Renaissance woman, Bohemian child, Earth Goddess
Young spirit…old soul
A long way we go back
I’ve watched you play, smile, fuss, and give people that sideways glance.
Being, knowing, evolving.
Like a lock of your hair, your personality has curled around my heart and tickled my senses.
You are the seamstress who weaves love and light into the fabric of every day.
You are the baker who kneads us, but in reality, it is we who need you.
Lover of words…and your words love you back, Sista
Soothing the heart and invigorating the mind.
Rub your ideas together and start a fire. All you need is a spark.
Feed it with the fuel of anger and passion.
You see boundaries but you’re undaunted.
Climbing over fences, frolicking in fields and wondering why others don’t join you.
It is what it is…and so much more.
You can see past the surface and even past the depths.
The mist clears and I see your face
You smile, and then you’re gone again…but not lost.
Even when the fog of uncertainty rolls in, you continue to dance.
You make music with your father’s heartbeat and the melody of your mother’s spirit.
It rises from your depths, spilling over like bubbles, dancing lightly on my skin.
Dance the dance of the wild and free, the gutsy and the feisty.
Stand in the mud and the rain and embrace the cold.
I know you’ve fallen before, because I can see your tracks…and right beside them I see my own.
We’ve all been there, done that before…but you get up and keep going.
That’s what’s important.
You’re real, you’re raw
Full of life, real life, not that fake stuff.
Shout and cry at the top of your lungs… in joy, in passion, in frustration.
Renaissance woman, Bohemian child, Earth Goddess, My friend
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Weeds
The following is an editorial written by me. It was originally posted as a two part article on weeds with my friend Paula McLean. I'll post a link sometime soon.
If the term weed is purely subjective and describes a plant that is considered to be a nuisance, then perhaps we, as humans, need to change our perspective on weeds.
Weeds are hearty plants. They pioneer disturbed environments. They protect against erosion. They feed wildlife. They even cure disease.
In our ongoing endeavor to control our environment, it seems humans try to obliterate anything just a tad bit unruly. If it can’t be easily controlled, then it is a nuisance. That is a scary thought to me. Does every yard have to look like everyone else's? Nice little plants in their nice little spots doing exactly what they are supposed to do.
Many of my neighbor’s yards are all the same dark shade of chemical green. They have very few birds who frequent their property because their chemically treated ground provides no insects for the birds to eat. The plants they have selected for their yards don’t self-seed (easily controlled), so they don’t provide a food source for wildlife either.
I once gave a nature journaling assignment to my students. They were to spend 30 minutes each day outside and write about what they observed. I had one student who wrote that he was bored because the only living things he observed on these outings were golfers on the golf course adjacent to his yard.
Our 1.3 acre property, on the other hand, is a proliferation of plants, beneficial insects, and wildlife. We’ve seen over 30 species of birds and at least 7 species of toads and frogs. With plenty of food sources and roaming room to go around, even the nuisance animals are more joy than problem. Rabbits come to our back door to munch on clover. A groundhog lives under my art studio and loves to scamper up and down the fallen tree trunks near the stream. Deer follow the stream during migration times on their way to the meadow behind our house. Raccoons play on the rocks in our backyard, swim across our little pond, and sometimes eat a fish or two. The fish spawn annually and seem to refill the pond with generation after generation of goldfish while our one large koi keeps watch over them.
Wild violet, wild geranium, cocklebur, rabbit tobacco, dandelion, pokeweed, mullein, red clover, St. John’s Wort, jewelweed, cleavers, and chickweed can all be found on our property…and yes, they are all considered weeds. They are all also medicinal plants with value greater than just their beauty (and they are all beautiful too).
As long as humans have cultivated plants, weeds have been a problem. What about before humans cultivated plants? Do we really have to have control over our surroundings? Isn’t control just an illusion anyway?
Let's see...what is the opposite of manicured, orderly, cultivated? Full, boisterous, wild?! That's just fine with me. At first look our property may seem unkempt, but if one looks more closely (and through new eyes) one can see a most beautiful landscape.
If the term weed is purely subjective and describes a plant that is considered to be a nuisance, then perhaps we, as humans, need to change our perspective on weeds.
Weeds are hearty plants. They pioneer disturbed environments. They protect against erosion. They feed wildlife. They even cure disease.
In our ongoing endeavor to control our environment, it seems humans try to obliterate anything just a tad bit unruly. If it can’t be easily controlled, then it is a nuisance. That is a scary thought to me. Does every yard have to look like everyone else's? Nice little plants in their nice little spots doing exactly what they are supposed to do.
Many of my neighbor’s yards are all the same dark shade of chemical green. They have very few birds who frequent their property because their chemically treated ground provides no insects for the birds to eat. The plants they have selected for their yards don’t self-seed (easily controlled), so they don’t provide a food source for wildlife either.
I once gave a nature journaling assignment to my students. They were to spend 30 minutes each day outside and write about what they observed. I had one student who wrote that he was bored because the only living things he observed on these outings were golfers on the golf course adjacent to his yard.
Our 1.3 acre property, on the other hand, is a proliferation of plants, beneficial insects, and wildlife. We’ve seen over 30 species of birds and at least 7 species of toads and frogs. With plenty of food sources and roaming room to go around, even the nuisance animals are more joy than problem. Rabbits come to our back door to munch on clover. A groundhog lives under my art studio and loves to scamper up and down the fallen tree trunks near the stream. Deer follow the stream during migration times on their way to the meadow behind our house. Raccoons play on the rocks in our backyard, swim across our little pond, and sometimes eat a fish or two. The fish spawn annually and seem to refill the pond with generation after generation of goldfish while our one large koi keeps watch over them.
Wild violet, wild geranium, cocklebur, rabbit tobacco, dandelion, pokeweed, mullein, red clover, St. John’s Wort, jewelweed, cleavers, and chickweed can all be found on our property…and yes, they are all considered weeds. They are all also medicinal plants with value greater than just their beauty (and they are all beautiful too).
As long as humans have cultivated plants, weeds have been a problem. What about before humans cultivated plants? Do we really have to have control over our surroundings? Isn’t control just an illusion anyway?
Let's see...what is the opposite of manicured, orderly, cultivated? Full, boisterous, wild?! That's just fine with me. At first look our property may seem unkempt, but if one looks more closely (and through new eyes) one can see a most beautiful landscape.
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