Summer Solstice 2021--a reflection

          This seems to me like the summer of change is upon us.  Here in Utah we were fortunate to have spring rains and snows, but the moisture ceased and the furnace turned up for June, and it didn't rain for months.  Yet the garden came in beautifully, and by solstice time there was promise of summer and fall harvest--as long as we were careful with irrigation.  And before many of the lakes and reservoirs dropped to record lows, we visited a few with our ocean kayaks and greeted the geese, cranes, herons, grebes, sandpipers, ducks, ospreys,  eagles, and many others.  We also walked upon a few snowfields high in the Wasatch Mountains and listened to the voices in the running waters.  
           But the drought deepened in the West, fires and smoke impacted everyone nationwide, and floods plagued others.  And Covid did not go away.  Indeed, change is upon us.  Now it is time to start considering ideas of resilience, change, and adaptation.  On the longest day of the year, I sat next to our garden, watching the birds snatch insects, and considered what it means to change, to adapt, to survive.  By sunset I found peace of mind, not by reminiscing over what has gone, but by believing in the possibilities for the future of mankind along with the future of our natural world.