Green Tribe of Belonging

  One Small Person’s Mission in a Crowded World If I had a full time job, I wouldn’t have time to think about the fix we’re in. I wouldn’t worry about  the crazy presidential mob that’s taken over our government. I wouldn’t have time to dread the next report about more extinctions. I could pretend that everything is just fine, in this country that is supposed to be the best in the world! But I don’t have a full time job, unless you count all the weeding in my big garden, or all the committees I’m on. Or the thick coat of hair that my kitties keep depositing on my rugs and on my clothes, my sheets, and my chairs. I breathe a mouthful of air, and sometimes need to remove the silky hair that drifts up before I breathe it in!  I am struggling to find ways of cleaning my home! However, I am technically retired. So my life is my own. I can decide how to spend my time. It is a freeing thing. Yet some days it is hard to remember what my mission is. If I had a job, my life would b...

  Feeling the Wind and Rain Today I braved the heat and walked out to my garden.  It was still morning, and if I was going to catch up on weeding, this seemed to be the best time. I put on the same clothes that I had sweated through yesterday. They could get sweaty and dirty again. And I sat down amidst the weeds and started rescuing the tiny lavender and zinnias, and beets and tomatoes  and peppers and fennel plants. It was good. The ground was already damp enough so that the roots came up easily. I was so intent on clearing away the weeds so “my” plants could have an easier life that I didn’t notice it had clouded up. I did notice the wind, which was refreshing. It allowed me to keep working, not getting too hot. Then I started noticing random rain drops coming down. And I thought, no need to quit! I am already sweaty. Rain would feel good! And it did feel good. I kept weeding, moving over to the poppies and pennyroyal, the  four-o–clocks and squash, the chamomile ...

 I am finally well again, after surviving a three-week virus that had me wondering if I would ever get well. When you're down for that long, hardly remembering what it feels like to be your normal self, it is cause for happy celebration once the virus leaves. And for three days now, I've been well, and I am SO grateful! Now I can begin to catch up with everything that fell by the wayside while I was sick.  Today was a special day, for the monthly meeting of our Earthcare Working Group met here at Prairie Hill. We began our meeting, as usual, going around the circle of all of us, each telling of some inspiring or interesting earthy thing that we experienced during the last month. It is such a positive way to start our time together. And it becomes a bunch of individuals sharing of themselves before doing something together. After our check-in, the program consisted of two parts. First we discussed the book that we've been reading for the past couple months: The Light Eaters:...