Let's be a dread

another meaning (and an excerpt)*

“Aleutian Terns” Cheri Govertsen Greer, 1985 (C)

As election day approaches, the air is thick with anxiety. Everywhere, I hear nervous chatter, with one word repeated over and over: “dread.” It’s almost tangible, a heavy presence of fear and apprehension.

But dread has another meaning.

Terns, my favorite bird, migrate farther than any other, traveling over 55,000 miles each year. In colonies of 2,000 to 20,000, their collective noise is deafening. Yet, sometimes, without warning, they all fall silent, lift off, circle their nests in flight, then land and resume their calls. This unexplained moment of silent flight is known as a dread.

For the coming days, I’m choosing to dread like a tern. Less noise, more silence. Less scrolling, more soaring. Less wandering, more circling home. Less isolation, more community.

A dread of terns is awe-inspiring. It’s unexpected, powerful, and peaceful. Let’s not simply dread tomorrow—let’s be a dread tomorrow.

-elke

PS: I wrote about the moment I learned this alternate definition of dread in my book, “The Mink Pen” (excerpt below). It is also the story of the painting above by my mother Cheri Govertsen Greer.

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*(Below: “Dread” excerpt from my memoir “The Mink Pen” for paid subscribers only)*