Hope in the Promise of Spring

The yearling doe caught my eye first, with its head down, nibbling on a patch of grass between an old bigleaf maple and a much younger cedar tree. Then I spotted the big ears of a second doe facing the other direction, lying beneath the moss-cloaked maple. The yearling, as if aware it was being watched, stopped and took a long look up in my direction. Searching for movement and finding none, she dropped her head and returned to eating. It was curious the other doe wasn’t grazing herself, content instead to lie on what looked like a soft comfortable spot, largely hidden from view. They made a sweet portrait, broken only by the shadow of a red-tailed hawk passing low overhead.

Hours later, the yearling had moved on and was nowhere in sight, but the other doe remained under the maple, still as a statue with nary a twitch of her ears. Was something wrong? Was she sick? Injured? Should I intervene? And what would I do to help?

A bit later, I saw the pair together, recognizing they were mother and daughter. I was relieved to see them while noting the elder doe looked big and healthy and had probably just been napping earlier. It made me smile looking out the window as I finished washing a few dishes after lunch, knowing we had survived a long winter together and that coming to know individual deer, coyotes, and bears felt practically familial.

These are my distractions from the daily barrage of once-unthinkable news, with breaking news alerts coming fast and furious through my phone that make me wince at the sound, and I’m always half afraid to look. (Note to self: Silence those notifications.) I’m tired and downright exhausted simply trying to keep up.

Nationally and globally, we are in new and unfamiliar territory with so many uniquely American alliances that once seemed assured that are no longer. Change has come hard and fast in a dizzying cascade of confusing realignment felt around the world.

Years of intense polarization have left us unable to have difficult but necessary and meaningful discussions.

A sincere nonpartisan effort to reengage in respectful civil dialogue to bridge divisions and rebuild healthier, happier, and better functioning communities is underway across the nation, here in Washington state, in Pierce County, Gig Harbor, and on the KP. Grassroots organizers have been understandably thoughtful and deliberate about building a framework for discussion primed for success. The groundwork in preparation is agonizingly slow, born undoubtedly from fear of failure to establish itself long enough to see real improvement in our ability to truly understand and consider different perspectives.

I recently listened to a public forum sponsored by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California, founded in 1903, where former U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, told a story about his father. Zbigniew Brzezinski was a Polish-American diplomat who served as a counselor to President Lyndon Johnson and later as national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter during the Camp David Accords, the longest-lasting peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

What stood out to me were the words of advice the young Brzezinski took to heart from his father: “Don’t let a setback be a defeat, something that brings you down and keeps you down. Let a setback be a disappointment that you grow from, that you learn from, and you ultimately thrive from.”

Brzezinski spoke with great pride about his time as ambassador to Poland and of how well Poland responded to war coming to Ukraine, with preparations ready to receive millions of Ukrainian refugees. He spoke of the incredible pride he took as everyday Americans went into action as well to support Ukraine.

“What I would say to my fellow Americans is that the source of American power in Poland or anywhere in the world is not ultimately the strength of our military or the strength of our economy, but the attractiveness of the values we stand for.”

He spoke of the statue of President Ronald Reagan that stands across the street from the U.S. Embassy in Poland. It represents the values of democracy, freedom, and human rights that so many Americans defended with their lives over decades and decades.

When an American diplomat says something, Brzezinski said, it means a hell of a lot, more than if it was just based on business contracts or military strength alone.

“America’s ideology is profoundly attractive around the world,” he said. “China’s ideology is not. We are, by definition, ultimately more effective in getting the decisions that we want to get abroad because of the attractiveness of our ideology.”

He views President Trump as someone who is transactional by nature but also has great interest in and opportunity for being a peacemaker. “I think by being active and publicly involved Americans we are doing a patriotic duty,” Brzezinski said.

“Critiquing a president’s approach is not unpatriotic but in fact the essence of patriotism.

“All of us want the American president to be successful. We have a self-interest in that, but there is nothing wrong in saying a policy or an approach undercuts the true power of what it means to be an American.”

The big doe returned to lying under the maple tree, just like the day before. That’s when it hit me: she’s getting ready to deliver a fawn. It is spring, after all.

Even remembering how furious I was last summer at seeing my glorious hostas nibbled to nubbins by deer, I softened. Go ahead. Eat the leaves of my lilac, or whatever else you need. I have enough to share and some hope to carry on.