back to Freedom.

Though our "Freedom of speech and expression" was buried by the dark convergence of electronic media and governmental proclamations of 'right speech' and dissent equated to treason in the years after 9-11, it can be reclaimed. I am a member of the last generation that will remember personal privacy – there are no secrets now. I am a member of the 60's generation that marched with fearless anonymity to protest racism and the Viet Nam war. In my heart, I know privacy and anonymity are gone; but not Freedom. My freedom is recovered if I simply accept that cost of acting on individual conviction is much higher now but the benefit of individual conviction turned into action remains the same.

Though "Freedom of Worship" has been suppressed by the resurgence of fundamentalism, it can be reclaimed. In my world, it's as simple as averting my eyes when I see a woman in Target bearing a burka, instead of staring. I don't need to judge her, or feel sorry for her. In my mind, I know that is Freedom for me, and for her.

Our "Freedom from Want" suppressed by the economic penalty of isolationism and unbridled greed can be reclaimed. My Freedom from Want is regained when I am generous with my time and give to those less fortunate when I can. I can do so because it's good for me, not because they are good enough to warrant it. In my heart, I know that is the true meaning of Freedom from Want.

Our "Freedom from Fear" has been suppressed, not just by the realization that we are not exempt from terror, but by an addiction to adrenalin fed by the media.   My most sobering realization and most dramatic resolution during this month of remembrance is that I must turn off the news. Before 9-11, I admit I seldom watched or read anything but local news. Since then, I have checked three internet news sites several times a day – maybe hourly – not to see what was newsworthy, but as subconsciously assuring myself that we have not been attacked again. Words like "Car bomb", "torture", "evacuate", "flee", "victim", "suicide bomber", "molestation", "devastation", "destroyed", "weakened" and "genocide" are available every day to keep my adrenalin levels high. I suspect they are the key words that increase readership – not the key words that describe world news. These words and the evolution of 'news' into opinions speeches telling us how to think about them hide our Freedom. In my mind, I know Freedom from Fear is choosing my own thoughts and not being confused or controlled by institutionalized fear mongering.

A big storm passed through Tucson last night – layers of dark clouds rushed by; winds ripped branches off trees; rumbles of thunder rattled the dishes in the cupboard; water rushed down parched dry arroya. We even had a rare tornado warning.  Roxy shivered and crept under the covers and I watched lightning flashes through the blinds before we went to sleep.

Big storms are frightening and it is hard to accept that storms (and war) are a natural part of our existence. They do not mean The End even though they can change what has been.   I awoke in the night. The clouds had moved on and the full moon was so bright, I could make out cholla and prickly pears in the open space beyond our back yard. I imagined small critters out there saying "Whew! We made it through another one." Some were undoubtedly swept away by flash flooding, but others survived the torrent. And so will we. We are confused – not weak.

And today here in Tucson, the sun will shine – not because there will never be another storm; but because good times and bad are a natural part of life. Some things I can change and others not. If I hold that one small thought in my heart, and don't spend my day looking for dark clouds on the horizon, then I am free.

All Good, Sister

I’ve been feeling a small anxiety associated with pending retirement. After so many years of thinking about the same big things, I’ve wondered what I’d do with all my time. Will I be depressed? Bored? Right now I’m practicing retirement on a six-week vacation just before my last 12 days of work, and, for all of you who’ve wondered, here’s how it goes.

By 932 AM this morning, I’d listened to the entire podcast of Terry Gross interviewing country singer Rodney Crowell about his new memoir on Fresh Air ; had a cup of coffee with my beloved baby brother, Pat, who’d miraculously spent two days with me before he drove to Phoenix to catch the plane home; stood in the back yard to take photos of rose-colored clouds that nestled on the mountain tops as the sun rose in the east and the full golden moon set in the west; listened to doves, a cardinal and a woodpecker; spotted bunnies with orange ears chomping grass on the golf green; taken Roxy for a 1.2 mile walk (the remnants of a technical career live in my iPhone GPS); enjoyed Greek yogurt and fresh blueberries at my new round dining room table; discovered that the high ceiling in my living room holds great acoustics when I sing “I Know Love is All I Need” along with Rodney; sang as loud as I wanted because I didn't have to worry about bothering the neighbors in a condo; cried a little because those cowboy lyrics told the story of the love I feel for my brother and my whole family, how lucky I am to share life with wonderful friends, the death of my parents, passing of my childhood and life in general; practiced hula dancing (I took my first lesson last week) and put a load of towels and sheets in the washer. There was time for all this before 932 AM.

