Earth Day Thoughts

 Spring has brought me a multitude of opportunities to learn more about our Earth in the last several weeks. And on this, Earth Day, it seems appropriate for me to think back on these different experiences and share some of the wisdom. Sometimes I find it depressing when I interact with people who seem to think everything is fine on our planet, that those crazy liberals are just making up this climate change crisis, that populations of animals and plants are not disappearing, that our human ways are perfect and no need to worry, that news reports to the contrary are just lies. I've spent some time trying to figure out why so much of our country's population seems to be blind to the real state of things, our chaotic and corrupt government, our rising temperatures and unpredictable weather, the collapse of some ecosystems. I strive to be compassionate with these individuals, even though I'm really concerned that they are living in an illusion. And when I get back to my own home, I settle in with something reassuring and supportive of my concerns about our world. Lately I've been listening to The Book of Hope: a survival guide for trying times by Doug Abrams and Jane Goodall. The thing I find most comforting about this book is that even though Jane Goodall sees what trouble our species is in and is under no delusions, she hasn't given up. She admits that if we don't change our ways very soon, it may be too late to save at least our place on the earth. However, Jane still believes that we can do what's needed. If we are determined to change, to understand how we've gone wrong, and search for ways to remedy the environment and our culture, she believes it is still possible to save our place on the planet. She has a refreshing perspective on our human species, our ability to create and understand. As she says: we need to connect our intellect with our heart. Too many of our huge manipulations of our environment have lacked heart.

A recent encouraging happening was an event here in Iowa City early this month, a presentation by Chris Helzer, "Hidden Prairie: photographing life in one square meter". Chris studied this square meter for a whole year, with visits several times a week. He observed the progression of plants, animals, a huge variety of insects, and birds on this small piece of prairie, and the photos he took were amazing. Just a tiny spot of land, and SO much life, so much happening.

Then I watched on Zoom a wonderful presentation by Doug Tallamy called Nature's Best Hope. It was so good to hear and see this soon after the Hidden Prairie talk, for he continued to focus on insects, on the huge importance of insects in our ecosystems. I began to realize that my culture has taught me to disdain insects, though I now know better. We swish them away, think of them as pests, use poisons to get rid of them, pick them off our garden plants. I still feel guilty about a time years ago when I was taking care of our large retaining cell at the bottom of our Prairie Hill property. This enclosed area is where we grow native plants that catch the runoff from our hill. I was tending the milkweed plants, and I saw a bunch of caterpillars eating their leaves. Without thinking, I started crushing them, saving the plants from the marauders. And then I realized that those caterpillars were why we planted the milkweed! They were important. Oh my, what a mistake! But I was doing what we are taught: getting rid of bugs and worms and caterpillars. They're small and sometimes invisible, and to us big humans, they seem irrelevant. But the truth is that if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be here! Doug Tallamy has started a sweeping project called Homegrown National Park, where people across the country are turning their lawns into native plant sanctuaries, and the insects and wildlife that they support.

Our last local Earthcare Working Group, which meets every month here at Prairie Hill, featured Jim Walters, a retired forester. He enthralled us with his stories about planting oak trees for 50 years around Iowa City. He stratifies acorns so they are ready to plant, and gives them away to many people (including us). And he explained that oak trees are the best trees for supporting wide ecosystems. So many plants and animals have their lives because of the influence and sharing of the oak tree. Jim is going to take us on a tour around Iowa City in the fall, to show us a tiny percentage of the hundreds of oaks that he has planted over the years.

Next came the spring gathering of the international Quaker Earthcare Witness organization, of which I am a member. I'm on the steering committee and am the clerk of the Publications Committee as well (so a lot of my time is devoted to this great group). The zoom gathering was for three days, but on the second day we heard the keynote speaker, Jacob Johns, talk about spirit-filled activism. Jacob is a native American, and he brought a lot of wisdom in his words. But almost best of all, he taught us a dawn ritual which he practices every morning as the sun rises, and during our time at the gathering, we all set our alarms for sunrise and practiced the ritual ourselves in or outside our own homes. To be filled with the awakening daylight as we opened ourselves to the greater world was an inspiring experience. Have I continued to do this? Hmmm, not really. But it would be a good thing.

I also watched the film The Extraordinary Caterpillar at one of our monthly Green Drinks meetings. I highly recommend you see this, if you can find it. Amazing photos of a fantastic variety of the most interesting and diverse species of caterpillars. And it speaks of their huge importance in their ecosystems. Right now I'm taking a weekly class put on by the University of Iowa on Tallgrass Prairie. I'll be in the second session tomorrow morning, and then I'll go out to my garden to begin planting some of the hundreds of seedlings I've been growing in my house for the last couple of months. I've turned my massage room into a greenhouse for awhile, but it needs to go back into a massage room by next week, when I have massage clients coming! It's been great, though, to have this south room, shut off from my kitties (!) to begin the growth of so many plants. I planted tiny seeds, covered them, watered them, and watched as they germinated and grew. Each is different. Each finds a way to come to life. Each knows what to do to push up from the soil and sprout stems and leaves. It seems truly magical. And now they've been protected for the first part of their lives and are ready to be out in the world on their own. Many of them are medicinal herbs, but some are flowers, and some are vegetables. All of them are teachers to me. 

And that brings me back to what seems important for all of us humans to do: begin to learn from our brother and sister beings out in nature. Instead of thinking of ourselves as the rulers, the important ones, we really really need to begin to listen and watch and learn. It's essential if we are to understand enough so that we can remediate the harm we have done to our Earth. We need to be humble. And imagine ourselves being a caterpillar, or a squirrel. A grass or a flower. A tree, a robin, an acorn. There is so much to discover.