What can enclosethis ample innerness?So soft is this touch,it could soothe any wound.~ Ranier Maria Rilke ~ I may belong to one of the smallest groups in history — people who are conflicted about roses. It’s not that I don’t love the look of many, or their subtle variations of color and intricacies of form. […]
Passion and poison: the thorn in the rose Read More »
In a year filled with small and large celebrations, I’ll start at the top of the list. Jackson Douglas Perrier was born on February 6. I’ve been a happy step-grandmother for 25 years, and now the youngest is a junior in college. So, Nana-wise, starting from the beginning again is heaven. He is a sweet
Songlines 2025: celebration Read More »
The Confederacy of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations in what is now upstate New York has been meeting for 1,000 years. United by a common goal to live in harmony, each meeting, large and small, is opened with the beautiful and incantatory Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. This enfolds each gathering in a culture of
The Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address Read More »
On our way to Alaska a few years ago, we were stopped by a wildfire in British Columbia. It had jumped Route 97 and was burning on both sides. The RV park where we spent the night slowly filled with people who were turned back as they drove north. The manager warned us we might
Ashes to petals: wildfire and rebirth Read More »
These ancient beings are expressions of the immense cosmic forces that shaped, and continue to shape, the universe. Like them, we are formed from the fiery birth of this planet, from stardust woven into bone and breath. Our destinies could not be more intertwined.
The flowering of delight: celebrating the Season of Creation Read More »
There is a wonderful project afoot in the United States. Called Homegrown National Park, it’s the brainchild of Doug Tallamy. An entomologist at the University of Delaware, Tallamy is keenly aware of the threats to biodiversity that the decimation of our insect population poses. Through books and talks, he has been an important voice advocating
From lawn to alive: creating a Homegrown National Park Read More »
The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature.~Earth Charter~ Looking around at the scorched wreckage of today’s polity, one wonders how the Earth Charter even came into
Ever inspiring, the Earth Charter celebrates 25 years Read More »
May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope.~ Pope Francis ~ Pope Francis died just short of the tenth anniversary of his powerful encyclical setting forth Catholic doctrine on the care of Earth. Laudato si — Praise be! — open each of the verses in the
Laudato si: celebrating a 10-year epic Read More »
I’m indiscriminate in my love for flowers. There are few that I don’t like, and many that I love. But there is something about my feeling for irises that sets them apart. Which is interesting, because I don’t find them to be the prettiest of flowers, or easy to deal with. As garden plants, they
Beautiful, wild, intelligent: loving iris Read More »
I was forty-six when I first saw the desert and I’ve never been the same since. The lush, green landscapes I had known all my life peeled away. What was left was spare in all ways. Few plants, few colors, nothing to impede light, air so hot it became a presence, a sky so blue
Born in the desert Read More »