It’s evening now, and the dark clouds that have been swooping by in the bluster all day are stacking up on the west side of the Catalina’s. The air smells rich and pregnant with possibility. And I wonder where the day went. Time, time, time. So far, what’s different about retirement is having the time to consider the love of family and friends, to breath in the softness of pink clouds and sunrise, to smile at bird songs in cactus and bunnies on the green, to sing along with country songs, and smell the promise of rain in the desert. If that’s all it is, then I think that will be good enough to keep me busy for a long time.

Tomorrow, I just might look for a used guitar on Craigslist so that next time Pat visits, we can sing together. Music was a big in our family because we were part of the pre-TV generation. It's also one of the things that I haven't had much time for in the past 25 years. Now I have time to practice up.

Time, time. Time slowed and stretched to encompass family and friends, memories and dreams, learning to hula (ha!) Time to think slowly. It feels like time for everything.

The cycle of pink skies and moonbeams in the morning, followed by dark clouds and wind at night, reminds me that life just keeps changing. As Rodney says in his song, change happens to us all. "Just like the sun will rise, the night will fall." But that also means that even in the desert, there is always the possibility of rain.

Love is all we need. And as brother Pat is so fond of saying, "It's all good, sister, it's all good."

Keep On Keepin' On -- Arizona, Louis Hastings and the Bill of Rights

They were only 19. Fifty years ago this month, Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes, walked across campus at the University of Georgia, the first African Americans to enroll in classes. Imagine the courage it took for these two, whom I would today consider to be children, to walk past cruel and bitter voices of intolerance, to open the door of freedom for all those who followed.

"Vitriol" -- meaning either sulfuric acid or cruel and bitter criticism -- is written in headlines this morning, not related to civil rights, but about whether politicians are inciting violence through vitriolic websites and debates. This obvious question was prompted by a mad man in Tucson, an assassin who aimed for Representative Gabriella Giffords, and did injure her, and also killed John, Christina, Gabe, Dorwan, Phyllis, and Dorothy -- a respected judge, a small girl with great promise, a young man committed to public service, a retired man described as a 'jack of all trades,' a grandmother from New Jersey who sewed for church fundraisers, a woman who married her high school sweetheart who was injured in the shooting.

To attribute political intent to this crime is inappropriate; this killer is more closely related to Louis Hastings who in 1983, set out to 'kill' the remote village of McCarthy, Alaska (he did kill 6 of its 22 residents) than he is to Lee Harvey Oswald. But the question of the responsibility of leaders in their communications is valid. The power of words and their possible unintended consequences is a key element of leadership. I wonder how Arizona, which seems to have become the front line for debate about real and imagined issues related to the constitution, will step up to this new topic.

Turning this over in my mind, I realized I could second-guess our decision to move to Arizona when we retire. But instead, I read the Bill of Rights this morning. The right of assembly, the right to bear arms, trial by jury, cruel and unusual punishment, due process, search and seizure, federal vs. states rights, remain part of our national identity and national debate. And I recall the words of Charlayne Hunter-Gault quoted on NPR when asked how she would like people in 2011 — especially today's college students — to view the civil rights era.

"I think that the thing that we learned back in the day of the civil rights movement is that you do have to keep on keeping on."

I think I'll do that too, in my own small way. Rather than being cowed by vitriol or fear, I will put them in their proper place. When I look at the photos of Charlayne and Hamilton from 1961, I focus on their eyes, not the vitriolic expressions around them. I will keep my eyes on dreams and plans for a happy fruitful future in a wild and beautiful place called Arizona which at times is as prickly as the prickly pear in this photo; I will stand up for what I believe to be right and true but also respect those who see things differently; I will keep family and friends at the forefront, always.

If I keep on keeping on, I will live into the promise that Charlayne and Hamilton, and many others, had in mind when they acted. To do less would be to dishonor their courage and contribution.

