Swan Sanctuary

 I continue to be amazed at the resiliency of the Ukrainians. The world has always had its bullies as far back in history as one can look. Hitler, Trump, and Putin are the most recent ones that come to mind. Children are often bullied at school. In our high tech world, they can even be bullied online through social media. While we may not think of them as bullies, the corporate giants – pharmaceutical, agricultural, petroleum, and financial giants that run our world, are also bullies. The common citizens are slaves to their manipulation. Even those in our government appear to belong to an elite group that sees itself separate from the people they are appointed to serve. People in general do not want to fight. They do not want war. They want to be left alone to live in peace. 

I remember watching Popeye, a popular cartoon when I was growing up. Popeye constantly had to take on a big bully by the name of Pluto. Pluto was a big hulk of a man; twice the size of Popeye. By the end of the cartoon, Popeye always won the day (or the girl, Olive) and sang, “…cause I eats my spinach.” It was a subtle way to please the moms and give them hope that their children would eat their vegetables. If only it were that simple. Metaphorically at least, I believe the Ukrainians have eaten their spinach and I pray that they will win the day.

I imagine that there will always be bullies in the world. There will always be those who believe that they must take what they want because they have not learned that the world has provided enough for everyone. They act from greed and jealousy and fear because they believe their strength lies outside of themselves, in weapons or wealth. They do not understand that true strength comes from within. I believe that the Ukrainians have tapped that power that resides inside of them, in their hearts and in their souls. I do not know if I could match their bravery. I continue to pray for them. I know that if even a small percentage of the world is praying for them as well, we will be feeding them the metaphorical spinach to win the war. Their belief that they will win, and their refusal to show fear, multiplies their power by many times. They are an inspiration – if not to the rest of the world, they are to me.

I often climb into my truck to go somewhere and then realize that I have forgotten something. Usually it is my water bottle or mobile phone. This requires turning my truck off because the house key is on the same key ring as the truck key, walking back to the house and unlocking it to look for the phone, followed by a repetition of letting myself out, locking the door, and restarting my truck. Getting into my truck during winter is challenging in itself due to the cumbersome layers of clothing and bulky coats that I must wear. This happened to me yesterday and while I was going to do only a couple of errands a short distance away, I realized how addicted I have become to my mobile phone. I justify my need to have it near me because I want the assurance that if I have car trouble, I can call for help.

Our modern society lives with an underlying anxiety of “what if?”  A certain level of fear is maintained by the media and by others who may fear for their own safety or our own. Many elderly people have been convinced to invest in an emergency device to call for help if they fall or need medical assistance. They, and their loved ones, have fallen for the false belief that Death should never come for them. They believe in the illusion that their life can be “saved.”

Why do so many wish to cling to life, refusing to accept its infallible impermanence? They want to be “saved” by the medical “gods” while they are alive and if that does not succeed, they want to be “saved” by Jesus, ensuring that they will be transported to an imaginary heaven after they die.

I will probably continue to keep my phone near me, as most people do these days, but my main justification is not for my own safety. It is for my cat, who is left alone whenever I am gone. If something happens to me, I want to know that I can call on a family member or friend to look after him. My phone is a handy tool, but I do not depend on it to save my life. I limit my consumption of coffee and I limit my dependency on my phone!

I am fascinated by rivers. They are a perfect metaphor for our lives. The statement that something is “water under the bridge” is the nature of life, and when we fully grasp this, we find peace. We cannot “do over” the past because it is gone forever. Dwelling on what was or what could have been only causes us suffering. A single drop of water in a river will never pass this way again. It has no choice but to continue on its way where it will eventually merge with the ocean, evaporate, and return again as rain. It is essentially the same for all living things that appear in a physical form, have a life experience, and sooner or later return to their source.  

Human beings have deluded themselves into believing they can control their own lives and the world around them. They have erroneously assumed that other species do not have intelligence, when it is very probable that some of them are more intelligent than we are. They are most certainly wiser. Physical laws and spiritual laws are unchangeable. They are the basic structure from which all life on this planet has been designed. When we open the door to that spiritual self which resides within our physical self, we are  provided with the navigational tools for a safe journey on this river of life. A friend of mine said it this way, “God always has my back!” All too often, we want to take control of the steering, but when we learn to listen to that quiet voice, trusting its guidance, we are often diverted from potential disaster. 

