Stopping to Look

Is it my imagination or is the Earth more beautiful than it has ever been? More robust, bountiful, glorious. Flowers rich, bursting with color. Oranges bigger, more succulent. People kinder. More considerate. For the most part:)

A funny thing happened the other day. I wore a mask to the grocery for the first time and stepped aside for an older gentleman not wearing a mask. He was blocking a very narrow aisle. I told him nicely and indicated that he was welcome to go ahead. He pretended not to understand me. Finally, he said, “I can’t hear you through the mask.” He then laughed and said, “You know, the micro-molecules of that virus will cut through that mask like a hot knife through butter.” I wonder how long he was waiting to say that to someone. I’m sure it made his day as he cackled and passed me. I guess he didn’t get the memo. I wanted to protect him. He may be correct, but shouldn’t we do everything to try to stop the spread?

Anyway, as I was saying, everything seems cleaner, clearer, kinder, more precious. I know a lot of people are going crazy with the isolation but they are trying. They are singing arias from their balconies in Italy, they are playing jazz from their porches in New Orleans, they are sending free Audible books to children, arranging virtual tours of museums, FaceTiming with their loved ones and friends. It gives me faith in the beauty not only of the Earth but the beauty, resilience, and strength of the human spirit.

There will always be the grocery cacklers (I hope he’s okay), the necessity hoarders, the scammers, but I truly believe they are in the minority. People are giving, when they don’t have to. That’s what happens, isn’t it? When we stop and look. When we let ourselves. 

Good begets Good.

 Sending love and strength out there.

AMERICAN DIRT- APRIL 2020 BOOK SELECTION

Lydia Pérez lives in Acapulco with her journalist husband and eight-year-old son, Luca. Her husband is a journalist and she owns and runs a small bookstore. She and her family have a good life, but the increasing activities of drug cartels in Mexico are becoming impossible for her husband to ignore. He begins to write of the events and corruption while others are choosing to remain silent for fear of their lives.

Meanwhile, in her bookstore, Lydia meets a charming and friendly customer. He becomes a regular customer and dear friend. She has no idea who this man is until a picture is printed in husband’s article. It is the ruthless leader of the most lethal cartel.

During a celebration at her home, her husband and entire family pay a price for her husband’s exposé. Lydia and her son escape merely by chance. So begins a harrowing ordeal as she attempts to escape to America and safety. The cartel and its influence is everywhere. She can literally trust no one. She must suppress the horror of what has happened and rely on her wits and instinct to protect her son.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is breath-taking. So fast-paced and beautifully written and researched, the reader is on the journey with Lydia and Luca. It’s a novel of acute danger and survival but also of the deep reserves of strength found when safeguarding those we love.

There has been controversy surrounding the fact that Cummins is not Mexican and that there were what some considered insensitive remarks. Regardless, this is a superb work of fiction based on the experiences of real people living in fear and desperation. It’s a must read.

Highly recommend.