The Coronacation Diaries, Episode 42

If a Tree Falls in the Woods...

Walking the trails today with my daughter from another mother, we were chatting about anything and everything -- and then suddenly time stood still and the woods went silent. A crack, then the sound of branches breaking, as a whooshing, rumbling vibration, almost electric, ran through the air. A huge tree off to our left just simply fell over, crashing to the ground. The forest shook. We were a bit shook. We stood there in awe, realizing the power of that tree, the power of gravity, and the fact that we really were just visitors in that forest. Life --and death-- were going on around us, almost as if our gripes about having to shelter-in-place, and our complaints about trying to move school online, and our musings on politics and protests and press briefings really didn't matter at all.

Spring is taking over. The bright greens of the grasses and the lily pads are turning the muddy swamp into a bichromatic dreamscape up against the burnt umber trees and underbrush, not yet budded out. The sloths up in sloth tree are growing their mossy fur coat. While our lives are at a standstill, nature does its thing, oblivious to us.

If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound? Damn straight. It rumbles and it crashes and it vibrates, a mini-earthquake of energy and destruction. It doesn't matter if we are there to hear it at all. It's not actually about us.