Gray's Academy

My planes bound for Newark, then Brussels and finally Sicily leave this afternoon. Part of what draws me to this island is that one doesn’t just find themselves in Sicily – that being said, that is exactly what Sicily is doing for me. I am in search of parts of myself, to get reacquainted to my adventurous and sometimes rebellious self. But to get to Sicily you have to jump through a few hoops if you live in the U.S. If you live in a city with a small airport, as I do it take a full 24 hours to make the journey.

This week Hurricane Idalia made herself known to us on the Atlantic coast. She paid particular attention to small communities on the gulf coast right near the panhandle in Florida. These are low lying, generally poor communities where many people lost everything. The wrath of a hurricane, and the tornadoes it spawns lay witness to Mother Nature’s power and might.

After a tropical storm there follows at least one day but usually two or three of absolutely beautiful weather. The sky looks bluer, the clouds are all nice and fluffy, begging us to look for a kind of animal or shape hidden in the clouds. Could it be that Mother Nature wants to get our attention with her path of destruction and also remind us that she is and always will be the source of our survival? Isn’t the natural world just magnificent? Don’t mess with Mother Nature. She giveth and she can take to it away.

I am well aware that not everyone who reads this blog will have had a wonderful nurturing mother. Perhaps some of you had a mother more like the hurricane without the soft beauty that a post hurricane day gives us. Those kind of mothers require us to have the fortitude to endure as if we are surviving a natural disaster. In the end, we are mothering ourselves. Mom, if you read this – I won the lottery having you as a mom. I had a predictable, stable upbringing. Having a childhood that isn’t loaded with uncertainty is a wonderful way to learn about the world.

But now, I am embracing uncertainty. Like a fine Japanese tea, let’s hope I have aged well and that there is plenty of savoring in the future not just for me but for all of you taking the time to come with me on this adventure.