Swan Sanctuary

I had offered to rake leaves for my neighbor last fall so that I would have plenty for adding to my compost throughout the winter months. On the day that I was prepared to do this, she told me that she had just had a company spray her yard. When I asked her what she was spraying for, she answered, “Dandelions.” I replied that dandelions are actually very nutritious, but she insisted that she did not like them in her yard. I politely declined then, to rake her leaves, since I did not want herbicides anywhere near my compost pile. It was a stark reminder for me that most people are completely clueless about the dire state our world is in.

I have a fond memory of living with my grandmother high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I would walk along with her to the underground, moss framed spring where she would fill two 5 gallon buckets and then carry them, one in each hand, back to the house. She had to make this trip several times a day, especially if she was filling the big laundry tub or the bathtub. I would often pick her a bouquet of dandelions as I followed her to and from the spring. 

I was too young to enjoy a glass of her homemade dandelion wine, but my grandmother knew the benefits of this maligned flower. Every part of the plant can be utilized. The flowers are sweet and can be added to salads and other recipes. The leaves, used as salad greens, contain more vitamins than kale. They also make nutritious tea. The roots are nutritious as well and they have medicinal uses. Wherever  there is an abundance of dandelions, there is a soil that is sorely depleted. Their long tap roots can help to loosen compacted soil. When the leaves dry and fall off, they add calcium to the soil. They can sweeten a soil that is too acidic. Dandelion is one of the first flowers to bloom in spring and one of the last to linger before winter. Their flowers open to the warm sunlight and close in the cool evening. Most importantly, the flowers provide food for the first bees and insects that appear in spring because they so generously provide nectar as well as pollen. They aid insects in the fall that need nutrients to see them through hibernation. Clearly, those companies who pressure people into using glyphosate to kill dandelions and other weeds, know nothing about this most valuable “weed.”

I fail to understand why this flower is so misunderstood and despised by so many people. Besides being beneficial, it is bright and cheerful. Why are we paying upwards of $4.00 for a plastic box of salad greens, which are often several days old? The nutrients begin to die within minutes after the salad greens are picked so we are not benefiting much by eating them. Then, except for the few that get recycled, the plastic box gets thrown away. There is free food awaiting us in our very own yards, but we must first open our minds, to see it.

I am always happy to hear about steps being taken to increase biodiversity and lessen the impacts of non sustainable practices that have so negatively affected other species. Salmon need cool, running rivers in which to spawn so that their eggs will survive and successfully populate the next generation. Steps have been taken in Scotland and in rivers elsewhere, to plant trees along the river banks, in order to provide needed shade. The shade helps to keep the water temperature from becoming too warm, thus ensuring a healthy salmon population. 

Trees help to strengthen the riparian buffer, anchoring the soil so that it is not eroded and lost downstream. The riparian buffer is that area adjacent to a river, lake, or pond that is normally covered in vegetation. The trees, shrubs, and other plants that are present in the buffer zone, aid in slowing down water runoff so that it can spread out to nearby plants and slowly percolate down into the soil. They also help to prevent pollutants from entering into and polluting bodies of water. It is not uncommon to see private ponds that are devoid of a healthy ecosystem surrounding them. They often have grass growing right up to the edge of the pond. When the grass is mowed, the clippings wind up in the water, causing algae blooms, turning the pond a putrid green. Nitrogen from fertilizers and other chemicals that have been applied to the lawn also end up in the water, resulting in dead fish and other aquatic life. If the pond is stream fed, the polluted water then enters the stream, eventually flowing into a major river and out into the ocean. 

Ponds are not the only way that rivers are polluted. Rain from rooftops runs off houses, across lawns that have been heavily saturated with nitrogen, down driveways, into the streets, winding up in local sewer systems. Millions of gallons of water are wasted as homeowners set sprinklers to water their lawns, often with the overspray running down the street gutters. There are many ways that we, as individuals, can save water. Permaculture teaches us to slow down the flow of water on our property. We can build berms and swales. We can install rain gardens. We can build hügelkultur beds. We can use rain barrels or install ponds that are fed from roof gutters. We can assure that no soil lies bare by keeping it covered with plants and mulch. There are many ways that all of us can make a difference for our planet, but we must be willing. We can only do our own part, but that part we must do if we are to reverse the damage we have done.

There is a recent development in the field of psychology. It has been termed eco-psychology or eco-therapy. Having recognized that many people are now suffering from what is being called eco-anxiety, some therapists are finding that their usual methods of treatment for anxiety require a different approach. Those therapists who are strongly versed on the subject of climate change, have a better chance of helping those people who are suffering from a deep sense of hopelessness about the future of our planet.

