The Spirituality of Summer

Neighbor's Flower Garden

We often equate summer with vacations, strawberry shortcake, barbecues, short sleeve weather, or resting in the shade, perhaps in a hammock. When I was a child the annual church picnic and fund raiser (held near the July 4th Holiday) was the highlight of our summers. We were free for a day from the toils of harvesting crops. 

Commerce and religion overlapped as the Catholic priest or a parishioner called out Bingo numbers to those crowded on seating along the four sides of  a building on church property. An array of prizes, some very expensive, were displayed in the center of the building, easily in the view of hopeful Bingo players. This illegal ritual continued until the county sheriff's raid that resulted in a fine.

During the picnic, I strolled the grounds looking for a game that I hoped would end in winning one of those painted  plaster of paris horses, adorned with silver glitter. My sister-in-law Corine has one on her living room shelf. I never won a horse and didn't play the game for any length of time. I wanted to make sure I had enough money to buy ice cream, a rare treat in our family. 

    

As I aged I increasingly recognized the spiritual aspects of summer, as I did a few weeks ago watching this agile butterfly feeding on a brilliantly white flower. I was on one of my daily walks, passing by a neighbor's carefully tended front yard. 

According to the Oxford dictionary spirituality is the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. My musings then are about how summer can be a time when experiences (may they be momentary) stimulate an individual's personal search for meaning, purpose, and connection to something greater than themselves.  

Here's Mary Oliver's poem This Summer Day with its message about the potential spiritual effects of summer.

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean--

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down --

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do 

With your one wild and precious life?

I admit watching the butterfly/flower did not raise in my consciousness about the deep question of what I am planning to do with the rest of my life. Instead I marveled at the beauty that was in front of me. Noticing beauty is a form of spirituality as suggested in David Whyte  book Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. The book, a birthday gift from my friend Linda, has short elegant essays on 265 words starting with Alone and ending with Withdrawal. Here's his opening paragraph from the two page essay on beauty. 

Beauty is the harvest of presence, the evanescent moment of seeing or hearing on the outside what already lives far inside us; the eyes, the ears or the imagination suddenly becomes a bridge between the here and the there, between then and now, between the inside and the outside; beauty is the conversation between what we think is happening outside in the world and what is just about to occur far inside of us. 

Margaret Renkl in her elegant  book  The Comfort of Crows, with stunning illustrations by her brother Billy, chronicles her observations and insights about the passing seasons, witnessed from her backyard, her neighborhood, and from the Nashville area. Her book, as one reviewer noted, is fuel to restore spirits in dealing with ecological grief.  She refers to summer as The Season of Singing and says this in the opening paragraph about the season:

Everywhere, from sunup to sunup, the world is full of song. The days are hot, hot, and all the hot long day I listen to the bees lifting from flower to flower, to the watchful chipmunk sounding its chock chock alarm while the red-tailed hawk wheels, crying, high in the sky. I can't see the songbirds in the dappled light of a thousand leafy branches, but I can hear them calling from the trees. 

Renkl, during her observations of week four of summer, laments the pain of watching plain working-class homes in her neighborhood being destroyed  to make room for fine, fancy houses. Especially painful for her is watching the shade trees and wildflowers being mowed down, too, with no more thought than a lawnmower gives the grass. So much life cut off for no reason but commerce. 

Renkl's book is a poignant case study of nature's spirituality, including grieving the loss of disappearing elements .  A fellow Unitarian, Kimberly, leads a Nature-Based Spiritual Practice Group at our church, First Unitarian Society. The group does pragmatic exercises to promote wholeness, wellness, and harmony through spiritual practices grounded in the Wheel of the Year and changing seasons.

