A dry winter and change, both current and portending, made for a winter of much contemplation. Yet, I was still able to capture a few interesting photos.
The aerial and ground assault on the valley rose to a frenzy over the winter, probably to get as much done before being forced to stop again for breeding season, assuming they will this year. It is all a symptom of us pressing harder and harder on the accelerator of energy consumption fueled by our pursuit of an artificial reality of AI and plastics that poison us mentally and physically. It is becoming very challenging for me to find that "Desert Solitude" on my morning river walks as we perpetuate the world of Edward Abbey's nightmares. We are at war and the impacts of war are always a lower priority, if considered at all, than the ultimate goal, whether that goal is valid or not.
So the return of the songs of bluebirds and the tinkly calls of Black-throated Sparrows this winter were a great help in enduring our Great War on Nature. The bluebirds appear to be drawn to the area initially by the fruiting of the much-maligned mistletoe, an annual event that has attracted many a thrush in the past. A few bluebirds still hang out after the harvest is over, but not in the quantities we saw during the ripening. Those that remained eventually joined the winter mixed-flocks of sparrows that roam the valley in search of the sparse feed available.
Winter tends to be a time of bipedal and quadrupedal mammals, and the occasional owl, rather than birds in the valley. Many bipeds arrive to escape the winters of the north and will soon leave with some of the overflying birds to escape the summers here.
Us bipeds were engaged this winter in community-building activities like building an industrial-strength goat pen at the community garden. It really is an engineering wonder: when folks see it they wonder why it is so engineered. Goats are hard to keep in the valley due to the mountain lion population. If you are going to keep goats, the ethical thing to do is build a facility that protects both the goats and the mountain lions. Wildlife protection should not be a secondary priority.
Community-building activities are the best medicine to the outer chaos of the times. Especially since that chaos is only beginning and will likely get much worse before things get better, if they do at all. Hard-working friends and neighbors have had their worlds up-ended due to the financial uncertainty of whether the next pay or social security check is coming again. All because of the actions of national leaders who think "move fast and break things" is a valid way to deal with our national and local wellbeing1. Building resilient local communities is a good way to help support those directly, and indirectly, affected by the chaos2.
The other message I am hearing for me is that I need to learn how to grieve. To grieve what was and what could have been. As I approach the end of my sixth decade and I see the accelerated assault on what is important to me, it feels unlikely that I will see the other side with only a few decades remaining. It is possible that I am in the very place to learn this lesson.
Still, even though the lack of useful winter rain3 means few spring flowers to look forward to, seeing the cottonwoods and willows draw life from below the parched surface of the earth and send out bright green leaves, ocotillo pushing out buds, and hearing the song of those waking up to spring help energize me to keep moving forward.
1 A rising tide lifts all boats except those that are anchored too tightly to the sea floor and can't be freed.
Some will point, reductively, to positive outcomes of the current strategy, but the long-term, systemic damage, including to our wild lands, may never be recoverable.
2 The current uprising against the ruling class, decades in the making, is being taken advantage of by the billionaire class to remove impediments to their ability to amass further wealth, accepting short-term losses for longer-term potential, exacerbating the very problems (wealth disparity being a huge factor) that have led to the uprising. Unfortunately, the chaos strategy being pursued by those that have seized power has the potential to lead to very dangerous times. The billionaire class is already doing what they can to solidify their power so that they will be able to suppress the revolt that continues to build. To survive the chaos, local communities need to come together and embrace wisdom, ancient and new, transcendent and grounded, that bridges the divides perpetuated by Red Team vs Blue Team, religion vs religion, race vs race, and other tribal, fear-based talking points.
3 Hopefully, the late winter showers we have experienced will generate food for those just beginning to arrive, like the Vermilion Flycatchers, Gray Hawks, and various warblers.