Thursday, May 14, 2020

Isn't It All Really About Protecting The Vulnerable? And It Would Appear That We Are All Vulnerable

I guess I had my first real, true pandemic dream last night. It involved elements from other dreams. I was living in an apartment house in a big city and I could not find my apartment. I had no idea what number it was and to make things even more difficult, the place was so big that it took up an entire city block and there were different sections in it as well as restaurants and bars and the restaurants and bars were open and people were gathering, eating, drinking, not wearing masks, not concerned in the least about social distancing. I was worried and frightened and not so much about me but about the baby I was carrying around. A little baby girl in a pink dress and she had a wet diaper and I needed to change her and also, mostly, get her to safety.
I so often dream about babies, specifically not being able to protect one. I suppose that is my greatest fear on earth- the inability to protect a child. Even my grown-up children. When I think about Lily being at work in the grocery store or Jessie being at work in the hospital I have to just shut the thoughts down because there truly is nothing I can do to protect either one and to obsess about that fact would lead to madness.
But of course babies are the most vulnerable of all and I can remember that the first emotion I had when Hank was born was an unbelievably powerful need to protect that child. And my dream-babies represent all of my babies, the grown ones and the grandchildren, too. And in these dreams, even as I struggle in one dangerous scenario or another, there is generally a baby or a child or children that I must keep safe. I suppose this has been uppermost in my mind since Hank was born or perhaps even when my baby brothers were born and I fell so in love with them and became one of their caretakers.

The dream may have been triggered by comments left on a White House Facebook post last night by assholes who are overjoyed at being able to go out into the world. One comment especially stunned me for its overwhelming ridiculousness.
"Finally got to have a sit-down dinner at Denny's!"
Because I have an evil demon in me I replied to that comment with, "Seriously? You'd risk your life and others to eat at Denny's?"
The person replied, "I choose not to live in fear."
To which I said, "While you were making choices, seems like you could have chosen a better restaurant."

Oh yes. I am so funny, so witty, so droll.
And then I went to sleep and dreamed of people eating and drinking and making merry while I was clutching an innocent child and trying to flee the contagion.
I keep thinking about the Masque of the Red Death. 
I keep thinking about how many people voted for Donald Trump.
I keep thinking about how many of those people still support him.
I keep thinking about the huge number of people who have bought into the ridiculous myth of "the elite" which has come to mean anyone who still has a rational thought in their head.
I keep thinking of scientists and advisors to the so-called president who have been fired because they had the gall to speak the truth.
I keep thinking of the number of people who are sick and who are dying.
I keep thinking of the health care workers whose faces are permanently indented by the masks and protective wear they must don every day to try and stay safe as they work endless shifts to care for the sick and they dying.
I keep thinking of all of those whose faces bear those marks who still get sick.
I keep thinking of my children and my grandchildren.

Well.

Look what I found this morning in a tomato plant.


I can't recall ever seeing a spider like that in a web like that. As I watched her, she dropped down and wrapped a bug beneath her in silk and then scuttled back to spread herself out against the center of her web again. Her web reminds me of stitches patching an old shirt, of the thick place in a sock which has been darned. It reminds me of the rays emanating from the Virgin of Guadalupe in images of her. 


It reminds me that there is still wonder. 

The final reply I left to the commenter who finally got her sit-down dinner at Denny's and who chooses not to live in fear was that it has nothing to do with fear but everything to do with having the ability and compassion to protect the ones we love, our families, our communities, from unknowingly spreading this virus. I have no idea if she replied to that. What does it matter? Obviously, there is a huge gap between those who interpret respect and caution as fear, and those who interpret going out to eat now as showing bravery. 

Sometimes it seems like not one damn thing has been right since the election of 2016. I'm not saying that if Hilary Clinton had been elected that we would never have seen covid 19 but I can damn well guarantee you that we wouldn't be dealing with it the way we are, which is with ignorance and political aims and dangerous policies. 
No use wasting time on now-impossible possibilities. 
But we can still dream of better times to come. 
Maybe. I hope so. I really do. 

Love...Ms. Moon

14 comments:

  1. The press reports trump is apoplectic at his falling poll numbers. His apoplexy gives me hope. If he thought godfather Putin would just gift wrap the election again would he be worrying? Talk about grasping at straws here.

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  2. Lovely to retain the ability to see that amazing spider and her daily life, among all these sad thoughts.

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  3. Quite a spider. That dream seems more the nightmare to me. It's been years since there have been helpless babies in my dreams.

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  4. If I did this right this a a little clip of your Rolling Stones boys I thought you might enjoy...

    https://imgur.com/gallery/0dSWz2h

    As for the polarization of the citizens of this county and maybe the world I think it may be a symptom of something bigger and, I don't know, something damn scary though...

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    1. Oh it worked! It says it's soundless, but have the sound on anyway..!

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  5. I've had dreams of protecting babies and I was always very scared and nervous about it all in the dream. Maybe it's a mother thing?

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  6. WOW oh WOW. Before you remove Mary Kent's completely unhinged comments. I gotta say-virginal infections is pretty funny.

    Your post really touched me. Well, I've had babies in my life for years, as you know. Even seeing them on Zoom calls, I feel the softness and beauty that they are. And what a damn time to come on down into the earth plane. Their parents are being so careful, well, here in Seattle there is some sense in people. They believe in science (imagine) and what our dear governor tells us.

    My dreams are all chopped up. Mostly I sleep hard, which is a blessing. I go escape into that other world and have no memory in the morning.

    Love you, dear heart.

    XXXX

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  7. I just don't understand this wilful ignorance, to their own detriment. And yes, Denny's really?

    We're slowing ending our lockdown now and it scares me to see people and cars out again. I guess we shall see.

    I'm off to work now, stay safe my friend. Mostly, avoid stupid people:)

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  8. I am always holding a baby in my arms trying to protect him too in my dreams. And inevitably it is my youngest son - the more sensitive one. I guess that goes with being a mother doesn't it. And sometimes I am so tempted to reply to FB posts but I mostly don't because it just isn't worth the stress, but well done you all the same. There is one lady whose blog I kinda like too but she is a rampant Trump supporter and she goes off in so many of her posts about how wonderful he is, and most of the comments agree with her. I totally disagree with pretty much everything she says about Trump but don't comment because (a) I don't want to get into it with her, (b) those kinds of people are impossible to reason with anyway and (c) it's her blog so I just leave it at that.

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  9. Mary this is such incredible strong writing. Floored. ❤️

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  10. My head spins when I think of what the world might be like now if Hillary Clinton had won. Can you imagine?!

    I think a lot of people, sad to say, just don't think about things very deeply. They've been deprived of their Denny's, and now they're able to get their Denny's, and the hell with the implications because those implications don't even cross their radar.

    I love that spider! I don't ever remember seeing one like that either. It looks like some type of orb weaver but cursory Googling hasn't given me an ID.

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  11. I am not remembering my dreams and I guess that's a blessing right now. I have to banish Trump from my mind every night just so I can fall asleep. he's replaced, or trying to, another career official in the State Department for reporting that Trump's appointees are retaliating against career employees whose loyalty is to the country.

    I am horrified by how many ignorant selfish people there are in this country who think a little temporary inconvenience is oppression, who think freedom means they can do any damn thing they want regardless of how it impacts others.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.