Crystal Ball Toyota

ball ball shaped blur color — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

You got a fast car

But is it fast enough so we can fly away?

We gotta make a decision

We leave tonight or live and die this way

Tracy Chapman, Fast Car

I never said I was a patient driver. There have been times where I *may* have used an expletive or two while driving, or even implored one of my fellow citizens to “move it along, buddy”. I knew I had an issue when my then 2-year old son mimicked me by shouting “Ass!” and fiercely pointed to the car next to us. Yes, that was not a “mother of the year” moment.

I like to drive defensively and even though I only go 5-9 miles over the speed limit, my friend Jaime has likened my driving to that of a cab driver. She lived in New York City for years, so to compare me to a cabbie? Well, she has cred. And, I got a little secret joy when she said to our friends, “There is a different kind of Elizabeth behind the wheel”.

Then, the pandemic hit.

Since March, I have not been in my car regularly. When I do get in my car, I am acutely aware of my driving and well….the pandemic has me driving like a grandma! I am finding myself driving slowly and deliberately – and even under the speed limit at times. Unheard of!

I think it started when I drove my son to his first orthodontist appointment in months. I was turning left at a very challenging intersection near my home. I thought I had plenty of room to make the turn, but a truck that was in my intended lane sped up dramatically and then slowed down to block my entry into the lane. I had to slow way down and finally got into my lane. My son and I were paralyzed with fear with this intentional road rage out of nowhere.

This is not the first time a Chevy truck has bullied me on the road. You see, I drive a Prius. Apparently, my choice of automobile ticks off several members of the truck driving guild. I am regularly tailgated, honked at….people who are Prius owners understand. I have asked them and each person has corroborated my experience. My husband also drives a Prius and we often wonder why our choice of car somehow insinuates how we vote or what we believe? Did we buy a crystal ball Toyota?

When I shared my incident with my sister, who is in insurance, she noted that insurance providers are having several meetings about COVID driving – where there has been a significant uptick in speeders and aggressive driving as a result of the pandemic. A news station in Washington, D.C. notes “In the District, AAA cited a Forbes study that said despite an 80% drop in congestion, ‘the number of speeding tickets issued has reportedly jumped by 20%, with violations for going 21-25 mph over the limit up by around 40%’” (Woodfork).

Some officials are making impassioned pleas for COVID driving to end, “Whatever impulse it is that’s motivating some uncaring drivers — with no particular place to go — to turn roadways into speedways, this must stop,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s manager of public and government affairs” (Woodfork).

This is a difficult time. Admittedly, people are finding out that loved ones are sick, that they have lost their jobs or someone in their family may have even died due to COVID-19. Distracted and emotional driving is the residue of these painful situations.

In a way, I feel like my calm, collected – albeit slow – driving is like a victory garden. I am contributing to the pandemic effort in keeping people safe. And, my husband has noticed. Just the other day, I was driving him around and he said, “Honey, I was able to read that whole article. You are driving so smoothly. I feel like I’m in an Uber.” So, I have a career to fall back on…Uber driver of my crystal ball Toyota.

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion,

economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside,

we all believe that we are above-average drivers.

Dave Barry, Dave Barry Turns Fifty

Reference:

Woodfork, Rob. “‘This Must Stop’: Reckless Driving Soars amid COVID-19 Closures.” WTOP News, WTOP, 5 May 2020.

Potato Payback

Kindred Spirits Sculpture in Ireland

Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.

It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.

– Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

My mom called us “Potato Irish”. When we were growing up, she explained that her side of the family emigrated to America during the Great Irish Potato Famine between 1845-52. At that time, a fungus attacked the potato crops in Ireland – the Irish depended on potatoes as a staple in their daily diets. The famine resulted in whole families dying from starvation and poverty. Wealthy landowners pushed families out of their homes and the suffering was pervasive and brutal. It is said that “over a million people died during the Great Irish Famine, and at least a million more emigrated” (Kirwin).

Some, like my ancestors, were able to find a way to the United States. Others were forced to stay home in Ireland and attempt to survive the crushing devastation. American papers reported about the crisis in Ireland, which caught the attention of the Choctaw Indian Tribe in Oklahoma. Just 16 years earlier, the tribe faced a similar type of devastation being driven from their land during the Trail of Tears, the American government’s relocation of Native American tribes causing thousands of dead citizens in its wake. The Choctaw felt a kinship to the Irish and wanted to do something.

This desire was especially unique considering the brutality the Choctaw just faced at the hands of Irish Americans (some Irish American generals overseeing their death march, led by President Andrew Jackson, another Irish American).