Kimberly also is a member of  group that I belong to that meets weekly. We do a series of Qigong movements referred to as the crane.  During the summer we meet in Wingra Park on the shores of Lake Wingra, just across the street from our apartment. All summer long we watched a chick crane (referred to as a colt) mature. The elegant picture, taken by my neighbor Susan, shows that the colt was almost a full grown adult.  During one of our recent sessions, the family flew over us, so low we could hear the swoosh of the powerful wings. We witnessed beauty, grace, and elegance.  Comments made after our session indicated that we shared a few moments of joy as the cranes flew overhead 

Here's the crane family with the youngster in the middle, now fully grown. About two weeks ago, I stepped out of the backdoor of our apartment building and to my surprise saw the family across the street. I worried if they could safely cross busy Monroe Street to Wingra Park where they usually hang out. I thought if they were ready to cross at the intersection I would push the button that stops traffic and escort them across the street.

The family leisurely strolled towards the intersection while I waited at the light. The family made a sharp turn at the corner and headed west along Monroe Street. I wished them well and crossed the street heading to the lake. A few days later, a neighbor reported seeing them in the park; all is well. 

We have at least another two months to be inspired by our neighborhood cranes. According to a Google search, cranes leave Wisconsin in the late fall and early winter, typically leaving around mid-to-late November or December. They gather in staging areas like Horicon Marsh, near Horicon or Crex Meadows, another wildlife refuge in Burnett County. Their departure south is triggered by cold weather, snow, or freezing temperatures. 

Another example of how summer inspires spiritual-like reflections invite is this poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer's. 

Case Study In Insanity

Every year, the zinnias have died,
or else have come so close to dying
I’ve dug out their bare, stunted stems
and frost-browned leaves and planted
trusty petunias. But this year. This year
an enchantment of zinnias. A profusion
of red. Magenta. Yellow. Orange. White.
An astonishment of beauty. A bright
constellation of earthbound joy.
You have heard this, too: insanity
is doing the same thing again expecting
different results. So let me be insane.
For this is the year when again
I bought zinnia starts and hoped
for abundance and was stunned
by flamboyant abundance. It’s making
me wonder what else I might sow
until I no longer have energy to plant:
Kindness. Forgiveness. Trust. Love.
Just because they haven’t always flourished
before, well, look at all these zinnias
outside my door, brilliant and burgeoning,
dozens and dozens, and sure, they will die
come winter, but for now, more flowers arrive
every day. Brilliant. Just look at all those petals.

Tending Prospect Gardens provides me with needed refuge while reminding me that the human qualities mentioned in Rosemerry's poem (kindness, forgiveness, trust, and love) are possible and are present. I would add generosity and joy to her list. We may need to be more mindful of these human qualities when they are present, especially during these politically stressful times coupled with polarization. Also helpful is intentionally practicing these human qualities as suggested by Rosemerry's poem: It’s making me wonder what else I might sow until I no longer have energy to plant: Kindness. Forgiveness. Trust. Love. 

The Gardens continue to thrive as Autumn approaches. Once again, on July 24th Operation Fresh Start (OFS) crews helped me weed the Gardens. Here's the crew: Nyia  front seated on the railing; Will on the second step; Michael and Maliyah (leaning on the shovel) on the fourth step; Tony and Taylor, one of the supervisors, on the fifth step; Jay seated on the left railing; Isaiah behind him; Chris standing in the middle and Ian, the other supervisor, on the right railing. Thank you all.

Another joyful morning, interacting and working with these young adults, as they pursue their dreams. They worked hard and cleared many areas of weeds. Here's Isaiah laden with bindweed. 

Maliyah, Michael and Isaiah pausing in their labors.

During the evening of July 23rd  Ann and I attended OFS' open house celebrating the renovation of the former OFS headquarters, now the renovated Atwood Music Hall. OFS crews in the building trades program helped renovate the former offices, which are now on Milwaukee Street. 

We met several OFS graduates and learned  about plans for new programs in health related careers and in child care. The future is promising for this valuable non-profit.  Dedicated staff and board members support young adults (ages 16-24) on their journeys toward self-sufficiency through education, mentoring, and employment training. Ann and I are happy to support OFS.