Good Morning Starshine!

Sunrise in December, originally uploaded by aryllascott.

Isn't it amazing how song lyrics from our youth just stick with us? I was listening to Oldies while driving around here in Tucson and was amazed that I could easily sing along with early Beatles and Rolling Stones songs that I hadn't heard in years. Lyrics emerged from musty brain-drawers closed forty years ago. How could it be? I could see the long play record spinning on my turntable.

And late last year, when I sneaked outside in my nightie in the cool morning air to look at this sunrise, I smiled, "Good Morning Starshine, it's so good to have you back again" even after just one night. I'm sure there have been many songs written about sunrise since Hair in 1967, but this is the one that comes to my mind. My teenage years are the imprint that defines the poetry of my life.

Good morning 20-11. I think I shall call this year twenty-eleven, not two thousand eleven, as I've done with 2010...there's something about that one extra syllable that makes me just want to drop it. A lot of things will drop away this year -- a long career -- I'm retiring, and my definition of 'home' -- we are moving from Alaska to Arizona. You gotta let go if you want to grab on to new things.

What will all these changes be like? Who knows. But good morning 20-11. Hurray for sunrise, and beginnings.

Forever Young

Through the oval portal on the 737, I see that our destination is dawn. Stars overhead fade and from 37,000 feet, I see a clear and elegant distinction between night and day -- dense dark gray clouds beneath us, and morning’s clear blue promise rising above them at the horizon. Our north-south trajectory takes us out of the darkness and into the light.

Smooth sailing with a strong tail wind, the captain says on the intercom, only two hours, forty-nine minutes to Seattle. So far, so fast -- I arise from my warm bed, memorize the look and feel of Roxy and Walter, get on the plane, and really just moments later with no real sensation of moving, I am hundreds of miles away. It is almost like time travel; but more like life; so far, so fast, without any real sensation of what the journey requires.

I am headed to Vegas to see my cousin Mavis. We are double cousins really, because a few generations of two families, one in Canada and one in the US, made a habit of marrying each other. Her Dad Perry was my Mom Lois’s uncle and he married my Dad Lawrence’s sister Ora. I even once married Mavis’ husband Dave’s brother. This entwined family tree is another story but to sum up, we come from the same stock -- if I had a sister, I suspect she’d be like Mavis.

I don’t have a sister, and at this point, Mavis doesn’t have a husband. While our hearts and minds were preparing for the imminent departure of our mothers, mine in Saskatchewan and hers in California, her husband, Dave sat down in a chair one day at work, smiled, and went to sleep. Sixty-eight is not too young to die of a sudden heart attack, but it still caught us off guard.

I didn’t make it to any of the memorials. The call came the night I arrived in Louisiana to visit my new grandson, Zen. I had just attended Mom’s final hours in Saskatchewan, and I couldn’t make myself get back on the plane to fly west. I am celebrating Dave’s life by helping Mavis close out their home in Vegas, and driving with her to Sacramento to begin her new life surrounded by their children.

I’m not sure what this trip will hold, but I recall a conversation we had over twenty-five years ago while walking down a narrow dirt road carved out of tangled alders. We talked about what we’d do when our then-tween girls left home. Our lives as we knew them would be over, we imagined, and we should think of new things to do. As it turned out, this change in our lives took different paths. Her daughter married young, but continued to live in the family home for many years. My daughter left for college and made a life thousands of miles away in Louisiana. At 40, I found a career, got divorced, lived alone for many years. Mavis stayed the course, working side by side with Dave. They were what I call a ‘traditional’ couple, sharing everything.

I don’t imagine that one road trip will set a course for a new life for either Mavis or me, but it seems right that we will again spend time talking about transition. I too can feel myself changing. I’m still a year away from retirement, and I’m already starting to live differently. I once had such a strong connection to Anchorage that I wrote about feeling like I was tied there at a molecular level. When I was away from home, I got homesick and hungered for the view of the water out my front window. Too much travel in the last few years, for work, family and even a few vacations, has cured me of this homesickness, and left me self-contained, free to move without regret. These days, I do not consider it odd to think, ‘let’s see now, where am I?’ in the moments between awakening and opening my eyes.

