ANOTHER RAMBLE

What a gorgeous Morning! Over half the snow is gone. The pasture is showing green. It is already over fifty degrees and it is not yet ten o'clock. Saturday and Sunday were glorious. We sat out on the deck and enjoyed the Sunshine. Yesterday, I took off my shirt, it may have only been in the sixties but it felt like the eighties in the direct Sunlight. When I looked in the mirror this Morning, I resembled one of those folks that come back from a Winter vacation in the Southern climes. Good color.

I am convinced that Spring is here to stay, I don't think there will be much snow left tomorrow. We have a bird called the slate colored junco, a woman, wise in the way of Natural lore, told me that when we see them in the Fall it will snow within two weeks. They nest up near the tundra and winter in this area. I have observed this is largely true and expect snow soon when I first see them in the Fall. Likewise, I am not sure Spring has really arrived until I see the last of them.

Yesterday when I was sunning on the deck, a few of these birds landed in a lilac bush just feet away. They danced around flitted their tails, a pessimist view would be they were taunting, “There is more Winter to come.” An optimistic interpretation is that they were saying, “Goodbye we wish you a happy Summer.” I choose the latter. Those slate colored juncos are magical creatures.

I just came back in from outside. I sat out on the deck for a few minutes. The sun is very hot. One could Sun themselves even though the temperature is in the fifties.

There is nothing like the arrival of Spring after a long and persistent Winter. This is a little resting period. We can enjoy the weather but it is too early to gather up the dead branches that are strewn around. The ground is still to soft to permit much activity. The soil cannot yet be worked for the garden and lawn mowing is our there in the future. It is time to Sun ourselves and gaze at the beautiful world. 

How is it that we forget how marvelous Nature is? 

I was blessed with parents that had a deep respect for Nature. Especially my Mother, who would take her little charges out to the prairie after the snow melt to look for pasque flowers. We lived in Columbia Heights. It was the northernmost suburb of the Twin Cities. Fridley may have been a name on a map but there were no settlements there. There was a pig farm and some other farming activity. However, it was mostly sand dunes and oak Savannah. The prairie started about 47^th and we lived in the 40^th block so it was a relatively short walk to open country. We spent much time in the area. We picked wild flowers in Spring and sought low bush black berries in the Fall. The boys hunted rabbits there in Fall and Winter. I don't remember shooting any.

Part of any healing/learning center has to be aiding folks to heal their separation with Nature. I don't think we fully realize how far we have distanced ourselves. Perhaps gardening should be a required course in school. Organic gardening that is. We have to wait for enough consciousness change to protect ourselves from the chemical companies that would salivate at the chance to indoctrinate a new generation.

I think our consciousness has raised enough now. Everybody I know, when they think of gardening, they are thinking organic gardening. I look forward to the day when we take back agriculture from the capitalist and raise food that is nourishing and free of poisons.

I don't think it will be long, folks are waking up. We know we have been crazy for a long time. We yearn for a closer connection with nature. Our separation has caused a loneliness we have a hard time identifying. We want to cozy up to our Mother Earth. We miss her. The emptiness has caused a craving for materiality that can never fulfill our need. Our Mother loves us. Let us get reconnected with Nature.

Celebrate Spring!

Love and Peace, Gregg