Quote of the Day (George Eliot, on What Goes Unrepaired by Nature)

“Nature repairs her ravages, but not all. The uptorn trees are not rooted again; the parted hills are left scarred; if there is a new growth, the trees are not the same as the old, and the hills underneath their green vesture bear the marks of the past rending. To the eyes that have dwelt on the past, there is no thorough repair.” — English novelist Mary Ann Evans, a.k.a. George Eliot (1819-1880), The Mill on the Floss (1860)

Within only 48 hours, my neck of the woods here in New Jersey withstood both a nor’easter and an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter Scale. 

We have endured greater damage on other occasions, such as Hurricane Ida (see the accompanying picture), where, 2 1/2 years later, repairs are still being made, not by nature, but by mankind. 

But, as Eliot writes, there will indeed be isolated spots where nature leaves long-lasting, even irremediable, physical marks on us, and overall the fear lingers of what might happen next.