The prairie stretched in front of us for several miles. “What do you see?” I asked. Sara looked around with that half-bored expression teens sometimes have, “Grass,” was all she said. “Look down, then.” I instructed, “What’s right here beneath you?” She looked askance, then looked down, “Well, some grass. Some rocks, some of those […]
Tag Archives: community
They fluttered down like leaves tossed into the air, then wheeled around jockeying for a place at the feeder. Their chirping was loud and insistent, and the ones that didn’t get a perch landed in the nearby bushes and loudly complained about their fate. Spring brings out all the birds; the ones that overwintered are […]
The best things in life are dirty; the worst thing in life is wakin’ up clean, without a bean… “Best Things” from Paint Your Wagon “Wash your hands,” my mother said when I came in from the garden, “They’re dirty.” Soil was caked on my skin and embedded under my nails. I had to wash […]
“If you want to destroy a barn,” a farmer once told me, “cut an eighteen-inch-square hole in the roof. Then stand back.” Chris Riddle, quoted in The World Without Us by Alan Weisman Ask any farmer what happens to his fields when they lie fallow for a year or two. He’ll tell you that it […]
“You are one of the forces of nature.” Jules Michelet, quoted in the comic “Mutts” The other day I inadvertently stepped on one, thus proving that X-bugs are more mortal than X-Men. Every spring the boxelder beetles swarm out from the two boxelder trees at the back of the yard, coating various surfaces with their […]
A man was throwing starfish caught by the tide back into the sea. When asked why saving one starfish out of hundreds stranded on the beach mattered, he replied, “It matters to that one.” Apologies to Loren Eisley, The Star Thrower Climate change, peak oil, recession/depression, bacteria in foods, pharmaceuticals in drinking water, ozone depletion, […]
“…it is important to bear in mind that nature bats last and owns the stadium.” Hawken, Lovins, Lovins, Natural Capitalism 1996 – Out on the plains to the east, the horizon stretches forever. In the valley between the foothills and the mesas, the sky is bright long before the sun’s first rays strike the valley. […]
“I hate ’em,” he said grimly, “and I’m gonna get every last one of ’em.” My neighbor was usually calm and patient, but today he was clearly on the warpath. He pulled out the sprayer, pumped it twice and began the massacre of the violets in his lawn. It was a spring ritual he followed […]
This is dedicated to Marion Galant, a friend who recently passed following a second bout with cancer. In our memories, she remains a part of us. The old apple tree came down during the night. Fire blight and age combined with the wind and finally took their toll. It leaves a large empty spot in […]
Writes of Nature 