Kathy Vargas

When war and political upheaval constantly become omni-present, I crave the peace of nature, but even that is hard to find with climate change: hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, freezes, and floods. I used to have pomegranates in my garden. Their color was spectacular. Now the pomegranate tree is gone, a victim to freezing temperatures. The memory of a bowlful of pomegranates must be enough. The natural world is under attack. I used to look to it for peace, but the world is never at peace anymore. How much longer before birds cease to be?
This year, my roses froze while still in bloom, and my citrus trees are too diminished to bear fruit anymore. Even the snails didn’t survive. There’s so much we need to fix. But as I get older, I realize that it won’t be my generation that mends the world.