When we step into this boat to begin our life journey, will we allow ourselves to simply experience it? Or, will we grab the oars, determined to control our destination? Ralph Waldo Emerson said it most aptly: “Let us take our bloated nothingness out of the path of the divine circuits.” This trip down the river may not always be a pleasant ride. Our natural curiosity compels us to want to know what is around the next bend. Will we suddenly find ourselves in white water, dangerous rocks, or even a torrential storm? Will we come upon a placid cove, where all is peaceful and serene for a time? When we accept not knowing what is around the next bend, we may find that life can be full of surprises. Wherever we find ourselves, the river will continue to flow. We cannot stop it. We cannot reverse it. We take each bend in the river as it comes.

I remember many years ago, when I was a child, riding with my family in my parents’ ‘57 station wagon watching the plastic Jesus sitting on the dashboard, bobbing its head over every bump. I remember just as vividly the numerous insects that would be spattered on the windshield, requiring the gas station attendant to clean it every time we stopped for a fill up. In recent years, the insects on the windshield problem have all but disappeared. While this may make some people happy, they may soon find that it is actually a precursor to the possible extinction of the human race. In spite of our collective loathing of insects in general, we depend on them.

There is a new book out by an environmental journalist, Oliver Milman. The title is, The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires that Run the World. According to Milman, the extinction rate of insect species is 8 times higher than it is for mammalian and bird species. Of course it is a devastating loss to lose some of our rapidly declining and amazingly beautiful predators – but our lives do not depend on them. And, while we tolerate a few insects that we find attractive, such as butterflies; it is those that are less pleasing to our prejudiced eyes that we need the most. We need insects to pollinate the thousands of plant species that we consume. We need those that continually provide recycling services for us, turning human and other waste back into nutrients for the soil. With nearly 8 billion humans on the planet, eating and defecating, we need them more than ever.

 Sixty years ago, Rachael Carson warned us about the horrors of using DDT, but the neonicotinoids that are now being used are 7,000 times more dangerous than DDT! Why have we continued to allow the use of so many toxic chemicals in our environment? We hear over and over again that the causes of species loss are due to human encroachment, habitat loss, monocultures, loss of biodiversity, climate change, and the use of herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides. Why are we not reacting to these obvious threats as swiftly as we have reacted and responded to the threat of war?

Oliver Milman suggests that rather than making an action plan to bring back the insects, we need to do the opposite. We need to not act, but to allow. We need to give up our belief in our limited concept of order and tidiness. Nature has her own methods of maintaining balance that have worked for centuries. I learned many years ago that Nature, God, Universal Power, or whatever you wish to call it, is no respecter of persons. The sun shines on the good and the evil alike. It comes down to those species that are best able to adapt to change. In eliminating biodiversity, that keeps all species in balance, we have allowed the opportunists to take over. The plants that we like to call weeds and the insects that we choose to call pests, are the ones that easily realign themselves to changes in their environments. Therefore, we have a growing abundance of mosquitoes and cockroaches, while the beautiful butterflies and beneficial pollinators are disappearing. 

What can we do about this, you may ask. We can take Milman’s approach and simply STOP doing what we have been doing. We can learn to see the beauty in an “untidy” yard. Given time, the plants and birds and insects that have relationships with those plants, will also return. We can learn so much from Nature if we take a hands off approach – watching, listening, and paying attention – rather than trying to control her. The manipulation that has been employed thus far, does not appear to be working out well for us.

When so much of what we hear in the news is negative, I am resolving to make every effort to keep my blogs uplifting and inspiring. I learned many years ago, from a delightful mentor, to “Look for the good – and praise it.” I remind myself often to look beyond situations, circumstances, and perceived slights; to turn despair into repair, by repairing my thinking. There are, after all, two sides to every coin. 

I have often lamented about the plight of so many non-human species. I have written about the destruction of our forests, the loss of biodiversity, the degradation of our soil, and the plastics in our oceans. These problems are painfully real and they cannot be ignored; but, as they remind us on every airplane flight, we must put on our own mask before we place one on our child. Permaculture design can be applied to our inner, emotional landscape, as well as to our garden. We must tend to our own mental health before we can make any positive change for the rest of the world.There is in fact, a great deal of good news. Sometimes we have to look long and hard to find it; but everyday, in some small way and even in big ways, people all over the world are making changes for the better. They are pioneering new ways of caring for our planet, to begin reducing the damage we have done. They are stumbling upon new information and hope for the future. Even while the threat of extinction looms near for many species, new species are being discovered. Some that we thought were gone forever have suddenly reappeared. 

A tiny, chocolate colored burrowing frog – less than an inch in size – has been discovered in Peru. It was not new to the local people who had always known of its existence; but it was the first time a scientist was able to verify it by tracking its beeping underground. The Lilliputian frog, also known as the Devil-eyed frog, was rediscovered after nearly a quarter of a century, in the jungles of Bolivia. It is tinier still, smaller than a dime!  The Satyr butterfly turned up in that area as well, after 98 years! A rare Adder’s Mouth orchid has been spotted in Madagascar. 