On  mild August 23rd I enjoyed another work session. Joining me were Joyce, Peggy, and three West High School students: Kat, Madeline and Natalie. Kat is the Leo Club  President. The picture captures Peggy and the students making the heart sign.  

We worked for two hours, wedding on the Regent and Fox sides of the Gardens. Thank you all.

During the break a cicada landed on Madeline's hand and stayed for some time. As you can see from the picture Madeline enjoyed the encounter and I am assuming so did the cicada. All the humans certainly enjoyed the rapport between Madeline and the cicada.  

Kat, Madeline, and Natalie are seniors this year. I wish them well as they too journey forward towards self sufficiency. I certainly will welcome their return to Prospect Gardens. Their youthful energy adds so much to my joy of the work session.

Here's Kat weeding hostas along the border of Hanna's and her partner's home. She, along with Madeline and Natalie, worked hard and efficiently. 






 Here's four pictures of the Gardens as we transition into Autumn. Each has a quotation about summer's impact on the writer.

And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

[T]hat old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air ... Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” 

Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

The spiritual meaning of sunshine goes beyond its physical warmth and brightness. It symbolizes illumination, positivity, growth, and Universal presence. Just as the sun shines on everyone without discrimination, our inner light is made available to all of us.

Oprah Winfrey

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."

John Lubbock

We are now into September with summer fading into the past. I anticipate more blue skies like the one in the picture while the green leaves change colors and rejoin Mother Earth as compost. 

As I welcome Autumn the memory of enjoying this bouquet of summer flowers lingers in my mind. As readers of this blog know, I walk daily. Sometimes I walk the trails in the section of the UW Arboretum along Monroe Street starting at the Wingra Boat House, which is across the street from our apartment. During late July's hot spell as I approached Wingra Springs which feeds a pond just off of Monroe Street, to my surprise, I saw this bouquet left on the ledge overlooking the pond. I continued my walk with a feeling of gratitude for the beauty of summer, my good fortune of  being alive, and gratitude for the generosity of a fellow neighbor. 

I end these musings with Mary Oliver's poem Praying. I consider her the Patron Saint of Nature. 

  Praying 

It doesn’t have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

stones; just pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try

to make them elaborate, this isn’t

a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.

  

The Generosity of Volunteers

During these summer days I pause to honor the generosity of Prospect Garden volunteers. They sustain a green space that benefits neighbors, users of the Southwest Path, small animals, birds, and insects. Hopefully, the milkweed nourishes migrating monarchs, in decline because of disappearing habitat. This year bunnies ("cute" depending on your perspective) are new residents, requiring fencing for new plantings. I reluctantly accept the new residents while regretting the damage done to some plants as they emerge during the spring.  

I continue with relaying statements, which I requested, from several individuals about why they volunteer at Prospect Gardens. Afterwards I reflect on generosity. Much what I say reflects the teachings of the Buddha. I end with a poem for your further reflection. . 

Here's the June 21st crew. Starting on the left front row: Joyce, Percy, and Peggy; second  row: Astrid, Bruce, Ann N.; top row: Gregory, Ryan, me, and Becky. Laura took the picture. 

Laura said she volunteers because of the Possibility of Ann’s lemon bars.  (her emoji). This is an understatement of why Laura has tended the Gardens for many years.  

Laura's statement acknowledges the generosity of my wife, Ann B. Besides providing lemon bars, Ann tended the Gardens and cleaned the path's ramps.  Ann also kept records about number of volunteers and total time. These were shared with the City Engineering Green Space Coordinator, Maddie Dumas. Data was used when David applied for a grant that funded the small prairie and seating area bordering his home in the Regent neighborhood and at the junction of the Path and Commonwealth Avenue. The seating area is an oasis for passersby including me. 

Becky in her floral bib overalls, perfect attire for gardening. Perhaps these should be the official Prospect Garden attire for volunteers and in recognition of their dedication. 

