January 2017 | NEW YEAR DESPAIR?

With North Pole temperatures higher than the Bay Area, and photos of suffering polar bear refugees, one might well wonder is it too late for us and the earth?

When the Prophet was asked, “What would you do if you knew the world was to end tomorrow?” he replied, “Plant a tree!” Martin Luther King, Jr., answered, “Plant an apple tree!”

Our small acts of loving awareness towards Earth, and each other, don’t simply counterbalance our collective destructiveness. They open channels and pathways through which this Great Being can release blocked energies and bring back harmony to her own being.

How we are and how we act each day counts!

Carina, from Northern California, contributed:

One of my favorite ways to hang out and be in nature while at home is to spend time with my chickens and my dog, Billy. We have 20 hens that roam freely in a large fenced area surrounded by fruit trees. I go out there everyday to feed them, change their water, collect eggs and just watch them do their thing.

Often, I get to watch Billy and the hens do this kind of parallel play together. Billy is forever looking for gophers, digging holes all over the place. While he’s digging away and dirt is flying everywhere, a group of hens are always hanging out close behind him waiting for him to lift his head out of the hole so they can peck and scratch the ground for any tasty live morsels that might have been dug up in the process! It’s really hilarious to watch.

Another funny thing I sometimes get to witness is Billy stealing fallen eggs from the hen house. I see him coming out with an egg in his mouth and he slowly saunters around the yard looking for just the right place to bury his treasure. Whether he ever digs up the rotten eggs to eat is anyone’s guess!

These little moments always brighten my day and remind me that when I’m willing to slow down and pay attention to what’s happening around me, life is full of playful antics!

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Rippling and Astir

 

There’s a rippling

in the air

stealing

 

across the hillside

misty sheets

slant and race

 

towards

this terrible

thirst.

 

All green things

are dressed in

see-through pearls.

 

Droplets pounce, bounce

polka dance on

wooden posts.

 

Brushing, rushing

shimmering

bush and tree

 

limbs flap, sway

opening to

volleys’ intensity.

 

A hushed soaring

roars.

 

Strings of Shining Silence: Earth-Love Poems