Climate change and concern for the environment is the reason that I wrote Question Everything: Overcoming Passivity in a Perilous World. The book is currently out of print and in the hands of my editors. I have updated it for a second printing and it will be available soon. Many people are waking up to the very serious predicament that our world is facing. Mothers with young children are faced with the reality that our planet’s resources are finite. Grandparents, holding their grandbabies, are overcome with sadness as they wonder what is in store for them, in the future. We are constantly bombarded by advertisers trying to convince us that we need this or must have that because they are not thinking about the future, but about the profits that they will make. There is often a heavy sense of guilt felt by consumers, especially if they are ‘privileged.’ Some worry about their carbon footprint. They worry that they are not doing enough and that they cannot make a difference. Helplessness, despair, and resignation are common themes. While their suffering is very real – and every bit as real as the suffering that Nature is enduring – and we are all part of Nature – this is a good thing. Suffering brings awakening. It opens up our eyes from the dream in which we have been sleepwalking through life. It takes us out of our head and guides us back to our heart.

When we come to that place where we can feel grateful for our suffering, we begin to find ways to heal, both ourselves and the planet. It is in that space where we can see that the problem is the solution. Humans are the problem. Humans are the solution.

While the planting of trees is important in our ongoing need to sequester carbon from our atmosphere, it is just as important to protect and preserve our ancient trees. It is, in fact, vitally important. The Bristlecone pines are some of the oldest tree species. Methuselah, a tree in California was recorded in 2020 as being 4,852 years old. An even older one is said to be 5,070. Bristlecones have the ability to survive at altitudes of 10,000 feet above sea level. Pando, also called the Trembling Giant, is a Quaking Aspen located in Utah and is thought to be over 80,000 years old. A Llangernyw Cypress in Iran is believed to be over 4,000 years old and a Yew located in a graveyard in Wales is around that same age. A stand of Jurupa Oak in California is over 13,000 years old. Standing at only 16 feet tall, a Norway Spruce in Sweden is nearly 10,000 years old! These are some of the oldest, but there are many other ancient trees that have stood for more than 3,000 years. 

I wrote one of my very first poems while I was still in high school, in early 1970. This was also the year that the Joni Mitchell song, Big Yellow Taxi, was recorded. She sang, “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot…You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” I knew even then that there was something magical about trees and that they have intelligence far greater than any human might guess. Here is the poem that I wrote during that time:

IF GOD LIVED IN TREES

Perhaps God lives in trees

trees that reach, stretching high

desperately towards heaven

while remaining imbedded in the ground

whose fate it is to look upon this hell

in which they are amidst

Their mysterious limbs

wavering in the wind

leaving impressions of fear

concealing the hidden secrets of time

that lie deeply rooted in crusty bark

hidden from our poor eyes

Perhaps God lives in trees

where he sadly watches

sees and hears destruction

where will he go when the trees

are all gone?

I was shocked to learn that the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas has had to close its doors – hopefully only temporarily. The reason for the closure is most disturbing. They had been in an ongoing battle with the Trump administration and the building of the border wall to deter migrants from Mexico. Trump and his right wing radicals had begun cutting down trees on the 100 acre property, with chainsaws. The center is also a botanical garden that was created to protect native flora, making the demolishment of the beautiful area even more deplorable. When President Biden took office, he promised to halt construction of the wall, but it has continued nevertheless. To make matters worse, the center had become the target of conspiracy theories claiming that it was being used for human trafficking. There had been money laundering too, associated with the building of the wall. This heartless devastation of Nature for the sake of a few greedy investors should cause us great concern. 

Nearly half of the butterflies that are native to North America can be seen in Mission, Texas and the surrounding Lower Rio Grande Valley. It is the largest native plant botanical garden in the country and it is also home to the World Birding Center. Bird enthusiasts from all over the globe flock to see the numerous bird species that pass through the area on migration. Both the National Butterfly Center and the World Bird Center are nestled against the Rio Grande where it divides Texas and Mexico. The area is of vital importance to the continuation of thousands of threatened butterfly and bird species. It is one of the few places that have been preserved in spite of human encroachment. I have hopes of visiting it myself one day. 

The wanton killing of trees and the resulting destruction of habitat for so many species cannot continue. It must be stopped. I cannot imagine a world without butterflies. I do not want to live in a world without them.

