Connection to the Earth
Seven years ago I was bicycling through Spokane, Washington on a 3000 mile Cross-USA trip from Seattle to Washington, DC. In the last two years I moved across the country from Connecticut to Washington state and this spring just moved into a new house with trees and land for a large garden.
Sponsored by Hazon which means vision in Hebrew, the bicycle adventure connected me to the land, this land of my birth and experience has taught me so much about myself, my friends and the United States. I found community with people who otherwise would not have spun in the same circles as I did. I noticed our similarities and the places we are connected and I learned from our differences.
Now I wake up to the sound of quail running in the tall grass, baby birds just learning to fly and the sound of children’s bare feet on the newly carpeted stairs. I am part of a family, a community, a country and the earth.
Earth Teach Me
“Earth teach me to forget myself
as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me resignation as the leaves
which die in the fall.
Earth teach me courage as the tree
which stands all alone.
Earth teach me regeneration as the seed
which rises in the spring.”
- William Alexander
I Am Learning
I am learning patience
from a garden that takes time to build and grow.
I am learning compassion from seeing the frustration of children
too small yet to do all they want to do.
I am learning to better explain my needs and desires
from setting up a house and merging our things.
I am learning to heal the land
with cast offs like coffee grounds and banana peels.
I am creating from dry earth where no worms yet burrow
a lush vegetable filled garden.
I am learning to appreciate and the sunshine and the rain
from the colors and hues of the setting sun as I stand on my porch.
I hope you are learning great and wise things
from the land and your community this summer.
Originally published at http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php on June 15, 2015.
