Passing It On: how life continues

 It is autumn. Leaves are falling and many plants have shot up stalks of seeds. I carried some seeds back from our herb harvest the other day and there are more just waiting for someone (me?) to notice them. Right outside my front door is a tall tall spike of the big seeds of Black Cohosh, and I think of it as a very special medicinal. Yes, I tell that plant, I will collect your seeds and plant them in the early spring next year. (Note to self: Do it!)

Most times of year, I don't think much about seeds. But as the whole world turns toward winter, with plants dying and turning brown, the value of seeds starts to sink in. Many plants are dying and they're annuals, not perennials. What would happen to the population of these plants if there were no seeds? They would go extinct. Thank goodness for seeds! We don't want to lose all those fine plants.

This makes me wonder about the evolution of seeds. When the earth was young, when things were cooling down and life was just beginning, somehow nature needed to figure out how to perpetuate the life that was appearing. As far as I know, nothing living can live forever. We all die: microorganisms, plants, birds, mammals, reptiles. Some trees are very long-lived, but eventually they die too. To prevent all life from disappearing from the earth, evolution had to come up with a way to make new life from old, a way for living organisms to make others to replace themselves when they died. And in true creative form, Nature came up with a multitude of paths to procreation. 

Single cell organisms learned how to divide, which created offspring that were identical to the original cells. At some point, life evolved to invite in different mixes of attributes, with cross fertilization from others of the same species. This made it possible for a species to evolve, having that ever changing genetic mix to be available for different conditions. If suddenly a drought comes along in a formerly non-drought area, some beings may have a gene that allows them to thrive in drought. So life has done a good job of providing a storehouse of possible genetic combinations that has served the earth well.

In the animal kingdom, cross fertilization is ensured by the male of a species fertilizing a female, who grows an offspring inside herself or lays eggs that can be tended and hatched. These fertilizing impulses are inherent in both males (to fertilize a female) and females (to entertain the advances of males and make new offspring). Mostly in the animal kingdom, this seems to work pretty well. Sometimes males get pushy, but often females reserve the right to choose which male to mate with. There is push and pull, but the balance is maintained. And the species thrives.

If we humans lived in peaceful, cooperative, respectful cultures, this might work well for us too. However, we are not a perfect species and sometimes the male forgets or disregards the wishes of the female. The story is all too familiar, a man forcing his advances on a woman, letting his sexual desire overrule societal norms, violating the freewill and safety of women. In prehistoric cultures and even some since then, women had an important voice and role in the life of the community. However, for a long time now the human culture has tended toward patriarchy, with men being the leaders and decision-makers. Maybe if women were truly less intelligent and less capable than men, male dominance might make sense. But in reality, women are fully as intelligent and as capable as men. There are differences between the sexes, but those differences are important in order to maintain a healthy balance in the lives and decisions of the human species. Women's contribution is needed. So at least from any sensible point of view, it's important to welcome women into all the areas of human activity. Their contributions to the whole can only serve us well.

Unfortunately, with the new grand plan of the upcoming President, there will be a strong effort to suppress women from anything except staying in the home, raising children and taking care of their husbands.  I can't imagine this is a popular philosophy with most women. And I am looking forward to some rebellious actions from strong women who will not be held down. Looking at this situation from an historical perspective, it would make sense that eventually evolution will prove that suppressing women does not serve the species well, and this current paradigm will go away. In the meantime, women may have some uncomfortable and frustrating years ahead of them.

With the struggles of our human population in mind, it's refreshing to think of the way plants procreate. When I was hiking the other day, I got back to find that my sweatshirt was covered with round prickly balls, seeds finding their way to new places. We and other animals inadvertently carry seeds with us frequently. The wind and rain also do a good job of transporting seeds from the mother plant to new areas.  Seeds are amazingly vital. They can last for years before they run into the right circumstances to sprout and grow. And how like magic it is to contemplate these tiny inert dry things, sometimes looking like dust or debris. Yet they hold in themselves the ability to come to life when the environment is right. It is truly like magic, a tiny dry thing suddenly growing into a big plant or tree or bush. It seems so improbable, yet it is happening everywhere. And if we can apply this to humans, even metaphorically, we may have seeds of courage or determination or happiness or perseverance or compassion that are just waiting to germinate in ourselves. Everything is possible.....