Morning Open Thread is a daily, copyrighted post from a host of editors and guest writers. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum.
I’ve come to think of this post as one where you come for the music and stay for the conversation—so feel free to drop a note. The diarist gets to sleep in if she so desires and can show up long after the post is published. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug.
Join us, please.
The Lumbering Possum
I’m used to picking up signs from the animals around me—probably most of you are similarly attuned to some extent and might even be better at reading those signs. You don’t need to live down on the gulf coast for long to learn that the animals know when a big storm is coming sooner than most meteorologists and even some arthritic cranks. When I was young, I overheard my grandmother say more than once, “Watch the birds.” The more domesticated breeds (or at least those that put up with our presence) are a bit sketchier on the long-term or large-scale predictions but they have a marksman’s focus when it comes to the local mood. The stray cats that hand around my house, I’ve noticed, are a group of outliers when it comes to prognostications. Their sensitivity sometimes seems to fall in that section of the Venn diagram that overlaps the local vibe and the wider worries to come.
These strays know something is amiss. They look at me less askance when I give them a bit more food than usual; they barely stir when I laugh at the lumbering possum that treks across my front yard at 4:00 nearly every morning; they seem to hover a bit more when I write on my patio each day. If I had a dog I’m sure she would be underfoot more than usual and even the aggressive Tom that showed up a couple weeks ago and perches on my wall now looks at me with sad eyes in the evenings. Even for a small town, I’ve noticed the extended silences where noise used to invade the day. The traffic is lighter, the drivers more understanding. Unless you’re holed up in a cabin hidden in the wilderness, you can’t have missed the signs that something just isn’t right.
I’ve seen the polls detailing which groups are taking this pandemic seriously and which are shrugging it off as a liberal hoax to take over the world and transform it into some socialistic, post-apocalyptic landscape where everyone gets healthcare, a safe place to live, access to quality education, equality of opportunity and status, and a government that safeguards and cherishes those of us not fortunate enough to be born into affluentcy. But around here I don’t see such a divergence of attitudes. Perhaps we’re used to dealing with natural disasters like category 3 hurricanes and catastrophic floods that indiscriminately afflict large swaths of people regardless of skin tone, heritage, or even social status; perhaps we have an innate sense that on these marshy lands we’re all in the same clichéd boat so to speak.
So take care, everyone. Take care of yourself, take care of those around you, and take care of the creatures that fill your midst or lumber across your path in the early morning light.
For a great piece of writing and a clear-eyed report on what’s going on in
New Orleans, I encourage you to read Crashing Vor’s latest post, Down Here.
❧
Good morning everyone and welcome.
No matter the possums in your life,
I hope you have a wonderful Friday and an even better weekend.
❧
Friday’s Lagniappe
This week’s highlight from The Bitter Southerner is story a bit different than what I would typically link, but I thought we might need something a bit different this week: “Pythons of the Everglades” by Hal Sundt, with photographs by Alica Vera.
“Python hunting is not a thing created for reality television. In Florida, it’s a fight to restore ecological balance to the Everglades, an ecosystem unlike any other on Earth. For 40 years, Burmese pythons — originally escaped from reptile-breeding facilities or released into the swamps by overwhelmed pet owners — have wreaked havoc on the Florida Everglades. The pythons top every native predator from bobcats to alligators, threatening a delicate ecosystem and costing the state billions of dollars.”
❧
❧
☕️
Grab your coffee or tea and join us, please.
What's on your mind this morning?