The Trail of Tears left the Choctaw impoverished and struggling to rebuild. Even though the Choctaw had nothing, they scraped up $170 – which is equivalent to about $5000 in 2020 – and sent their support to the Irish.

Fast forward to 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit hard. Specifically, the Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation have experienced the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rates after New York and New Jersey. They also are disproportionately affected due in part to their rural locations – resulting in a lack of access to testing, medication and healthcare facilities, along with significant financial burdens. The Irish citizens heard of their plight, and a GoFundMe account circulated throughout Ireland. The Irish Times journalist, Naomi O’Leary shared the fundraiser on Twitter. Within a month, the Irish donated over $2 million and the funds keep coming in for their Native American brothers and sisters.

O’Leary wrote, “Native Americans raised a huge amount in famine relief for Ireland at a time they had very little. It’s time for us to come through for them now” (Kaur).

One of the donors from the GoFundMe page stated, “From Ireland, 170 years later, the favour is returned! To our Native American brothers and sisters in your moment of hardship” (Kaur).

Gary Batton, chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, said, “Adversity often brings out the best in people. We are gratified – and perhaps not at all surprised- to learn of the assistance our special friends, the Irish, are giving to the Navajo and Hopi Nations. We have become kindred spirits with the Irish in the years since the Irish potato famine. We hope the Irish, Navajo and Hopi peoples develop lasting relationships, as we have” (O’Loughlin and Zaveri).

What is the connection? Why help people you have never met?

I think it’s called humanity.

Time Magazine correspondent, Melissa Godin, speculates about the connection and its lasting impression, “The Irish and Native American people – for whom storytelling is woven into the fabric of their societies – have kept the memory of their historic bond alive” with visits, a sculpture entitled ‘Kindred Spirits’ in County Cork, Ireland, and an Irish-sponsored scholarship program for Choctaw youth.

There is so much division in the world right now. Lines are drawn, fuses are lit and people are beyond infuriated. The intensity is palpable. There are certainly many wrongs to be righted in this world, there is no denying that unfortunate truth. But I would like to propose a different take, based on the Irish and the Native American’s model.

Could we, as a collective human race, become compassionate archaeologists? Is it possible to take a deeper dig into the past and retrieve what was right about the past – much like the Potato Famine example – and replicate those past rights? Call it the Potato Payback.

One donor put it best, “You helped us in our darkest hour. Honoured to return the kindness. Ireland remembers, with thanks” (Kaur).

The hand of benevolence is everywhere, stretched out, searching into abuses, righting wrongs, alleviating distresses and bringing to knowledge the sympathies of the world the lowly, oppressed and forgotten.

– Harriet Beecher Stowe

References

Special thanks to Jaime Pollard-Smith for the inspiration.

Picture: Borrowed from Pinterest. Kindred Spirits sculpture in County Cork, Ireland.

Kindred Spirits is a large stainless steel outdoor sculpture in Bailick Park in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland.

Kindred Spirits commemorates the 1847 donation by the Native American Choctaw People to Irish famine relief during the Great Hunger, despite the Choctaw themselves living in hardship and poverty and having recently endured the Trail of Tears.

The sculpture consists of nine 20-foot (6.1 m) stainless steel eagle feathers arranged in a circle, no two feathers being identical, forming a bowl shape to represent a gift of a bowl of food. It was created by Alex Pentek at the Sculpture Factory in Cork, Ireland, with assistance from students of the Crawford College of Art and Design, and installed in Bailick Park in 2015. The memorial was commissioned by Midleton Town Council, and was officially unveiled and dedicated in June 2017 by Chief Gary Batton, Chief of the Choctaw Nation, Assistant Chief Jack Austin Jr., and Councillor Seamus McGrath, County Mayor of Cork, accompanied by a 20-strong delegation from the Choctaw Nation. (Wikipedia)

Citations:

Carroll, Rory. “Irish Support for Native American Covid-19 Relief Highlights Historic Bond.” The Guardian, 6 May 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/09/irish-native-american-coronavirus-historic-bond.

Godin, Melissa. “Irish Donors Are Helping a Native American Tribe Face the Coronavirus Crisis. Here’s the Historical Reason Why.” Time, May 2020, https://time.com/5833592/native-american-irish-famine/.

Kaur, Harmeet. “The Irish Are Sending Relief to Native Americans, Inspired by a Donation from a Tribe during the Great Famine.” CNN, 6 May 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/06/world/ireland-native-americans-choctaw-gift-trnd/index.html.

“Kindred Spirits.” Wikipedia, 6 May 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindred_Spirits_(sculpture).