I volunteer for the community and the opportunity to take care of a public green space. Working on a shared goal with others is a great way to stay motivated and excited about the work. It's wonderful to see how much we can improve the space in just 3 hours when we work together. There are a lot of shared green spaces throughout Madison and we can make them a beautiful space for people and critters by volunteering! (Becky)

Astrid and I  worked for the Environmental Resources Center before we retired. The Center is now part of the UW Madison Extension's Natural Resources Institute.

I consider volunteering a responsibility we have to our community, a division of labor that helps everyone. It's kind of an assertion of our humanity; we take care of our earth, take care of each other, and take care of our community. Besides that, it's fun to work together with a mix of people. I especially like volunteering at Prospect because the people are interesting and the work we do at the gardens helps maintain a little ecosystem that lots of people on the bike path enjoy. (Astrid)

Gregory getting ready to leave after the June 21st session . He was on his way to the Capitol Square Saturday Market.

Volunteering is community building. I feel in current American culture we have ventured down a road of isolation, individualism, and division. Community is our remedy. Getting together with people you don't know well, coming together for one common goal. But, not a goal achieving wealth or status. Instead a goal of beautification. Of pride in up keeping one's community and green spaces. Being the change and maintaining it. We are social creatures. And nothing brings us closer together than working the land we share. (Gregory)

Ann N. in a picture from a 2024 work session. The gayfeathers (blazing stars) are once again starting to bloom. My wife Ann and I have known Ann N. for many years. Ann's daughter and our daughter, Emily, were friends starting with grade school and through high school. Our daughters were Girl Scouts together. 

Here's Ann N's three part response to why she volunteers at Prospect Gardens..   

Community

Volunteering at the gardens has connected me to old friends in a delightful way. When I first came, I looked forward to seeing some people I already knew - you and Ann. I have also had a chance to get to know some wonderful people from the neighborhood, and to run into old acquaintances I hadn't seen for many years. It's a community. And it's a multi-age community on the best days, not always a common occurrence but an important one. Our society tends to be age-segregated and I like talking to people of different ages.

Service

The blooms along the bike path are a gift to all who pass by. They are a reminder to notice the earth and to take care of it.

Treats

Things you don't always get at home.

Peggy in a picture from a 2024 work session. Peggy writes:

The reason I decided to volunteer is that I spend way too much time gardening in my own yard and I thought it made sense to cut back on my own yard and do something I like to do (garden), but with more of a community focus.  Also, the people are very nice and that includes you, Jake.  

As a result of volunteering at Prospect, Peggy and Ann N. have reconnected. I recently met them chatting while they walked together on the Southwest Path.  Ann N. was a Madison English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher and French teacher. Peggy has a background in ESL and they connected at school events as their children attended school together. Peggy's son was in Ann's French class.  

Peggy also has a past connection with Becky. Peggy taught  Norwegian at UW and Becky was one of her students.  Both now enjoy tending Prospect Gardens. 

Here's Joyce, a longtime volunteer. If I recall right, she is one of the initial volunteers when the Gardens were established in 2010.  Joyce, a resident of the Regent Neighborhood, is also a valuable connection to the Regent Neighborhood Association's Board. The Board, along with the Dudgeon Monroe Neighborhood Association's Board, financially supports the Gardens.

In response to my request, Joyce reflected on why she volunteers for other efforts besides Prospect Gardens. Here's the edited version relevant to Prospect Gardens:

The answer, for me, was actually harder to put into words than I thought it would be. I volunteer to do activities that I like doing. For the bike path - that is obvious - I enjoy gardening/digging in the dirt/watching things grow, etc. The next question becomes - so why at the places where I choose to volunteer. Again - taking the bike path as an example - because it is a part of where I live. I want to 'improve/help' my 'community' with my efforts. A very positive outcome of the bike path volunteering, in particular, is that I got to know others with similar interests and whom I came to enjoy. I think that was not the reason I initially volunteered (ie - to meet people), but it became a very positive outcome. 

