Things I didn’t do before Pandemtime

Things I didn’t do (as much, or at all) before Pandemtime:

Walk around some eight-square blocks of my neighborhood, appreciating each home and yard, pausing to take it in, or even speak (at a safe distance) with a neighbor.

Bike along the LA River bike path to the beach, amid yellow and white daisies and vast swaths of untouched ecological preserve — beyond the fence to the North; and pausing to feel grateful for this undeveloped land, imagining how the whole wetlands looked before roads and the manmade river.

Skim and recycle a large pile of newspapers, stacked on a chair, patiently awaiting this time; and taking the time to clip out a paragraph on eco-fashion, to reference later.

Feel gratitude for every deep breath, and big gratitude every morning.

Teach my daughter how to skateboard on the gentle hill in the empty parking lot by the beach, and marvel how naturally she takes to it.

Teach fractions while teaching her to skateboard, each run adding more turns within the whole lot — starting with one big one…now up to fourteen-and-a-half!.

Co-design and make fashionable masks from hemp, the One World Mask, coming soon.

Feel so acutely the presence of dread and defeat, as well as the spirit of vitality that flows through life.

Adapt to waiting in line, patiently.

Feel gratitude when I find the food I want, or something I didn’t know I wanted, at the grocery store.

Serve a formal meal and eat it at a leisurely pace with Eden.

Feel gratitude for the nimbleness of educators, who so quickly and effectively transitioned to remote teaching; for zoom (it must be said); and for the students, who are making the best of a surprising and sad situation.

Groove deeply into the musical library of my pre-teens and early teens, hearing the songs with all the old joy, and a new sense of what the Brazilians call “saudade.” Re-live a track from childhood with my brother, Orion, and laugh uncontrollably.

Miss hugging loved ones and petting dogs and cats, because I hugged and pet all the time before….

Feel hope that the growing realization: We are all connected, will motivate human beings to generate profound changes in the ways we protect the health of Earth’s living ecosystems —upon which the health ALL life, including our own depends.