Kirwin, Padraig. “How a Small American Indian Tribe Came to Give an Incredible Gift to Irish Famine Sufferers.” The Conversation, Aug. 2018, https://theconversation.com/how-a-small-american-indian-tribe-came-to-give-an-incredible-gift-to-irish-famine-sufferers-98742.

O’Loughlin, Ed, and Mihir Zaveri. “Irish Return Old Favor, Helping Native Americans Battling the Virus.” The New York Times, 5 May 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/world/coronavirus-ireland-native-american-tribes.

Victory Garden

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The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.

To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.

— Alfred Austin

I set out to plant my garden this year as a quest – as some sort of proof that Mother Nature is not out to get us. I needed to get my hands in the dirt and remember that nature is powerful in its beauty and mighty in its magic. Also, to try and forget that nature can be cruel, given our current pandemic.

But, planting a garden this year was more complicated than in previous years. Usually, I just went to Lowe’s and bought some plants. Easy. However, with the pandemic upon us, I had so many more considerations: When should I go to the store? When would there be the least amount of people there? Should I go in the morning when they have just sanitized? What about wearing a mask and gloves?

I waited a long time. The fear was too much, and I was paralyzed with worry. Finally, I decided to stop spinning and just get to it! I asked my husband to go with me at 6am when Lowe’s opened. I had my list and we grabbed up plants with breakneck speed. No hemming and hawing over what would look good, or what is full or partial sun? Just grabbed and paid, adorned with our masks and gloves.

I felt so much better after tackling that hurdle that I planted the whole garden and all of the flower pots as soon as we got home. It was therapeutic to get my fingers into the soil as I lovingly patted down the new plantings. Yes. I admit it. I talk to my plants. My kids made fun of me as I wished all of my flowers, herbs and vegetables the best on their growth journey. I also thanked the worms for helping my plants to grow; while the sun kept me warm and the songbirds created background music.

The dirt under my fingernails was like a badge of honor and a tribute to my mom. I remember Mom planting gardens when I was growing up. She was also a member of the Garden Club. She loved the earth and all of the harvests she planted. As I admired my little garden, I thought about a recent conversation with a friend about people working in their yards more during this pandemic. She called them victory gardens.

When she said ‘victory garden’, it brought back memories of social studies classes when I first heard the term. The idea of a victory garden stemmed from pervasive food shortages in Europe during World War I and World War II. Americans planted gardens and shipped their bounties to European citizens to help. Their horticultural efforts were also enormously beneficial stateside. “An estimated twenty million World War II Victory Gardens produced nearly forty percent of the nation’s fruits and vegetables” (Smith).

Companies during war time found that victory gardening held several benefits for their employees. The act of planting communal gardens boosted employees’ morale during a very difficult time in our country’s history. Coming together for a common goal gave citizens purpose and helped with depression amidst the backdrop of two world wars.

In 1944, manufacturing companies started victory garden programs to help with absenteeism. In a newspaper article from February 1944, a reporter wrote, “One way a company can help make workers happy and more contented, thus reducing absenteeism and turnover, is to encourage victory gardening. The food will come in handy this year, too. The answer is that victory gardening pays. The man who gets comfortably tired at weeding over Sunday won’t get down to work with a hangover on Monday. The fellow with a thrifty garden underway won’t readily quit his job and leave the crop for someone else. Closer friendships and associations – not only among employees but their families as well – create a wholesome spirit that makes for better all-around labor conditions” (Heuchling).

Victory gardens did not stop after World War II. In fact, during the 2008 economic crisis, gardens sprouted up due to the rising rate of unemployment. People found that growing their own food was not only cost effective, but a good way to get healthy, organic produce for their families. Some people continue to plant bee gardens – gardens that are specifically designed to increase the honeybee population that is at risk of extinction due to climate change.

There is no doubt that victory gardens have a storied history combining love for the earth and benefit of humankind. I found a great deal of comfort planting our little garden and an added bonus? We planted it on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Who knew? The days all blend together in this quarantine, but there must have been some cosmic pull to getting that garden planted on that day.

After Charlotte made the national news as the “#1 location to watch” for a COVID 19 surge, I remain scared, but resolute. This garden helps me stay productive and positive as it is teaching me mindfulness, patience and hope.

The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world.

– Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma

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Citations:

Heuchling, Fred. “‘Gardens That Raise Morale.’” Nation’s Business, Feb. 1944.

Smith, Tracy. “‘Victory Gardens for the War Against COVID 19.’” CBS Sunday Morning, CBS, 5 Apr. 2020.