Rajeev (sitting on the rail) past President of  Madison West High School's Leo club and other members, like Gaon, regularly tend Prospect Gardens. Rajeev will be attending the UW-Madison in the Fall. Rajeev responded by saying:

I volunteer because it connects me with my community and with people around me. I also love to be outside and support my local  environment, giving back a little. All of these are reasons that I volunteer.

Generosity underlies the behavior of the quoted volunteers. Buddhism holds that generosity is one of the highest virtues leading to happiness and supporting enlightenment. The Buddha often  stressed the importance of generosity, as he did in this passage from the Pali Canon.

Monks, if people knew, as I know, the fruits of

sharing gifts, they would not enjoy their use without

sharing them, nor would the taint of stinginess obsess the

heart. Even if it were their last bit, their last morsel of

food, they would not enjoy its use without sharing it if

there was someone else to share it with.”

Itivuttaka 18

Prospect Garden volunteers do not suffer the "taint of  stinginess." They give freely time, energy, and labor and with minimal, if any, expectations of material gain. Giving without expecting a gain is the highest form of generosity, according to Buddhism.

 

I now share more about generosity along with pictures of plants in bloom at Prospect Gardens. My primary source is Sylvia Boorstein's book Pay Attention, For Goodness Sake. Practicing the Perfections of the Heart, the Buddhist Path of Kindness. Sylvia considers herself a Buddhist and a Jew. Here's a link to her website.

 Her book classifies generosity as one of the ten paramitas. Generosity is the first chapter, an indicator of its importance. The others paramitas are morality, renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, truthfulness, determination, lovingkindness, and equanimity. Collectively, according to Sylvia, the paramitas are habits that when incorporated into everyday living result in attitudes and behaviors that benefit individuals and society.

Purple Cone with a Busy Bee

Sylvia's chapter increased my understanding of generosity. Initially I viewed generosity as an exchange between individuals and usually involving money or something tangible; i.e., giving money to favorite charities or holiday presents to a deserving family.

Generosity to Sylvia is essentially the "habit of sharing."  She also points out that we can be generous to ourselves; for example, by letting go of our obsessive thought. I never thought of generosity in this way or as a habit that can be developed.  

Great Black Wasp on Mountain Mint 

Sylvia reminds us that "... we all have something we could give away." She has in mind more than our money and/or material goods. She points out that we can give away companionship, encouragement, and care.

Sylvia likes to tell stories about generosity and several are in a section entitled "Resounding Success." One of her favorite  is about James Baraz, another notable Spirit Rock meditation teacher. James often tells this story during retreats he leads and years after it actually happened.

James was attending a silent retreat. During one of his afternoon work assignments the cook gave him a piece of cheesecake, which was not served to retreatants during lunch. He was delighted. Rather than eating it himself he  divided the piece into fours. He ate one piece and put the other three near the cleaned dishes of his friends. At this retreat individuals washed their own dishes. During the evening meal, James delighted in watching his friends' surprise and pleasure of finding and eating the cheesecake.   

Yellow Coneflower 

Perfecting the capacity for generosity requires being mindful or as Sylvia stated being "alert for every opportunity that presents itself."  Daily opportunities for generosity present themselves.   

During Emily's childhood we cared for pets for many neighbors when they went on vacation.  I recall several weeks when Star, a neighbor's Schipperke, stayed at our house. Star and our dog Sugar were the best of friends. Sometimes  when I arrived home from work, Star would bark at me. I had to remind him this was my home and that he was a guest. At that time, I never considered us being the neighborhood caretaker of pets as practicing generosity. We were just being neighborly and now I consider being neighborly as offering many opportunities to practice generosity.  

Native Bee Balm

 As we cultivate the "habit of sharing"  (Sylvia's words) we experience more than just feeling good. She explains:

" The sharing itself, the generous act, will became the habit by which I can experience directly the joy of not feeling needy, the ease of a peaceful mind."

