Watching the timelapse videos of Hurricane Ian making landfall in Florida sort of seals the deal for me. It’s obvious that the forces of nature have no regard for infrastructure, or dream homes we build next to the shore, or the financial and emotional investments we make in building those dream homes next to the shore that become sitting ducks for exactly what unfolded.
These natural forces are impervious to our investments, our feelings. They are impersonal. They just do what they do, yet I imagine they might be perceived as somehow sentient and punitive.
We have enjoyed a propagation of our species because we have a brain that’s wired to avoid life-threatening conditions, help us stay out of harm’s way. Most of us know that in order to remain alive, we will need to vacate our dream homes, leave them behind, and find suitable shelter somewhere else, fully cognizant that those special places may not be there when we are able to return and assess whether to repair or rebuild or move inland.
I don’t know what those most directly affected are thinking and feeling—dazed, confused, snake-bitten, empty, afraid, unsure, grateful…? One thing I do know is that the forces that wrought such destruction and heartache don’t care. Can’t care. They have moved on, fully incapable of sensing the pain they’ve caused. Dissipating, and perhaps regrouping to show up again somewhere in the British Isles or elsewhere.
3 Cents' 