Blessed Unrest

Tiny forests, big miracles

A patch of a Miyawaki forest in Berkeley, California. Installation overseen by SUGI. Photo by Betsey Crawford

“The forest is the root of all life; it is the womb that revives our biological instincts, that deepens our intelligence and increases our sensitivity as human beings.” ~ Akira Miyawaki ~ Much of Earth’s land area would like to be forest. Not in the aridity of deserts or grasslands or the sogginess of wetlands.

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Gardening as if life depends on it

What we do with our land, however small an area, matters not just to us, but to the life of our planet. Landscaping isn’t a static, visual element but an active participant in the world we create. It can foster healthy soil and air or drench it with chemicals. Clean water as it filters through healthy soil or send it laden with toxic compounds to underground aquifers or nearby waters.

Most importantly, it can help save birds, butterflies, and other living beings from extinction.

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The lost words

In 2007 the Oxford Junior Dictionary removed the word acorn from its print edition. Also the words blackberry, otter, willow, bluebell, and newt. Fifty such ‘nature words’ were eliminated and replaced by words like broadband, MP3 player, and chatroom.

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A wild love for the world

Bright lavender wild geranium (Geranium erianthum) and buds at the Wynn Nature Center, Homer, Alaska. Photo by Betsey Crawford

I go out into nature, I told him. Every day, I am grounded, enmeshed in the Earth I rose from. Reminded of the deep love I feel for the growing, rustling, blooming, singing life around me. Reminded that there are mysteries my being both flows out of and into. 

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