Not feeling needy and a peaceful mind generates contentment. In other words, one ultimate benefit of generosity is a deep feeling of being contented with one's life.  

Cutleaf Coneflower

Supporting the cultivation of generosity is recognizing that life is challenging. Seeing clearly that life is difficult and stressful (suffering to use a Buddhist term) can motivate us to  act in ways that provide comfort to ourselves and others who share with us the difficulties of life. 

If not already practicing generosity, Sylvia encourages us to intentionally cultivate the "habit of sharing" and to do so frequently.  She encourages us to partner with a friend, talk often with the friend about the experience, and focus on this question; " Who is around me that I can do something for?"

Joe Pye Weed 

 If you wish to learn more about the Buddhist perspective on generosity here's a link  

Meanwhile, the Gardens are entering their show-off time. Plants such as the above and others are blooming. If in the Madison area be generous to yourself by visiting Prospect Gardens.

 Thank you to those who are volunteering. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. If you are not a current volunteer, please consider being one, which would be a very generous act and also so appreciated. Contact me and I will provide instructions for joining the established Google group used to communicate with volunteers. I will also connect you with the Crew Chiefs, Ryan and Becky, who now manage and lead the collective efforts which sustains Prospect Gardens. 

Before closing with the poem for your further reflection, here's an updated picture of the young colt. The teenager now has golden brown feathers and is almost fully grown. What a generous gift from Mother Nature.

When Giving Is All We Have  (Alberto Rios)

One river gives

Its journey to the next.

We give because someone gave to us.
We give because nobody gave to us.

We give because giving has changed us.
We give because giving could have changed us.

We have been better for it,
We have been wounded by it—

Giving has many faces: It is loud and quiet,
Big, though small, diamond in wood-nails.

Its story is old, the plot worn and the pages too,
But we read this book, anyway, over and again:

Giving is, first and every time, hand to hand,
Mine to yours, yours to mine.

You gave me blue and I gave you yellow.
Together we are simple green. You gave me

What you did not have, and I gave you
What I had to give—together, we made

Something greater from the difference.
  

"Kinship and Reciprocity"

Reciprocity Mandala: Credit & Link

The title of this post comes from Robin Wall Kimmerer's scholarship and advocacy. "Kinship and reciprocity" are central to Kimmerer's body of research and her writings.  An artist influenced by Kimmerer created the Reciprocity Mandala. The mandala shows how animals, plants, and all of nature are inextricably intertwined, connected and interdependent. Our relationships with plants, animals, and the earth are reciprocal (mutually beneficial) and not transactional or one way. 

 

Kimmerer, as some of you may know, is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants.  She is a Potawatomi botanist, noted story teller, gifted teacher, and directs the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. The April 2025 issue of Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people of 2025.

Here's how Chief Seattle, a mid 19th century leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes in the Puget Sound, expressed our relationships with the Earth. His words are another expression of "kinship and reciprocity." These are attributed to his 1854 speech.. 

This we know: All things are connected like the blood that unites us. We did not weave the web of life, We are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

At our May 5th Chalice meeting we discussed Kimmerer's 2019 keynote address entitled "Reciprocal Healing: Fostering Kinship and Reciprocity." Here's a link to the 52 minute address. Chalice is a small group of fellow Unitarians Universalists who meet twice a month during the church year and less often during summer time. Tom concluded our meeting with Susan O'Connell's poem, Wild Reciprocity. 

Wild Reciprocity

Remember your youth,
did you hear
the voices of Earth
with your animal body?

Did your senses respond
to Earth’s creativity
bursting with honeycomb and clover,
her purple lupine color rising up
through fields of yellow mustard?

Did you hear green sea songs
running before white cresting waves,
salty mist whispers,
or a foghorn’s call?

Today, can you imagine
being deep in a lush forest
home of monarch butterflies, sap, and ants,
all dreaming of life?

