Listen to a reading of this poem. It is a good time to appreciate the insects and functioning supply chains and normal weather and the fact that there are whales. It is a good time to appreciate our loved ones and tell people what they mean to us and throw ourselves into romance with wild abandon
Wonderful thoughts. You're so correct. I find myself grateful for and in admiration of the vibrant red, the familiar aroma and the sweet succulence of every strawberry. Especially because of the nagging feeling that I damn well better treasure them before they're no longer available.
You know what? This resonates a lot with me. Last month I was sitting in the backyard next to a field. Things were grooving out there. I could hear thousands of sounds of things going on there. The idea that came to me was "there, there is an economy. The symbiosis IS an economy and whenever the symbiosis is not respected, it is not healthy. The field was obviously healthy of its own economy, in equilibrium which is exactly the contrary of what is going in the human economy where everything is unbalanced. Instead of listening to nature to get our cue as to how to function we think we know better. When things are not in equilibrium they collapse.
We appreciate the insects in our organic vegetable garden--especially the pollinators and the butterflies. We also have a large stand of milkweed and had the pleasure of seeing Monarchs land on them this summer and sip nectar from the flowers. You sure wish others would be as appreciative of nature, but the neighbors keep spraying Round Up on everything in sight. Sigh!
When I walk on the beach trail, I often cry from the utter beauty of God’s Creation. The beauty and sound of the ocean (no one is around on weekdays), seagulls, bugs, egrets...and I am a part of their world. I am blessed. It’s so simple and so magnificent.
Very beautiful and very true: if we really appreciated the fantastic gift we have been given, life on a planet so beautiful and giving, we can't even imagine anything better; if we really appreciated it there would be no war, no starvation, no greed, no torture, no inequality. We have taken bad advice and listened to the wrong voices.
A tiny red ichneumon wasp stung my daughter the other evening, apparently it was on her towel as she got our of the shower. My wife was ready to kill them all, but I kept saying no, it was an accident, they never bother us, please do not kill them all. Last night I had one fly down kind of in my face outside, to no harm. At first I thought oh you're pushing your luck, then I realized it was thanking me for not being a murderous idiot human. All living non human creatures read our emotions better than we humans can read anything else's emotions. It's the primordial universal language of life. We think emotions are stupid impediments to reason, but perhaps that's just the result of human civilization building itself around an fuck your feelings mentality of power for millenia coupled with our wild and bizarre power to believe things into reality. Keep believing that there is a universal benevolent sentience in everything and maybe there is a little hope to be found despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary.
This year I planted wildflowers over a good portion of my yard. I let Milkweed grow and put up a hummingbird feeder. I look out my front window ( like my dog) and marvel at all the creatures that are busy with this new habitat. I would encourage growing wildflowers.
Ursula K. LeGuin taught the masses thusly: that while women are capable of violence and cruelty as much or greater than men, only men and ants make war.
Weather here becomes progressively less normal by the year from my observations. I don't have any data, but I don't remember summers being this hot 20-30 years ago, or winters getting as cold as the last few have.
That's the near extinct monarch butterfly, another intentional victim of the empire; like the movie, 'The Body Snatchers', it takes all that is beautiful and turns it into filth.
I'm thankful every day for the lucky life I've had so far. I'm hoping to die peacefully, but the way things are going, it is looking less likely every day.
Wonderful thoughts. You're so correct. I find myself grateful for and in admiration of the vibrant red, the familiar aroma and the sweet succulence of every strawberry. Especially because of the nagging feeling that I damn well better treasure them before they're no longer available.
You know what? This resonates a lot with me. Last month I was sitting in the backyard next to a field. Things were grooving out there. I could hear thousands of sounds of things going on there. The idea that came to me was "there, there is an economy. The symbiosis IS an economy and whenever the symbiosis is not respected, it is not healthy. The field was obviously healthy of its own economy, in equilibrium which is exactly the contrary of what is going in the human economy where everything is unbalanced. Instead of listening to nature to get our cue as to how to function we think we know better. When things are not in equilibrium they collapse.
As fast she fled thro' sun and shade,
The happy winds upon her play'd,
Blowing the ringlet from the braid:
She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd
The rein with dainty finger tips,
A man had given all other bliss,
And all his worldly worth for this,
To waste his whole heart in one kiss
Upon her perfect lips.
~Tennyson, "Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere" (A Fragment)
What a moving thing to read first thing in the morning. 🙏
That was beautiful 👏👏👏
Thank you for the lovely poem!
We appreciate the insects in our organic vegetable garden--especially the pollinators and the butterflies. We also have a large stand of milkweed and had the pleasure of seeing Monarchs land on them this summer and sip nectar from the flowers. You sure wish others would be as appreciative of nature, but the neighbors keep spraying Round Up on everything in sight. Sigh!
When I walk on the beach trail, I often cry from the utter beauty of God’s Creation. The beauty and sound of the ocean (no one is around on weekdays), seagulls, bugs, egrets...and I am a part of their world. I am blessed. It’s so simple and so magnificent.
Very beautiful and very true: if we really appreciated the fantastic gift we have been given, life on a planet so beautiful and giving, we can't even imagine anything better; if we really appreciated it there would be no war, no starvation, no greed, no torture, no inequality. We have taken bad advice and listened to the wrong voices.
A tiny red ichneumon wasp stung my daughter the other evening, apparently it was on her towel as she got our of the shower. My wife was ready to kill them all, but I kept saying no, it was an accident, they never bother us, please do not kill them all. Last night I had one fly down kind of in my face outside, to no harm. At first I thought oh you're pushing your luck, then I realized it was thanking me for not being a murderous idiot human. All living non human creatures read our emotions better than we humans can read anything else's emotions. It's the primordial universal language of life. We think emotions are stupid impediments to reason, but perhaps that's just the result of human civilization building itself around an fuck your feelings mentality of power for millenia coupled with our wild and bizarre power to believe things into reality. Keep believing that there is a universal benevolent sentience in everything and maybe there is a little hope to be found despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary.
This year I planted wildflowers over a good portion of my yard. I let Milkweed grow and put up a hummingbird feeder. I look out my front window ( like my dog) and marvel at all the creatures that are busy with this new habitat. I would encourage growing wildflowers.
It’s always a good time to do what you say.
To practice it everyday does wonders.
A song in the making?
Ursula K. LeGuin taught the masses thusly: that while women are capable of violence and cruelty as much or greater than men, only men and ants make war.
Weather here becomes progressively less normal by the year from my observations. I don't have any data, but I don't remember summers being this hot 20-30 years ago, or winters getting as cold as the last few have.
A great poem published at the right time.
That's the near extinct monarch butterfly, another intentional victim of the empire; like the movie, 'The Body Snatchers', it takes all that is beautiful and turns it into filth.
I'm thankful every day for the lucky life I've had so far. I'm hoping to die peacefully, but the way things are going, it is looking less likely every day.