So driving 300 miles to and from work and flying to Canada and back and then to Louisiana within the first two weeks of December didn’t feel like a crisis and being with my grandson, Zen right after Mom died was perfect. We humans learn so much about life through observation and mimicry. I watched my Mom, and I saw the grace and ease of dying. I watched Zen, and I relearned the beauty of being.

Under the covers one morning, I extended my right arm and one leg at the same time, stretching the right side of my body, and realized I was mimicking a gesture I’d seen Zen do the previous day. He stretched, and then he sighed with pleasure; I’d just done the same.

“That’s why people love grandchildren,” I realized. Not because they remind them of being a parent, but because watching a person who is too new to be cluttered up with complexity reconnects them with the pure pleasure of being. When we stretch, he becomes more like me, and I become more like him. In that few seconds we celebrate the verb ‘to be,’ and we are both new.

While Mommy and Daddy are still asleep in the morning, Zen and I wrap up in blankets and swing on the porch. His gaze settles on the edge of the camellia bush and only wavers if he catches sight of Katherine’s blue and green prayer flags that flutter above us. He contemplates these two things only. True to his name, I suspect he does not overanalyze; he just loves the sensations -- warmth, movement, sound and the elegant distinction between light and dark.

Some would say he hasn’t yet learned to think. I believe what Socrates said: we are born knowing everything, immediately forget it all, and spend the rest of our lives trying to remember. There is a light in his eyes that shines on a the future I will not see. I wish Mom and Dave had met him.

Instead like Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit movie, they found themselves poised to begin the ethereal journey described by the poet Van Dyke:

Parable of Immortality

I am standing upon the seashore.

A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze

and starts for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength,

and I stand and watch until at last she hangs

like a speck of white cloud

just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says,

" There she goes! "

Gone where?

Gone from my sight . . . that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar

as she was when she left my side

and just as able to bear her load of living freight

to the place of destination.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment

when someone at my side says,

" There she goes! "

there are other eyes watching her coming . . .

and other voices ready to take up the glad shout . . .

" Here she comes! "

After thinking, “let’s see now, where am I?” I’m guessing Dave looked around, said, “well, what d’ya know?” took Mom’s arm, and smiled as he guided her on board. They knew the journey, so far so fast, would pick up on the Other Shore -- not sequentially from the end of an earthly life -- but eternally in the clear promise of memory.

Smooth sailing with a strong tail wind to you, Dave and Lois. We loved the moments we shared with you. You are gone from our sight, but we have memorized your touches, smiles, and kisses. In our hearts, your beauty of being will always be forever new, forever young.

Just Before Sunrise

When she was 79, Lois fell through the ice. It wasn’t an accident, but it was a surprise. None of us, not even she, knew she was walking on thin ice. She may have assumed she was ‘walking on water’ having just been wrapped in the love of her two youngest children during a pre-Christmas getaway that culminated in a scandalous prime rib dinner filled with laughter and cocktails. She may have assumed that the slips and falls she’d been having were due to a weakening heart or just plain old age. Whatever she thought, in just one night, after more than 28,000 days on this earth, she dropped through the ice on a river of illness, and never touched firm ground again. No one recognized the danger. One minute she was there laughing, looking forward to several more years of her quiet life surrounded by friends in a small town. The next minute, we watched helplessly as strong currents sent her tumbling through the darkness of an unknown affliction.

Her symptoms quickly evolved from fever to fear, paranoia to paralysis, silence to spasms and screams in the night. For five months, psychiatrists, cardiologists, physical therapists, and geriatric specialists pondered the mystery of a malady that struck so quickly and changed so often. Was it Alzheimer’s Disease? No. Was it Mad Cow Disease? No. Finally, the process of elimination pointed to Lewy Body dementia -- what I call the mean cousin of Alzheimer’s -- memory loss, pain, paralysis and nights filled with terror. No cure, no treatment, all we can do is try to make her comfortable, they said. She moved to a nursing home a thousand miles away from her home town. Her life, as both we and she knew it, was over. We could still see her there, under the ice, but she never emerged.

