On Puerto Rico, Part II

Nature

"It looked like a bomb had just dropped and wiped out everything. There was no color, no vegetation. It was all brown and grey. You know what sandblasting is? Well, the bare tree trunks had a shiny, waxy look from afar, as if they had been sandblasted and polished. There was flood water everywhere."

Nature is very powerful. It's easy to overlook or under appreciate it in the typical everydayness of our lives. When a natural disaster strikes, however, we are quickly reminded of just how impotent we are against one of life's most uncontrollable phenomena. In some way of another, we are all in the line of fire, and when I say we, I include nature itself as well. 

Puerto Rico's flora and fauna suffered lamentable losses after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. More notably, around 80% of the island's agricultural crops were decimated by one or both storms and thousands of cattle and chickens were lost to the floods, leaving little to no choice for a substantial increase in importation of goods that were produced in the island before. But flora and fauna mean much more than agricultural lands and farm animals, and in my time back home, I spent some time in conscious observation of my surroundings, taking Mother Nature in and letting her teach me her ways.

The surviving trees, most of which lost their branches, were starting to bear leaves on their trunks. Vegetation was growing on top of the fresh soil that separated from the mountains. One of the trees in my parents' backyard, removed by the roots during the storm, laid on the ground still bearing fruit. The crops from my parents' farm were coming back to life. It was clear; I witnessed Nature forgiving and forgetting rather quickly, instead of losing itself to the circumstances, focusing its energy inwards: self-preservation at first and resurgence when the time was right. I was a different, yet beautiful, Puerto Rican flora rebirthing, the perfect symbolism of catharsis and renewal that Puerto Ricans themselves were experiencing.

There's so much to learn from these everyday miracles.

We all go through traumas, and there are times when we even share the same life-changing experience: traumas of loss, deception, pain, yearning, bankruptcy. Casualties are expected, and those we lose we righteously grieve and remember. But what about the ones that make it out alive? Who are they and what are their stories of rebirthing? And how many survive only to stay forever condemned to the perils of their past?

During the days where I felt overwhelmed by the situation in the island and brewed frustration over my inability to solve all problems I wanted to help get rid of, I found solace in Nature because it exemplified true resilience, it reminded me of the capacity within all of us to focus on survival until the time is right to blossom again... different, but beautiful nevertheless. At the very least, witnessing Nature make a comeback right in the midst of its own chaos  gives me hope that we can, too, green again after loss and destruction. It is my deepest hope that my island and its people can continue to evolve from this experience and embrace the renaissance with open arms and willing hearts, and that we all (Puerto Ricans or else) can draw from Nature that innate ability to adapt and overcome.