Waking Up After Corona Lockdown
The lesson of my geraniums
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This year spring came early last month when we had a sunny 70-degree day, unusual this time of year in upstate New York. But these are unusual times.
Late fall before the first frost, I take my five potted geranium plants into the basement to hibernate for the winter. I put them on a shelf that is next to a west-facing window. Then I cease from watering or taking care of them in any way until spring. When the weather warms up, I clean off anything that died, cut back where necessary, start to water them regularly, and put them outside in the sun. Sometimes I need to bring them in again at night until the nighttime weather warms up as well. Soon I have beautiful, healthy blooming geraniums.
Longing for renewal especially during these stay-put-at-home days, I decided that the hibernation period was over and took my geraniums out of the basement and into the sunshine. I cleaned them up, watered them, and marveled at their potential for vibrancy and beauty. I even was surprised to notice some plants still had blooms that had dried out but retained their shape along with most of their color.
Now that the 70-degree weather has come and gone, the geraniums reside with me on the upper floors of the house. We play a game every day called Chasing the Sun. I move them from the east windows to the south windows to the end-of-the-day-sun windows.
I am like these geraniums. I am coming out of hibernation. Some remarked they haven’t seen any blog posts in a long while, and I said I have been in transition time and recalibrating. Now I too am chasing the sun.
Globally we are also like these geraniums being sent first into a hibernation period. There will be a transition time that follows along with a recalibrating and a new day in the sun.
In our busy, busy, busy, go, go, go world, we are forced into taking a time out in order to slow down, to reflect, and to refigure. We are in reboot mode.
Looking at my geraniums, I can only be inspired by their resilience. Looking at planet earth, we have been astounded at its resilience with blue skies and birds singing in Wuhan, China, and with dolphins and clear waters in the canals of Venice, Italy, for example.
I can only hope that after cutting away what no longer serves such as physical pollution and political divisiveness, and after watering with cooperation in the sunlight of goodwill, we will emerge a kinder and more connected people…connected more with our planet and connected more with one another.
