A few years ago, I did something that I’d been putting off for a long time. I joined Joanna Macy and twenty-eight other people for a weekend of the Work that Reconnects. I knew of Joanna as a philosopher of both ecology and Buddhism, full of wisdom and deep practice on both fronts. Over the […]
The Work that Reconnects: a weekend with Joanna Macy Read More »
I am standing on the rocky ledge that is Ring Mountain on a spring day. Within sight are San Francisco and bustling, built-up Marin County. Houses, cars, people, and roads — all the trappings of “civilization” — are everywhere. And yet, I am surrounded by a staggering variety of life. The plant diversity alone is
Wild abandon: the mystery and glory of plant diversity Read More »
Astrophysicist Carl Sagan once said, “If you want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” Every subatomic particle in an apple pie appeared in the first second after the universe expanded into being 13.7 billion years ago. He could have said the same of mud pies, though it wouldn’t have
The intimate bond: humans and dirt Read More »
In his 1981 book, Basin and Range, John McPhee gave us a good analogy for the scale of deep time. Stretch out your arm sideways, and imagine that the 4.55 billion-year timeline of earth’s history runs from the tip of your nose to the tip of your middle fingernail. A quick swipe of a nail file would wipe out human history.
The solace of deep time Read More »
When I first described my love for the Aboriginal concept of songlines, the paths taken by the First Beings as they sang the world into existence, I said that one of the ideas I love best is that we are tasked with continuing the work in our own lives. As we walk through our days, we
Songlines 2016: landscapes of love and prairies Read More »
When I first saw the picture of the trollius above, I was struck by how ferocious it looked, though the trollius itself didn’t inspire that thought when I took it. It was the only time I’d ever associated the word ‘ominous’ with a flower. I was reminded of it this fall, as I took pictures
Happy Halloween: slightly ominous, very orange Read More »
After my happy sojourn in Missouri, I went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a family reunion. My brother and one of my sisters live there, and both have large families. So when we gather, that’s the sensible place to do it. Nineteen years ago, after another reunion, I’d gone to Madison to see Curtis Prairie, the
Love, grief, wildflowers Read More »
I’ve been a walker all my life. From grade school through college, I walked to school. As teenagers in a small town with nowhere to go, we would take walks to hang out together. I walked to my first job after college. There were a couple of years, after moving to New York City, when
Two months before, I hadn’t even known there were prairies in Missouri. But there I was, in early August, swerving all over the place on a dirt and gravel road, on my way to one. I wasn’t swerving because the surface was slippery after the night’s rain, but because large, soot-black butterflies with luminous blue
Surprised by delight in Missouri Read More »
Laudato si — Praise be! — are the opening words of each of the verses in Saint Francis’s beautiful Canticle to the Sun. It is also the title of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical defining the Catholic Church’s doctrines on the care of the earth. This year, September 1 is the annual World Day of Prayer
Laudato si: wonder and care Read More »