Spectacular Silver Linings – by Janie DeVos

                                                  

    I called my friend yesterday to wish her a happy birthday, and she shared a most amazing story with me which only served to prove to me, yet again, that every cloud has a silver lining.

Debi lives in my old neck of the woods in south Florida, and we met when we were walking our dogs in our neighborhood one day.  It was one of those chance meetings that has resulted in years of friendship, and one that hasn’t lessened even though I live hundreds of miles away now.

Debi loves going to the beach, but her favorite time to go is in the late afternoon, once the sands have quieted down, and the sun-tanners, volleyball players and people-watchers have gone home.  There, Debi sets her fold-out chair into the shallows and enjoys the water that still has enough of a touch of coolness to it to ease away the day’s heat—both the physical kind and the mental kind.  It’s usually a non-eventful time, which is exactly what she’s looking for, but she became part of a most remarkable event, miraculous really, when she arrived at her regular spot last week.

As with most difficult times in life, there’s usually some good that comes out of it if one will only look for it.  As a result of this pandemic, for example, the waters in the Venice canal have cleared up to the point that you can actually see the fish swimming in it, thanks to far less traffic on the waterway.  I also read that the world’s pollution is down, due to the fact that there are fewer cars on the roads and planes in the air.  Don’t get me wrong, I miss the “good ol’ days”, too, but, in exchange for those things we’re giving up for a while, we’re seeing some amazing silver linings.  Now, back to Debi…

For a long time now, the hatching of baby turtles has been a most difficult, if not downright impossible occurrence on the shores of south Florida.  Where once nests were abundant, now there are masses of people, and though there are laws in place to protect the turtles and their eggs, as well as volunteers to watch over them, the throngs of folks on the beach each day make it extremely difficult.  However, because of the pandemic, there have been far fewer people on the beach, and Mother Nature has taken full advantage of it.

As Debi sat there enjoying the hypnotic rhythm of the waves, she suddenly heard a commotion.  Quickly looking over to where it was coming from, she saw a group of people all huddled around…something.  Curious, she walked over to the group and there, nestled within a small protective enclosure, were hundreds of turtle eggs hatching.  Debi stood there mesmerized as she watched tiny heads and fins push their way out of the fractured eggs, realizing, as everyone else did, that they were the lucky few to be standing witness to something so precious and so rare, and something that they’d probably never have the chance to see again.

Suddenly, a woman from the group of volunteers who watches over the nests began to carefully load twenty hatchlings into a large bucket, and then she walked off toward the water, telling the onlookers to come with her.  Just short of where the water meets the sand, she gently lifted each tiny turtle out of the bucket and instructed the group to help guide the babies into the water, and to gently set them back on course if they began to stray.  Bucket after bucket of hatchlings were set free, and encouraging them on, just like proud parents, were the beach goers, following their charges with outstretched hands to keep them headed in the right direction.  People of all colors, nationalities, religious beliefs, political views and ages worked side by side, and as they did, they forgot how angry they were, or frightened, and how disillusioned and different they were.  For a small moment in time, no one thought about it, or, if they did, it just simply didn’t matter.  What did matter was the importance of working together as one, for only then would the turtles have a chance.  There the people stood, sharing the joy of their accomplishment as they watched the tiny turtles feel the first soft waves splash their little faces, and then excitedly find a rhythm with their fins as they worked to propel themselves forward into the vast blue-green sea.  People laughed together, smiled at each other and felt that deep connection that is created when we're able to accomplish something wonderful as a whole.

As the last hatchling made its way into the depths, dusk descended, and a most glorious sunset ended the day in an exclamation mark of vibrant gold, red and orange.  Not a storm cloud had been seen all afternoon, yet a spectacular silver lining had miraculously occurred, uniting the hearts and spirits of a lucky chosen few with some tiny little turtles whose lives depended on them to forget their differences...if only for a small moment in time.