Sensuality stretches her limbs
offering her vibrant palette,
nudging our hearts to open
like orange poppies in the sun.

Still, seasons pass away
and we walk with them.
Earth continues to bestow her gifts
despite our arrival at the twilight of life.

And today,
if we really listen, we might hear
the tremulous tattered voices
of forests just now razed
somewhere on earth.

Muddied water seeps and pools
on hard fallow ground
once carpeted with ferns,
white lilies and feathers.

When we witness wastelands
we have created or allowed
can we feel grief for wild ones
ripped from their homes?

If we allow ourselves
to feel the pain of these losses
we might find our hearts
beat red, responsive still.

Raven and Owl witness
our past and future deeds
what might they teach us?

What ripens within and around
when our healing words and deeds align
and become woven like tree roots
inside our hearts?

Perhaps seeds of compassion
will nourish a greening canopy
of inclusion, as we respond
to the call of Earth.

Hawk cry pierces sky
telling us the time is now.
Will we answer the call
of wild reciprocity?

The poem expresses some of Kimmerer's messages: humans are deeply connected to nature, Earth's health and welfare and ours are co-dependent and intertwined,  need to listen to nature, nature as a teacher, and notably grief's role in restoring nature and our relationships to the natural world. Kimmerer writes:

"Joanna Macy writes that until we can grieve for our planet we cannot love it – grieving is a sign of spiritual health. But it is not enough to weep for our lost landscapes; we have to put our hands in the earth to make ourselves whole again. Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair.”

Kimmerer often refers to "The Great Turning", popularized by Joanna Macy. "The Great Turning"  refers to a required paradigm shift from an industrial growth society based on ever-increasing corporate profits  to a life-sustaining civilization that prioritizes ecological and social well-being. Ninety-five year old Joanna Macy, now retired, describes herself as an eco-philosopher and is the author of 12 books. She is a scholar of Buddhism, systems theory, and ecology. Joanna is recognized for her active promotion of  peace, justice, and sustainability. Here's a link to her website.

Here's more messages that remain with me from Kimmerer's 2019 keynote address and from additional online research about her. Here's a link to her website 

• Time is circular rather than a linear progression. Seasons, life cycles, and historical narratives are parts of a continuous, interconnected whole. 
• Western science and indigenous knowledge are both valuable to understanding the climate change, our world and our lives. While Western science brings reasoning needed for problem solving, indigenous knowledge offers badly needed understanding of relationships and emotions.
• Reciprocity and kinship rejects the idea that human beings are supreme and put on earth to dominate and use all other resources. Kemmerer considers supremacy of humans as the "disease of human exceptionalism", and is a fundamental problem and challenge we face. In contrast, indigenous wisdom tell us that human beings are "the younger brothers of Creation." We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn—we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance. Their wisdom is apparent in the way that they live. They teach us by example. They've been on the earth far longer than we have been, and have had time to figure things out." We need to listen to this wisdom.
• Accompanying exceptionalism is "species loneliness.... a deep, unnamed sadness stemming from estrangement from the rest of Creation, from the loss of relationship. As our human dominance of the world has grown, we have become more isolated, more lonely when we can no longer call out to our neighbors." 
• A  profound cultural shift in our relationships to the world is needed. Kimmerer writes: "We need to restore honor to the way we live, so that when we walk through the world we don’t have to avert our eyes with shame, so that we can hold our heads up high and receive the respectful acknowledgment of the rest of the earth’s beings.”  

Kimmerer’s kinship and reciprocity aligns with Aldo Leopold’s (1887-1948) Land Ethic® . The Wisconsin conservationist, philosopher, scientist , ecologist, and forester is considered the father of the modern conservation movement. His 1948 The Sand County Almanac, published by his son a year after Leopold’s untimely death, is considered a landmark in the American Conservation movement. I purchased my copy in the early 1970s.