Intelligence is given far too much importance in our modern world. IQ’s are clearly over rated. I have never known my own IQ, but I assume it is low since geometry was far too complex for me to wrap my head around. Probably, the right side, the creative side of my brain, is far more developed than my left side. I love order; however, and chaos totally upsets my personal equilibrium. I have thought that if I were quite young and very, very strong, I would like to be a bricklayer.

Those people with Phds and other post nominal letters at the end of their names, are regarded with esteem, while those with only high school diplomas are looked down upon, regardless of their abilities. Sometimes, the most intelligent people lack plain, common sense. Having a college education opens doors of opportunity, while full time mothers and those with real life experience are barely acknowledged. Often, those who work the hardest are paid the least and those who do next to nothing are placed in coveted positions and given generous salaries. 

Wisdom is a word that is seldom used and not assigned much importance. It is generally a vague concept given only to the elderly, but the elderly are no longer revered. Some children are labeled “gifted”, but they often suffer emotionally, and/or lack social skills. Scientists now say that approximately 20% of humans and animals are considered “sensitive”. Our human obsession with taking things apart, such as our brains, in order to understand them; and our desire to label everything and everyone, does not honor the individual. We want to place everyone in a box into which no one really fits.

The truth is that we are all gifted with a special purpose. We all have intelligence, but our interests and our knowledge varies. Wisdom is something that grows with our understanding of the world we live in and our place in it. Most likely, those who are “sensitive”, those who are “different” are souls who have reincarnated many times and they are the ones who are “awakening.” They carry with them the light of wisdom, whether or not the world considers them to be intelligent.

Perhaps like most animals, it is in our human nature to hibernate during storms, but we seem to defy at every turn, our instincts to slow down and curl up for a nap. Whenever a storm is rolling in, my cat knows somehow ahead of time, even without going outside, and proceeds to settle in for a long sleep. Unlike our human lives that revolve around clocks and schedules, animals take each day as it comes. 

Our ancestors lived by nature’s cycles – the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, the rhythm of the tides, and the change of seasons. Their lives were relatively stress free. They often carried out rituals of singing, dancing, and regularly giving thanks for the gifts that Nature had provided them. Joy was a natural state of being. Modern humans have attempted to separate themselves from Nature, thereby forgetting that life is a gift. We have become prisoners of the time construct that we ourselves have created. 

We each have an internal clock that attempts to regulate our personal well being. Some people consider themselves to be ‘a morning person.’ Others are ‘night owls.’ Honoring what our bodies indicate to us will provide us with better health both physically and mentally. We have millions of people who are sleep deprived and anxious. They rely on caffeine, sleep aids, and anxiety medications just to get through the day. Many exacerbate their already frazzled nerves by eating foods containing only empty calories, drinking too much alcohol and/or indulging in recreational drugs, in order to keep up with our man-made timepieces.

Eventually, our bodies begin to wear out and slow us down. As gray hair and wrinkles creep up on us, so does our willingness to say no to our old notions of time. We can give ourselves permission to take a mental health day, to peek out at the falling snow and then simply curl up next to the cat or the dog and fall back asleep.

While Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs clarifies our basic physical requirements as a species on this planet, permaculture defines our emotional needs. Our first need is to satisfy our inclination to inquiry. We have a built in drive to learn about and to understand the world we live in. We are by nature inquisitive. While we are still struggling to master our mobility as toddlers, we are also driven to know and to communicate. We are hungry for knowledge. We want to know how and why. 

As we grow, branching out from our mother, our father, our siblings, and our extended family, we gravitate to others – usually those of similar size and age. We develop a sense of belonging which trickles out into our communities. We begin to make friends and discover commonality among our peers. We strive to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We need that sense of community, of knowing that we are not alone.

Once we have grown into adulthood and have at least a vague idea of who we are in relation to the world, we may find a greater purpose in our lives. We dream. We set goals. We envision a life of meaning. We want our life to matter. We want to leave our mark upon the world. Ambition is paramount in some of us and barely seen in others, but we all want to believe that there is a reason for our being here. Our legacy, though not always monetary, is something we do not take lightly.

Lastly, we desire to care – and be cared for by another. This is often our most challenging necessity. If a child does not have a loving mother and/or father from which to develop the capacity to love and be loved, he may struggle throughout his life, always seeking, but never finding true love. Connecting to others through friendships, coworkers, and even strangers, is vital to our emotional health. Our pets help to provide connection too, especially for those who live alone. Unfortunately for many, real connection remains elusive and all but a few of our relationships are superficial. 

Some of us seek a broader and deeper connection than what can be felt through human relationships alone. We seek meaningful connection with Nature – with her trees, her wildlife, her flowers, and soil. In those connections, inimitable joy and peace can be found.