Green Tribe of Belonging

  Watching for Weather For weeks now I’ve watched the clouds, waiting not just for rain, though we need it, but for a real storm, a writhing, thrashing thing, that will shake us up and put us back together. I want the wind to roar, the thunder crash. I want lightning flashes to fill the sky and all animals to tremble in their shelters, all other activities to cease. The power of the storm will pull me outside to stand in the pouring rain, feel the wind rustling through my clothing. I will become one with the wild tempest, pulled up and out of my small self, swept away into the turbulent, creative center. NF 7/26/22

This morning I woke up angry.  I did not sign up  for this mess we’re in. I did not agree to live in a culture that did not honor truth or fairness or sharing the load. When I was a little girl I learned that we needed to be kind, to be good, to think of others as ourselves. I learned that people work together, listen to each other are part of something bigger. As I grew older, I learned about tragedies. Across the ocean innocent people were killed because of their religion, because they were different. I learned that it was up to good people to not let that happen again, to make sure all people were respected and valued. I learned that the country I lived in had high standards. We respected all people, all colors of skin, all religions. We shared the decisions of government with everyone. Because of this my country attracted the downtrodden, the weary, the poor, people yearning to be free. I was proud to be a citizen of this country.. When did this all change? When did we los...

 My garden at Prairie Hill is large. It's right on the corner as you turn in. Because it's so high profile, I plant lots of flowers, and there is a goodly amount of vegetables too. But the real focus in my garden is  medicinal herbs. Most of them are perennials, and in this, their fourth year, they are getting large and lush and impressive. I like to harvest them in the fall mostly. The roots of many are their most potent offerings, although the leaves and flowers of some are equally valuable. Usually I make tinctures out of them all, for that process concentrates their healing properties, and tinctures last for many years. When I was in my early 20's with two little girls to love and feed and keep healthy, I learned about medicinal plants. We were living in a small alternative community in the southern mountains. It was a natural wonderland, surrounded by forests, mountain peaks, streams racing down to the valley and a river meandering through the lowlands. Some of my neig...

  Tribal Council Things were looking bad on planet earth. Responding to distress calls throughout the world, all living beings gathered together to pool their knowledge.  Their communication was silent but profound. Their bodies were scattered, but all were heard. It was like a Noah’s Ark story, with the world in peril. But this time all life was included: birds and insects of the air, microorganisms and other life forms underground, animals from the smallest mouse to the largest elephant, fish of the sea, and plants: huge trees, small bushes, tall grasses, creeping ground covers, vines, blooming flowers. All gathered with one purpose: saving the planet together. It was decided that humans could also be invited to the council, though they were instructed to listen and learn instead of leading. Their lack of understanding of the rest of life meant they needed to step aside and open their minds. It was hoped that humans could take an important role once they developed an ability...

 Since I moved to Prairie Hill, my consciousness about native plants has grown considerably. Earlier in my life, I doubt I even thought about the difference between the plants I saw growing in the fields and garden, and plants that were native to Iowa. I thought I knew a lot about plants! I was a farm girl, so I saw the fields of corn and soybeans and oats and hay all around me, and all the vegetables in my mother's garden. That was my reference point, and when I grew up, I ordered vegetables from the seed catalogs for my own gardens, not even thinking about the history and development of the seeds I was planting. It's amazing to me now that I had very little awareness of native versus altered or introduced plants.  So I have been doing lots of reading and observing. And since I have been doing this during a time when our country is going through serious division and controversy, I've been wondering about evolution of life in general. How has our species come to the present...