Earlier this week, an intense windstorm knocked out our power for several hours. Today is the third day of an orange sky casting an eerie pall over Portland, as wildfire smoke slowly seeps into our house. I’m grateful the rain is due soon, though scorched terrain may see land- and mudslides soon afterward. All the while, we continue to ward off an earth-born virus. Air; Fire; Water; Earth. In classic philosophies, the fifth element is Spirit or “Aether”—that which animates the life in and around us. So as I sit indoors wearing a mask to filter out the smoke, I wonder, What more can we do with our own agency, instead of just waiting for the winds to shift?
