It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it slip away!
-U2
I did chores yesterday, going grocery shopping, driving with windows down, then home to sweep out the house, clean the fans and dust like crazy. By the time I was done, I was hot and sweaty but HAPPY!
As usual, roommate Estelle was lounging on the sofa, not about to do anything or go anywhere, a thirty-something teen-ager too busy watching TV or sleeping to get out and enjoy life. Sigh. (For more about Estelle, click over to my creative writing blog, Wolfmoon Lady Howls. Ambivalent love is weird.)
Today, I’m not going to spend much time inside. I just wanted to post this article about plants, by Natalie Anger, Green, Life-Giving and Forever Young (NY Times, April 17 2007) - an interesting read that validates what I’ve long suspected, that most humans are ‘plant blind,’ i.e. unable to identify most plants or know their properties. Too true.
Now, I’m inspired to order used copies of two books I confess to never reading: The Secret Life of Plants, by Peter Tompkins & Christopher Bird (2003) along with The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature, by Stephen Harrod Buhner (2004).
Since reading Castaneda’s Don Juan books, in the 70s, I’ve been interested in the shamanic power of plants, so I also plan to order Eliot Cowan’s Plant Spirit Medicine: The Healing Power of Plants. What good additions to my summer reading list!
Speaking of plants - wow!
Almost overnight, local flora have exploded with life: magnolias are in bloom, yellow forsythia bushes are in full flower, although the daffodils, with a short life cycle this season, are already heavy-headed and ready to drop their buttery petals. What with the blossoms and the sunshine, and the just-budding trees, it’s too gorgeous for words here in central Connecticut! I’m intoxicated with birdsong and soft breezes and WARMTH.
Well, time to go for my nature walk. After that, I’m going to sit outside and watch the plants grow.
Happy Earth Day, Peeps!
Love and Gaia Blessings,
Morgan
