Mother Nature here, my dearest humans, with Halloween salutations. What? You don’t recognize me in the picture? I don’t look like my beautiful, soothing, nurturing and life-giving self, you say? Imagine that. Well, that’s what unrelenting, escalating abuse does to one. It strips away one’s loveliness; it fuels one’s nasty thoughts of revenge, that smolder and intensify until they become uncontainable. You can’t say I haven’t been giving you lots of warning of what I’ll be capable of when I can no longer endure your disrespect, mistreatment, poisoning, raping and pillaging, can you? Continue to ignore my warnings at your own peril, is all I can say. You see, what you do to me, you’re doing to your species; we’re in this thing called life together. We’re inseparable.
Oh, I must correct myself. It’s true you humans can’t survive without a healthy me; but the thing is, I’ll be able to get along just fine without you in the picture anymore. No, not just “fine”. Great, actually! Once again, I’ll be the pristine, un-tamed, benevolent, creative, peaceful, awe-inspiring, profound, mysterious, ethereal, refreshing, biodiverse, energizing, life-sustainer I once was esteemed as.
It’s just that I’ll be so sad when you’re not around anymore to appreciate—as only humans can—my gorgeous sunsets; my crystal clear waters; my dark, starry skies; my silence; my cacophony of bird-song; my snow-peaked mountains; my crashing, unpolluted ocean waves; my deep, lush forests; all my creatures great and small. Yes, I have to admit, I’ll miss the consciousness and intelligence you humans brought to this planet over the eons; that is, I’ll miss what you were before you turned that intelligence against me and began using it to defile me as you like.
That’s why I’m taking this Halloween opportunity to say: Trick or treat, world! Start treating me as every individual in your species wants to be treated—with respect and dignity and compassion and love—and we can still foster a long and happy relationship. If that treat isn’t forthcoming soon, let me tell you, as much as I hate the thought of it, my tricks will be nasty, very nasty, indeed.
Your (hopefully) ever-loving Mother Nature