Four of Wands, Reversed

   

     The Four of Wands, reversed. Every cross quarter day, I pull on card from the tarot, using it to guide the coming six weeks. On May Day, I pulled the four of wands, which is a celebratory card of people dancing under an arbor of flowers. It looks like a wedding, but it is open to interpretation. Even reversed, it is positive, just more low key. And this has been the tone of the last few weeks, as Benton County moves slowly, cautiously, out of the pandemic. Over 69% of the eligible population is vaccinated, so we are able to gather safely, in quiet celebration.

High school classes have been in person for a month and students are smarter and more focused, even as the entire class is vaccinated and they begin to slip snacks under their masks, pound each other on the back, and stare at the same computer once more. They gather outside for lunch, perching on the bleachers like flocks of birds, all talking at once. We had an outdoor choir concert with senior solos, Mary’s Peak in the background, on Thursday night and graduation on Saturday morning. Together. There were hugs. Shouts. Laughter. Some tears. Small celebrations.

At home, we have been visiting with friends, botanizing prairies and peaks, riding together in the same car.  We have eaten meals together—outside, still, but outside in June is beautiful.  There is talk of a pie social, of gathering to work on bike codes, of being together once again. The library is opening up for browsing on the Summer Solstice. We can see faces when we go for walks. Once again, small celebrations.

We will not know the total losses from the year- -from the isolation, from the pandemic, from the wildfires—for a long while. I expect to stumble over our losses for at least a year; a trail or business closed, a friend’s family member lost to the virus, an acquaintance   to the culture wars…losses we do not know now. So, moving onward, there is no huge celebration, like I imagine there might be after winning a war. We did not win this war, we merely survived. That, however, is worth a small celebration.