That simple sentence has had me thinking for days about my place on this planet, about humanity’s place as a whole, and about how to change that. Different species co-exist in my yard, while eating and digging up much of what I try to grow. While the rest of the population eats and drinks together, taking turns when necessary, I enter the scene and they all flee.
I am trying to gradually change that, by sitting in my yard and minding my own business. But this situation is bigger than just me. I firmly believe that humanity may be ensuring its own demise by mishandling this beautiful planet that normally sustains us. Tornados, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, heat waves, extinctions and rising ocean temperatures all seem to be signaling that we are an infectious disease the planet is trying to fight off with everything it has.
Still we insist on clearcutting forests, throwing our garbage into the oceans, destroying topsoil, polluting the air, and paving paradise. We have separated ourselves from nature and declared that we have dominion over it.
This has changed my perspective as a sometimes gardener. I am older, slower, weaker, and have less stamina than in the past. I am on a fixed income/tight budget. Meanwhile the critters are multiplying; more bunnies, squirrels, deer, and birds – all destructive to a garden, to some degree. This affects me in relation to them, and to my garden.
I nurture what survives the onslaught of diggers, eaters, and those who like to nap on seedlings. Potatoes do well. I like to nap in the sun; so I pull my chair close to a bird feeder and to seed scattered on the ground. Slowly some of the critters adapt to my presence and aren’t scared away so easily. I enjoy watching the birds mating, the fawns kicking up their heels, the squirrels chasing each other up and down the tall fir trees, spiraling; and the bunnies munching oh so fast.
In my garden, I chop and drop weeds, mulching as I go. I scatter seeds everywhere, trusting that some will germinate. I spend time just watching the bees and other pollinators. I water deeply. I harvest herbs. I spend more time watching and learning, breathing in synch with it all.
I want so much to belong to this world.
