04/10/2022

Freaks of Nature

It's Saturday night in Gainesville.

Swathes of college kids and Gators fanatics are lined up against an aging wooden fence. We're in good company as we all sporadically slap away mosquitos and noseeums in the warm evening heat. Everyone is waiting in anticipation for something mesmerizing to occur.

Waiting feels normal, it's been our only source of respite during a chaotic end to September. We waited for updates as we boarded up our home, hoping we were just overreacting. We waited for evacuation notices as we loaded up the cars, just in case we had to head north. We waited on freeways. We waited at petrol stations. We waited to hear from those who weren't so lucky, who were stuck in their homes as Ian raged on and ravaged our communities. 

It has not been an easy transition to October. The hits have kept on coming in the days that followed. Jobs have been lost, dams have broken, and the death toll continues to rise. 

The most shocking thing of all is the morale across the state of Florida. In the days that followed, we called every person in our contacts to check on their safety. Friends have reported trees through their rooves, flooded homes and rescue by airboat. All have told us they consider themselves lucky, blessed, and grateful. Claiming they're more fortunate than the next person. Jokes have been made, experiences shared and "stay safe," has quickly replaced "see you later." 
News stations are streaming weather reports via whiteboards in place of their destroyed studios. Evacuees are sending every resource available via text to those without internet access. States across the country have sent in linemen and volunteers by the bus load. Funds have begun to pour in as political and religious differences have been set aside in the wake of this natural disaster. 

An unprecedented hurricane has made the entire state feel like a close community. From the panhandle to the keys, every person in Florida has felt this disaster. Kindness and compassion have flooded across the state a thousand times over. It crops up in the strangest of places; in conversations with hardware shop workers, small courtesies in the petrol stations, and small talk with strangers at Walmart. 

The waiting now feels peaceful, but tiring. The 24-hour news cycle has caught up with us, we linger here to catch our breath. Now we wait in a beautiful college town, with flocks of people who are here for the same reason as us. We're waiting to see a natural phenomenon that bewilders. We're waiting for the bats. 

Every night at sunset, Gainesville witnesses a colony of over one hundred thousand bats fly into the night. The University of Florida has set up charming bat houses to protect the bats as they sleep through the daylight hours. 
As the plucky first flyers make their way out in search of mosquitos, spectators coo at the sight of the odd bat or two. There are no updates or plans to discuss. We patiently wait to see something good. I spy a hawk in the thick woods backing onto the bat houses, as always nature prevails. 

The first colony make their journey, soaring to incredible heights and slowly stirring like clouds in the sky. A few are plucked by the hovering hawk, but the rest glide on and create swirls of motion. The second house breaks loose and flocks above us. As the bats pour out everyone stands silent, taking in the impressive swarm that circles above. 

We know we have a long road ahead, that a line has been drawn in Florida's history that will quickly define life as "before" and "after" Ian. But at this moment, the constant of the bats brings comfort. It is the simple pleasures that will keep us going. It is the inherent good that will help us move forward. 

This month, I urge you to take stock of your people. Appreciate the normal and even the mundane. Enjoy the simple pleasures and take the time to be with your loved ones. 

If you would like to support those affected in SWFL you can learn more here.

Food For Thought

"Living simply makes loving simple."
— bell hooks

"Trauma breeds further trauma; hurt people hurt other people."
— Bessel van der Kolk

"The true value of your work is not your salary but rather how much it helps others."
— Arthur C. Brooks