I stared at her through the zoom screen, wishing that there was not so much space between us. We were talking about the area that she was staying in, Miami.

“It doesn’t matter what time of year we come here, the gardens are always producing” she said.

“Really?” I said back.

“Yeah, it is different each time but there is always something ready (to be harvested)” she said.

“That can’t be good for the earth” I said. I got lost in thoughts about how the earth must be hurting in that area. One can’t produce all of the time and think that it is sustainable. 

“Do you think that the produce is not good?” she asked.

“I am sure that the produce is fine. I bet, that it is similar to a mother when she is pregnant. I bet that the baby is fine but the mother ends up malnourished. I bet that the produce is fine but mother earth is depleted and hurting” I said. 

We went on to talk about other things. Later in the conversation we spoke about self care practices, both hers and mine. I said that I didn’t want to be Miami, I didn’t want to be “producing” all of the time. My body and my soul needed rest. I never wanted someone to say, “no matter when I see her, she is always producing”, I never want to be Miami.