Opinions expressed in columns on The Central Trend are the view of the individual writer and are not the opinion of the entire staff of The Central Trend or the Forest Hills Central staff or administration.
I have to lean out of my seat to catch a glimpse, but it’s there.
Through the nearly impenetrable glass of the dingy plane window, there’s a sight incomparable to any I’ve seen before.
The window frames a perfect image of cumulus clouds bathed in gilded oranges, yellows, and pinks, leaving a breath of sunshine cascading across the endless horizon.
The gradient expands across all universes, all worlds, and all realities. It’s all encompassing, surpassing all thought and emotion.
Its impact isn’t left unseen by the passengers around me. Everyone is craning their necks near the window, unfurling from slumber like flowers greeting the shy sun rays after a bitter blizzard of snow. We, like all creatures on earth, are drawn to her beauty and the way she comforts us.
Despite all challenges and complaints, her rise and fall everyday is inevitable. Each one is unique in its own right, and yet, it conveys a different meaning and story for every being who witnesses her birth and death.
For me, in this moment, it marks the first day and evening of a journey across the country with the team I am a part of, the team I’ve been feeling every emotion with for the past three years. Even though a long travel day tends to bring out the impatient, spiteful side of my personality, she reminds me to take it easy and, instead, revel in her gaze.
Along with the stark, blinding blaze from the overhead lights and the impending possibility of this plane colliding with a military helicopter, the sun rays blend into the scenery perfectly, reflecting how, in the face of such utter modernization, nature still takes its course.
Maybe I’m just, as always, being overly sentimental, but I tend to think about how one day, when we are all mere wisps of memory and decomposing in the dirt, she will recover. The birds will sing, the grass will grow, and the ocean will reclaim its rightful territory. We were never meant for this planet, a place we are destroying.
She will wash away the misery that is overtaking her soul and grow with or without us, determining whether humans are truly worthy of this place. If we can choose to act in the right order, such as enacting the Green New Deal and saving this world from extinction.
I do. I do believe we retain goodness inside us, even the most insidious currently inhabiting the United States government. I do believe humans were meant to land here, live in harmony with the animals that run free in the rugged wilderness. Our paths have been misconstrued, forever shaped by the insatiable greed that eats away at our subconscious. If only we choose to see the colors of the wind as they truly are, then maybe the sun will welcome us back as her children, and we will be able to unfurl without shame for her once more.
