Your Secret Is Safe with Me
I hope if you are reading this you have great summer reads picked out, an ecologically diverse window view (or plans to visit such a place!), and some kind of secret that you are carrying into the hot months. Yes, that’s right – a secret. Is there a creative idea that’s alluring or restless within you?
Maybe it’s an image you can’t let go of, a story contest you want to enter, or an arts event you’re stoked to experience in person. Or maybe it’s a memory from childhood summers long gone, a particularly odd or perturbing line of dialogue, or the most outlandish idea for a novel you’ve had yet.
Perhaps it’s more domestic – a desire to actually not fold-all-the-laundry, do-all-the-dishes, vacuum-dust-mop-change-the-sheets. A speck of a thought that those minutes would be better spent doing something else.
Maybe you’re carrying something politically charged in your heart – a sit-in, a boycott of social media, a vow of silence to highlight a cause (try not talking for a day as a way to protest, especially if you’re not able to take time off work to attend protests in person).
Whatever secret you might have – I encourage you to take a moment and name it for yourself. Sit back. Listen for its tone, its emotional vibration. Freewrite in your notebook a little or just daydream with the secret at your center. What are you being invited to let bloom–from disregarded to seen, from impossible to actualized? THAT’s the kind of secret I’m talking about.
Because once you name it, it will start to glow. And once it glows, it’s impossible to ignore. Are you ready to breathe a little life into it by sharing it with someone else? I’d love to know what creative, domestic, political (or otherwise) activities are on your mind, so comment below. Your “secret” is safe with me!
In other news, summer break started three weeks ago for River and while it took until this week for temps to finally warm up, he has not missed a beat of spending hours outdoors. Thanks to the wholesome and creative leadership of Tal Galton and Snakeroot Ecotours, River participated in strenuous, exciting day hikes to kick things off. In the first four days alone, the small group of kids ages 8-11 hiked about 20 miles and gained a total of about 6,000’ in elevation, including hiking “the steepest trail in the Eastern United States” – the Woody Ridge Trail – to summit Horse Rock (elevation 6,120’) in our backyard of the Black Mountains. Between that, swimming in the river, and gardening – it’s shaping up to be a wonderful summer.
Helene recovery efforts continue, even as roads that were damaged but still passable are showing dangerous signs of wear and erosion. Our backroads and two-lane highways are already exceptionally narrow. But now, many of the shoulders of our roads seem unsteady (often visibly undercut, cracked, or missing entirely), so we’re all hugging the double-yellow line. Add in the countless dump trucks (bless them!) en route to worksites, and driving feels super intense right now!
But we adjust; we react, pivot, and resettle. It was a comfort to learn from neighbors that they were also especially bothered by the high winds we had the last two weeks of May. To see, too, that the “Lights After Dark” luminary event – our community’s first large event honoring the volunteers and the fallen of Helene – was a heartwarming and necessary success. Paper bags with battery-powered candles (risk of wildfire is still on all our minds) were lit around the square and main street, with the names of both those lost and those who helped, written on each. Also this month, the Celo community added a 9.27.24 signpost to our flood tree, which marks the water line of previous floods (see photo collage below) in our community.
All of this has happened since I wrote to you last, taking place against the backdrop of an investigative article published by ProPublica, explaining why Yancey County, in particular, was decimated by Helene.
Those of you following this journey–either because you want to pay witness, because you have seen it yourself, or because you understand it’s coming your way – thank you. The ProPublica article is difficult to read if you live here; I was sleepless for nights afterwards. But it’s an important marker and includes facts and warnings that those of you interested in climate disaster preparedness will want to heed. I hope you will read it. The only error that I’m aware of is that the article refers to a family from Green Mountain who died (two young children included) while trying to escape during the storm itself. The article states that they lived in Mitchell County, but Green Mountain is in Yancey County. Green Mountain is also where Lenny lived, whom I’ve interviewed and written about in the past. These details are small to some, but they are the details of people’s lives–people’s endings. I honor and remember them. I send my deepest care to their family members still living.
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