The Chahuistle has fallen upon us

My whole life I had thought that the Chahuistle was a mythical monster, kind of like the chupacabras, but now, in my infinite sluggishness I Googled the word chahuistle and interestingly enough, I found out that it is a microscopic fungus that attacks maize.  Given that Mexico’s gold has always been and still is corn, I can understand the severity and profoundness of the popular saying Ya nos cayó el Chahuistle.   If the Chahuistle had fallen upon your cornfield, you were screwed, you would loose everything.   You know where I´m getting at, right? Without wanting to bum you even more, it is a fact that the chahuistle has oficially fallen upon us.

There is another saying in English…. Brace yourselves! In Spanish, this would be something like ¡Agárrense!  I feel this is the message that bombards us constantly.  Brace yourselves…the worst is yet to come… Agárrense…¡Ya nos cayó el chahuistle! Andat the same time, we are receiving contradicting messages about being optimistic, about not being fearful, about finding beauty in everyday life, inside your house, bla, bla, bla.   And even though I have to admit, there have genuine heartwarming moments,  like this morning when I saw the Pavarotti and Friends video of artists singing  We Are the World and I cried like Mary Magdalene at six thirty in the morning.   But, most of my day, I have not yet found the beauty in sweeping my kitchen floor, the thrill in setting the washing machine ten times a day,  I have specially not found any amusemnt at all in sitting down three hours in a row with my children and help them complete their schoolwork.   No, most part of my day of my looong looong day, I feel like locking myself up in the bathroom, (the other day I locked myself up in the car just to drink my cup of coffee in peace) to curl up in the floor, rock back and forth and just expect the worst.

My point with this article is this: the worst moment of a rollercoaster ride is when you are almost at the end of the steep uphill ride and you are about to fall.   The worst moment of when you get blood drawn is when the nurse is preparing the syringe and ties your arm with the elastic band.  THAT is the worst moment of all, because we all know that the poke will only last a second, we all know that our guts will fly up to our throats in that first freefall in the rollercoaster ride.  Like the Great Mexican Artist Cantinflas would have said …. Ahí está el detalle… translated… See, there´s the thing.  Now, we don´t know ANYTHING! And the people who are supposed to know, we all know by know, know nothing at all either.   We don´t know what will happen with our business, weather or not in two months we will be able top pay our mortage, the school tuition.  We don´t know if we will get infected by the damn virus or not in our next visit to the grocery store.  We do not know if everyone in our family will end up alive after this.  And that moment, that uphill rollercoaster moment has lasted one month…one month already…¿really?  And that, is preciselly what is driving us crazy, because the worst moment of all must only last an instant, not more.  It is not humanely posible to survive in a constant state of terror for a long period of time… but, turns out, it IS possible and it will not end anytime soon.

At least we will have a very interesting tale to tell, that´s for sure.  Like when we sat down and eagerly listened to our grandparents when they told us the story about when they migrated from their countries, running away from wars, seeking a better future, penniless and starting from scratch.  Because, what we are living right now, ladies and gentlemen is in fact and adventure.  A very weird adventure where the heroes will not go out and kill the bad guys or will destroy invaders, but where the most heroic of all heroes will be those that will stay paralyzed inside their homes.  I mean honestly, compared to anything else that we had lived, this is absolutely “very good material” for us to tell our offspring, at least a very original one.

This might be an era that we look up to in the future… maybe we will remember it like… Yes, my dear, when I lived the 2020 lockdown I did not buy any clothes at all, no makeup, I did not need anything, I didn’t even care.   When I lived the 2020 lockdown was when I became most creative in the kitchen with whatever ingredients I had in the pantry.  When I lived the 2020 lockdown was when I was most excited about meeting my family, even though it was through a screen.   When I lived the 2020 lockdown was when your grandfather and I came up with this or that idea for a businessplan, when I lived the 2020 lockdown….I can’t think of anything else… it’s not like imagination is flowing freely these days, but there will be good things that we will remember,  things that we will look up to in the days to come.  This, I am sure of.

A long time ago, my father, who is a spiritual man, told me something that to this day, I have not forgotten.  I was whinning for whatever problem I had at the time, and he told me,  Regina, you like to read; so read the life of a saint, any saint you want.   They have always had difficulties, sufferings or imposible tests, they would not be saints if they hadn’t.  Heroes are not heroes without a great story.   Well, this better be a hell of a story in our lives, let this be the most interesting chapter of all.  Let us grow stronger and more human than before.   Let uus think what habits of the past era we do not want to return to, let us help our neighbor more, let us think less in ourselves.  Because, my friends,  if the chahuistle has already and inevitably fallen upon us….please… at least let’s make it be worth it!

Regina Moya, day 24 or 25 of lockdown…does it matter?