World of Wonders: in Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments - by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Host: Zoom
Rating
Before I review the book club meeting, I thought I would take a moment here to summarize 2020; a very unexpected, turbulent year unlike any most of us have ever experienced. And, certainly never expected. It's not that the world isn't full of loss and traumatic things all the time. But, it does seem rare for the world to experience the collective loss and trauma that found us in this past year.
January 2021, for our Book Club, starts out on a very different note than January 2020. As 2020 opened, we were all together and had no idea what was waiting for us. By mid-March the world was in full Quarantine due to a new strain of Coronavirus. Though the world has experienced infectious disease throughout our history, not since 1918 and the Spanish Flu have we experienced one on this global level.
Our book club immediately started meeting on a "new to us" Zoom platform. In fact, much of life this year has been spent in groups, classes, and on-line tutorials on Zoom and Facebook Live as we try to stay personally connected and at the same time try bring the virus under control.
Simultaneously, the U.S. broke out into protests, that sometimes turned into riots and vandalism due to devastating and very publicized events. As awful as it was, I hope that it leads to better understanding. It seems, in this country, change never comes in an easy way.
We had the threat of potentially deadly Murder Hornets that arrived on the West Coast. Frankly, by that time, I think they took one look at us and said, "never mind" and went home.
The West Coast was burning down with fires, and for the first time in history, the Gulf States were fighting off multiple storms that were forming at the same time.
And, then there was the never ending election. Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, I would imagine it is wearing us all down.
In fact, I think many of us have experienced "Quarantine Fatigue" as we went from full lockdown to a variety of imposed safety measures that are exhausting both people and businesses. This "Quarantine Fatigue" affected my concentration. I just couldn't make myself focus on the reading. I realized as I was making updates today that I haven't posted a book club update since July. Something similar happened to me after my divorce, so I recognize it. I know that it will pass but, it's part of the exhaustion of adapting to new and traumatic events. (Special thanks to Diana and Arnora for keeping notes that helped me get caught up!)
I could go on and on. Because, it seemed everyday we woke up to some new freaky thing we had to cope with or, at the least process for our own understanding.
As the year wore on, more people we knew were getting sick or, we were hearing about the deaths of someone we knew. Most recently, I have lost a cousin, and two former co-workers to the virus. Several are still sick but recovering.
And, of course, I am leading up to the greatest loss we have encountered but, not from the virus. I was thinking about how I found this book club on what I thought was a "whim" when I put my zip code in a box on Oprah's website to see if a book club was forming in my area. The rest, as they say, is history as I was directed to Diana Beal's OU email address. For me, it has been 16 years since I attended my first meeting and met 14 of the most wonderful women I may have the privilege of knowing.
I was reminiscing that we had a variety of ages and stages of life from Terry, who was our oldest member to Darby, our youngest. Some of us still had kids at home, some had never had children. Some of us were having kids getting married and grandchildren. We walked each other through these life stages. As well, we walked each other through the loss of parents. Three of us have moved away and we welcomed, Leslie. In fact, Tammy has moved a couple of times and Darby is moving again as she takes a new job!
We've also walked each other through divorces, remarriage and widowhood. We've kept each other company in our travels and enjoyed movies, concerts, museums and lots of laughs. I came to the book club on the heels of my divorce and these friendships, formed through our mutual love of literature and sharing deep personal
discussions, certainly enriched that stage of my life as a newly single person.
And, on Christmas Eve, 2020, though we couldn't be there in person, spiritually, we walked our Terry to her heavenly home. Covid didn't take her but, Cancer did and, we are all mourning her loss. We are going to miss her boisterous laugh, her zest for life, her intelligence and her enthusiasm for sharing her literary knowledge. She leaves behind a family, friends and students whom she loved and who loved her. Her impact on all of us will last throughout our own lifetime.
To Laura, Robbie and John and the rest of her family, I know we all send our love and prayers for comfort at this time.
As well, we are energetically holding Darby and her family in our hearts as she said goodbye to her father on January 2.
I felt kind of bad saying "Happy New Year" this year, as I was not feeling particularly festive. I am certainly hoping for better days but, I'm prepared to white-knuckle it for a bit longer as the vaccination makes it world tour.
On that note, I offer my deepest and heartfelt gratitude to all my wonderful book club friends as we continue to enrich our lives through literature and each others company! Love you all!
