Green Tribe of Belonging

 As humans, we naturally view the world through the eyes of our own species, and of our culture. As our species has developed, we've become more distanced from the other living things around us so that sometimes our worldview is totally focused on the doings of other people, the natural world viewed a bit like furniture, something in the background but not very important. I imagine this is a tendency with other animals too. Wolves may not think much about the interrelationships among their neighbors in the forest. Chipmunks' lives are probably focused mostly on their secure homes and navigating the dangers outside as they look for food. But it can be mind-blowing to let yourself imagine being some other species, even plants. As I was sitting quietly in Friends Meeting the other day, a little restless and unfocused, I began to look out the window at a tree limb blowing in the wind. Just a limb, covered in leaves, attached to a tall trunk out of my view. And I began to imagine th...

 We've planted two native short-growing grasses around all our buildings here at Prairie Hill. They are deep-rooted, allowing rain to soak deep without running off, and once these grasses get well-established, they don't need to be mowed often. Since we don't use herbicides here, we have been holding weeding parties for the past 6 or 7 years while these native grasses are getting established. And we're learning about all the weeds that try to find a home on our lawns. Weeds, by definition, are plants that you don't want. And it's easy to think of them negatively: bad plants! I resist that. My feeling is that all plants are here for a purpose and they all have worth. That doesn't mean I don't pull them out of the native grasses, but I do it with respect.  I'm curious about these unwanted plants, so I've done some research on all the weeds we're finding here. This time I've chosen to write about one that is getting more prevalent at Prairie...