[Above photo: The Super Blue Moon in August flooding Casco Bay., taken on the Eastern Prom.]
11 September 2023
I will be writing this blog only on occasion, as much as a diary for myself as anything else. My writing will take another turn.
Summer is ending. The rosa rugosa lining the beaches on most islands in Maine, including ours, has long shed its petals and each bush is covered with a plenitude of bright rose hips, ¾-1” fruit, which if dried makes a nice hot infusion during the cold months. I’ll gather some on my next, and last, trip to the island in a week or so. We Islanders tend to feel an affection for the plant, although it is not a native; rather, a fierce invasive.
The past 10 days at the island were glorious—warm to hot, bright sun, calm waters, mild breezes. I was there with my friend Lindsey for a bit. We kayaked on successive days to two islands—-Butter and Pond—and hiked their trails. Then Ari came with two friends, a couple she knew in LA, and cooked up an incredible storm. We ate so well I don’t feel any desire to dine out for awhile. Among other items, the three of them caught 11 mackerel which, if promptly gutted, refrigerated, and grilled, are just the best, served with a fresh tomato puree.
Unfortunately, I tripped carrying a large LP gas cannister in the barn. It obscured my view and I didn’t see a slat nailed to the ramp. Wham! Beside my dignity, I munched my left hand. It now is nearly two weeks and the swelling and soreness persist so I am awaiting an xray report today. Yesterday I saw Urgent Care because my left foot had become so tender and swollen over 5 days that I could hardly walk on it. I didn’t hurt it with the fall and it turns out that after two doses of antibiotic over 18 hours it is almost painless. Without a cut, abrasion, or puncture, I can’t imagine how it got infected but I’m happy that was the issue. I was afraid I was getting gout. The ravages of age—and imagination!
Teaching the now-20+ Burmese psychiatrists about trauma yesterday, I decided to use the “Breakout Room” feature of Zoom. I read about it beforehand and it seemed simple enough. Ha! Nothing on a computer is “simple enough” for me! We did eventually get it working but my pleasure was in the trying while all the students and I were laughing so hard we wept. They are accustomed to stuff not working—water, electricity, internet—half the time and it never flusters them. Plus, they are smart about this stuff and know they can get it right.
I’m a little apprehensive this week as I am starting two fiction courses—one is a workshop which lasts all year and meets monthly. The other is a Fall course that meets weekly. I am very insecure about my abilities writing fiction, although once I start I enjoy it and dialogue, for example, comes easily.
I heard a researcher from Columbia University talk about the past and coming migrations demanded by climate change. Especially hard hit are countries in the Sahel, the West to East band of Africa between the Sahara to the north and savannah to the south, Central America, and the India/Pakistan/Bangladesh region. Computer modeling suggests that for each .1 degree C. rise in the global average temperature, 140 million people will lose their ecological niche. That is, it will become uninhabitable for them. We can build walls and fences, which is predicted to lead to increased violence and instability, as well as a pretty poor assessment of ourselves. We can work like the devil to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. And we can attempt to assimilate the newly displaced. Interestingly, Russia really wants workers and so much of the country which is currently frigid is likely to thaw, so it may be a win for them. For awhile. It is astounding that the average US citizen contributes more than twice the greenhouse gasses as the average European in a similar socioeconomic subgroup. And I think we add something like 5x what a person contributes in a developing country. Seems like we need to change our ways.
I also heard a scholar from NYU talking about the “playbook for authoritarian leaders”. She recently published, “Strongmen: from Mussolini to the Present”. I ordered it. As she points out, it is a remarkably simple formula, looking at Mussolini, Hitler, Pinochet, Orban, Berlusconi, Putin, and, of course, our own entry into the race, DT. Create chaos, pit people against one another, use the machinery of government to get revenge, create doubt, hopelessness, and disinformation, etc., all in an unrelenting search for personal power, money, and control. I ordered the book, although I’m not sure why. I think I understand her thesis.
It has been pretty alone for the past few days with my foot elevated. I did watch “Jaws” last night. You can see how it would drive shark biologists crazy, attributing to the shark the uniquely human quality of tenacious, rageful revenge. Sharks are formidable creatures and I don’t want to dive with or pet one, but when they bite us it is generally a mistake. They like seals and sea lions, not neoprene-covered humans. And they are physiological wonders, important in the balance of things in the sea.
A Psychiatrist in Myanmar 