It would behoove us all to limit the time we spend watching major television news channels that promote fear and anxiety. Let us look for at least one positive piece of news each and every day!

Watching some of the interviewers on the news yesterday, I was moved by the determination and grit of Ukranians who have solemnly resolved to hold onto their country, in spite of the terrorism Putin is inflicting on them. Russian civilians were interviewed as well, openly disapproving of Putin’s war on their neighboring Ukraine. Some of the Russians who led protests criticizing the war, were arrested by Russian officials.

Much of the world is waking up to the evils of war and they want no part of it. In their hearts, most people want peace. This gives me hope that the time of peace which so many marched for, sang for, and advocated for more than 60 years ago, is still possible. The hippies and the flower children of that time have mostly been forgotten about, sloughed off as teenage rebellion or a passing fad; but many of us are still here. We have concealed and guarded those ideals in the belief that a time of love, peace, and understanding may still come to pass. 

This is not a war brought on by the Russian people, but by Putin and his oligarchs who have been corrupted by power. I suspect that this war will become known in future history, as Putin’s War.

The United States is often regarded as the most powerful nation in the world. I would like to think that this is not because we have the strongest military or the most sophisticated weapons; but because our collective consciousness is one of love and generosity. We are in an international position to be seen as the great example. We have the opportunity to defeat Putin, not militarily, but with wisdom. Biden has already taken us in the right direction (by imposing sanctions) away from conflict and violence. We must stay the course of peace and hopefully witness the air escape from Putin’s over inflated ego, leaving him flattened, on the side of the road, for vultures to consume.

It is that time of year here in the midwest when the seasonal struggle begins. The clash between winter and spring has begun. Spring is making her cautious advances today, teasing us out of our human cocoons where we have been nestled in our cave homes. We are weary of our confinement. We may open some windows today as temperatures climb into the 60’s, allowing the heady scent of fresh air to permeate our senses. Many bird species are preparing for, or may have already begun their long journeys back to their breeding grounds, in anticipation of raising a new generation. Early spring bulbs are peeking out from beneath the soil where they have been preparing all winter, for their emergence into the sun and for the flowers they are to become. They will provide nectar for bees and other insects that are also waking up from their winter sleep.

Winter; however, has no intention of retreating anytime soon. It lies in wait, planning its next brutal assault. Although every bone in our body desires to revel in this delightful imitation of springtime, we must know that she is an impostor. We must keep our winter coats and snow shovels at the ready, for Winter will stage a new, but not surprising attack, in two or three days hence. It will be a reality check.

Certainly, winter advanced early and has progressively marched across the weeks winning skirmish after scuffle, defeating us as though we were its enemy. But Spring will win the final battle. She has  a few tricks up her sleeve – like making the days grow longer and utilizing the sun to melt winter’s snow. Winter will retreat in good time and spring will come!

The statement to “treat someone like dirt” may soon take on a new meaning. We have learned about the vast network of fungi that live beneath the soil, and their symbiotic relationship with trees that live in the soil with them. Gardeners know that they must feed their soil if it is to produce healthy plants. But, it seems that we have only revealed the tip of the iceberg. Like the ocean, of which we have discovered barely 20%, our knowledge of the ground underneath us is sorely lacking. In permaculture we ask, “What is it we don’t know, that we don’t know?” For most of human history we did not know what we did not know. It seems that the more we learn about our planet, the more questions we raise.

Dirt, it turns out, forms the basis for life on our planet. It is the foundation of the very ground we stand on, yet it has been sadly neglected and abused. We scrape it off our boots and sweep it off our floors; but it is a precious substance. A single teaspoon of soil can contain as many as one billion organisms! From the smallest bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes to the mid-sized springtails, mites, centipedes, slugs, worms, beetles, and spiders, the soil is helped along by these hardworking inhabitants. They are assisted by mammals like moles, voles, mice, groundhogs, prairie dogs, and rabbits. All serve a purpose in the underground ecosystem doing the enormous job of breaking down and recycling dead matter.

Other studies are showing that a microbe found in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, is a natural antidepressant. It occurs naturally so there are no side effects. All we have to do is play in the dirt! This may in fact be the very thing that has gotten so many people (like me) hooked on gardening. All this time I thought dark chocolate was my antidepressant, when it may very well have been the soil I have spent so much time covered in! I am sure that fresh air and sunshine play a large part in uplifting our spirits as well. All of this wonderful news brings me back to what I have said many times – all of life is sacred – even the dirt beneath our feet!