Before the ice got too thick, she had moments of hope. At times, she could even grab hold of the shiny sheet and try to pull herself up. She thought she might be able to play the piano again, but her fingers became rigid and twisted. She thought she might be able to walk again, but her legs stiffened and bent. She tried to strike up conversations, but she could only speak in a whisper. As the ice thickened, she froze in time and space like leaves, grass, and air bubbles trapped in a wintery lake. Strapped in a wheelchair, fed with a straw, she closed her eyes and faded from view.

The long dark lonely winter of dementia lasted four years. Finally, there are clear signs that breakup is coming for Lois. She lies on her right side, with one hand curled in front of her like a swan’s neck. She has two fleece wool pads (white and green) for comfort and a bright yellow bedspread. The white cloth pony I gave her is by her side, and her puppy dog blanket is folded at the foot. Behind me, a machine delivering oxygen whirs like a lawn mower. Her breathing is fast, shallow, and bubbly. As midnight approaches, we are attended by angels, nurses at this special care home. I call them all Mother Theresa’s because they consistently perform acts of compassion and kindness.

I journeyed through earthly blizzards for this emergence. Here we are in that precious space between darkness and sunrise, when the sky is a determined violet and the birds have started to stir. I am with her, watching life's horizon for her sunrise. She won’t need to chip her way out, or grab on to pull herself up. The ice will dissolve, and she will open her eyes, surprised to feel warmth on her cheek. She will find herself on a sunny shore, smiling with family and old friends. I want to be here when she rises.

Goodbye and good morning, Mom, I will love you forever.

Hallelujah

It’s been weeks since that cool August morning when I stood in a valley in the Brooks Range and sang Hallelujah. I'm writing this now because my time in the Brooks Range is done and I’m homesick.

I was finishing my morning walk, stepping along to brisk tunes on the Ipod when I looked north and saw a light. For just a moment, I thought there might be someone out there and that was oddly comforting. Just for a moment, I wondered if this was the way we humans were supposed to live -- not jammed up in cities, not isolated by technology -- but in small groups, alone but able to see the lights of our neighbors just a short distance away.

On another day, these could have been yard lights in a neighboring farm, on before the rooster crowed, the dogs barked or the barn cats stretched in the musty hayloft, licking their lips at the thought of milk pails clanking. The mornings of my childhood. On another day, they could equally have been a campfire stirred up by a neighboring band of hunters, stretching their limbs as they rose from the cold ground, shivering in skin shrouds and looking for wild white sheep on rocky ledges above. The mornings of prehistory. On this day, they were somewhat of an illusion -- just lights on at our small airport, night and day. There was no one out there.

But I was not alone. The fox that lived in a den under a module in our camp passed unhurried, swerving off the road into the rocky ditch, then out through the tundra. I gave her space, out of respect for her task or feeding three kits in the lower yard, and out of concern that most foxes in the Arctic are rabid.

I watched until her silky brown ruff blended into the mottled hummocks, then lifted my gaze to focus on amber sunlight gently unveiling the bodies of mountains across the valley. The earth’s spinning dance was soft and smooth, and sunlight flowed across the landscape like water seeping down garden rows. As our valley turned to face the day, secret shapes appeared for a moment, then vanished as the light moved on to reveal others. It was mesmerizing.

Albert Camus wrote about mornings:

“On certain mornings, as we turn a corner,

an exquisite dew falls on our heart

and then vanishes.

But the freshness lingers, and this, always,

is what the heart needs.

The earth must have risen in just such a light

the morning the world was born.”

Through the gift of modern electronics, Rufus Wainwright started singing “Hallelujah” in my ears, and the exquisite dew of memory fell on my heart; I tipped back my head and joined in.

“Hallelujah”

Praise, joy, thanksgiving -- a 14th century word that most articulately expresses a 21st century feeling. Isn’t that miracle of its own?

“Hallelujah”

Praise, joy, thanksgiving for the way sunrise flows over mountains.

Praise, joy, thanksgiving, for the comfort of distant lights and knowing we are not alone.

Praise, joy, thanksgiving for the earth that carries us through the darkness and into the light

“Hallelujah”

for secrets revealed each day as into the world we are born.