The ripe hazel nut found fertile soil and enough moisture to germinate in the rough ground adjacent to our young woodlot. Its trunk had broken off so that now several stout shoots 1-2 inches in diameter created a bush-like shrub12 feet tall. After several years of providing shelter, shade, and food for wildlife, this early summer’s windstorms up-rooted and blew over this “bush”. As the fall progressed it kept catching my eye as one more chore I should clean up before the winter snows blanket the ground.
With freshly frozen ground underfoot and no snow cover, I sized up the task and admired the structure this particular plant created. No central leader with evenly spaced lateral limbs on this plant. Instead, at least a dozen potential competing trunks vied to become the leader - each one reaching up to the sun.
The 21st century is an exciting, challenging, dynamically changing time to be alive on planet Earth. Desertification, loss of biodiversity, global warming and the like are daunting challenges. At the same time our increasing scientific understanding of the planet, new farming and production techniques, and technological advances give us powerful tools to meet these challenges.
The benefits of a healthy environment are clear, but there are many competing ideas and initiatives as to how best to develop our energy resources, conserve our precious soil and water resources, and sustain a healthy biodiversity of flora and fauna. Sometimes these initiatives seem to be at odds with one another. The uprooted hazelnut may offer some perspective. No single central leader emerged as the ONE best way for that plant to thrive. Instead, many competing sprouts collaborated to produce a fruitful shrub.
Likewise, in this extremely dynamic period of human history, countless contributors are searching and experimenting to find the best ways to sustain a healthy environment for our sake and for the sake of all life on earth. Each of us can contribute too. In this season of giving and resolutions we all can find ways to practice earth-friendly habits. Living gently on the land is a simple gift that puts us in accord with all life and adds meaning to ours. Being in harmony with this, our only home, insures a healthier world – one on which we can thrive. And we really have no choice because we are all forever…Earthbound.
With freshly frozen ground underfoot and no snow cover, I sized up the task and admired the structure this particular plant created. No central leader with evenly spaced lateral limbs on this plant. Instead, at least a dozen potential competing trunks vied to become the leader - each one reaching up to the sun.
The 21st century is an exciting, challenging, dynamically changing time to be alive on planet Earth. Desertification, loss of biodiversity, global warming and the like are daunting challenges. At the same time our increasing scientific understanding of the planet, new farming and production techniques, and technological advances give us powerful tools to meet these challenges.
The benefits of a healthy environment are clear, but there are many competing ideas and initiatives as to how best to develop our energy resources, conserve our precious soil and water resources, and sustain a healthy biodiversity of flora and fauna. Sometimes these initiatives seem to be at odds with one another. The uprooted hazelnut may offer some perspective. No single central leader emerged as the ONE best way for that plant to thrive. Instead, many competing sprouts collaborated to produce a fruitful shrub.
Likewise, in this extremely dynamic period of human history, countless contributors are searching and experimenting to find the best ways to sustain a healthy environment for our sake and for the sake of all life on earth. Each of us can contribute too. In this season of giving and resolutions we all can find ways to practice earth-friendly habits. Living gently on the land is a simple gift that puts us in accord with all life and adds meaning to ours. Being in harmony with this, our only home, insures a healthier world – one on which we can thrive. And we really have no choice because we are all forever…Earthbound.
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