Dearest Readers,
Here in Southern Ontario, green things are pushing up out of the ground and myriad colours now supersede the greys and browns. Despite these dark times, Nature insists we celebrate life. I hope you are finding ways to feel wonder and awe amid the ongoing strife.
Another animal story for you:
Last summer, my beau and I visited Espace pour la Vie Montréal, which includes the Biodôme, a “museum of enclosed ecosystems”, one of which houses a Southern two-toed sloth.
The sloth is a big draw. There are images and ads all over the place encouraging a visit to the Tropical Rainforest ecosystem to see the paresseux à deux doigts (a sloth’s French name).
After being hypnotized by the tiny, human-like face of the Golden lion tamarin, a laminated sign directed us toward the location of the sloth. We looked and looked through the dripping trees and lush vegetation to no avail.
Then, we spotted it. The star of the show had climbed up beyond the fabricated jungle, up more than 50 feet above us, up to the concrete, glass and steel-arched roof, wedging itself into the furthest corner it could find.
My heart broke into a thousand and seventy-one pieces. This beloved creature was obviously trying to get away from our staring eyes, pointing fingers and incessantly clicking phones.
But was it?
I just now read on the Biodôme’s website that sloths “spend most of their time in the trees, rarely descending to the ground. They live very high in the forest canopy, at altitudes of up to 2100 m.”
For the last year, whenever I have thought of the sloth, I have felt a great sadness, thinking of it trying to get as far away from us as possible. But it turns out the sloth was just doing what sloths do, living “high” and “rarely descending to the ground.”
The truth is, I have no idea what the sloth feels. Maybe it is miserable. But maybe it’s quite content in its equatorial environment. Maybe it loves the feeling of the cool steel against its thick, wiry fur. Maybe it enjoys looking out through the massive skylight-ceiling at the clouds and the stars. What do I know?
I know that I felt sad. And I need to honour that.
May we all feel our sadness when it arises and take care of our tender hearts when they break.
With love and blessings,
Celia