 

Like Kimmerer, Leopold’s views of  “community”  include not only humans, but all other parts of the Earth: soils, waters, plants, and animals. To Kimmerer and Leopold the relationships between people and land are intertwined and care for people cannot be separated from care for the land. Furthermore, both Kimmerer and Leopold  call us to act based on a moral code that recognizes our interconnected caring relationships with the land and all that is Earth.

I am fortunate to live across the street from Lake Wingra and the UW-Arboretum. The Arboretum’s mission embraces Leopold’s Land Ethic and carries on his legacy. The Sandhill Cranes have returned and once again grace my life and our neighborhood. Here's the colt and one of the adults. I'm surprised at how close I can get to the family as they calmly feed or stroll across Wingra Park.

 

 Robin Wall Kemmerer highly regards gardening.  She writes:

 “A garden is a nursery for nurturing connection, the soil for cultivation of practical reverence. And its power goes far beyond the garden gate – once you develop a relationship with a little patch of earth, it becomes a seed itself.”

Volunteers continued to care for the little patch of Earth known as Prospect Gardens. Work sessions were held on May 26th and June 3rd. On the 26th the remaining prairie plants were planted plus some weeding. 

Here's Crew Chief Becky approaching the Gardens. She walked from her home and figured out how to transport the plants. Now that's creative problem solving! 

Four other volunteers plus me joined Becky. Thank you Becky, Percy, Meg, Peggy, and Laura for once again tending Prospect Gardens. Your support of Prospect Gardens benefits nature, neighborhood residents and users of the Southwest Path. Kemmerer reminds us that the power of gardening "..... goes far beyond the garden gate." 

On June 3rd Operation Fresh Start (OFS) crews returned to tend the Gardens. OFS is a non-profit that supports young adults on the path towards self-sufficiency through education, employments training and  mentoring. Here's a link to OFS website

Isaiah is straddled on the left railing and Jay on the right one. Niyah and Kaya (with a hat) are in the middle. In front of Niyah is Ollie. Taylor and Ian,  Crew Leaders (staff members) are on the lower right. 

We formed a circle before working and following Taylor's instructions, shared our names, made a brief statement about our emotional state, and did a physical movement. I shared "tree in spring", a Qigong movement. Then, everybody, except me, did 10 pushups. 

Cutting back Bishops Weed was the major task. I also cut back one of the overgrown Forsythia and pruned one of the Elderberry bushes.  

Here's Kaya pausing from pulling Bishops Weed. She was well prepared for working outdoors: net attached to her hat that protected her face, gloves, and two little portable fans that provided some close body breezes. Way to go Kaya! 

Ollie and Niyah teaming to remove Bishops Weed from the Fox side of the Gardens. Whatever they were listening to on their headsets did not interfere with the task at hand.

Isaiah and Jay (on the right side of the picture) working on the Regent Side of the Gardens. Jay's face has a hint of his expansive smile and how his face lights up when he smiles. 

Thank you Niyah, Kaya, Ollie, Isaiah, and Jay. I enjoyed our short time together, your youthful energy, and appreciated how diligently you worked. May all your efforts toward being self-sufficient adults, with the support of OFS, be fruitful. Thank you Taylor and Ian for your good work and for being role models for the young adults. 

Thank you Maddie Dumas, Stormwater Vegetation Coordinator, Madison Engineering Division, for providing access to OFS crews. Last but not least, thank you John Toso, also from City Engineering, for the crew that picked up the two large piles of plant material from the two work sessions.

I end with this Alberto Rios poem, another expression of kinship and reciprocity. 

      We Are of a Tribe

We plant seeds in the ground

And dreams in the sky,

 

Hoping that, someday, the roots of one

Will meet the upstretched limbs of the other.

 

It has not happened yet.

We share the sky, all of us, the whole world:

 

Together, we are a tribe of eyes that look upward,

Even as we stand on uncertain ground.

 

The earth beneath us moves, quiet and wild,

Its boundaries shifting, its muscles wavering.

 

The dream of sky is indifferent to all this,

Impervious to borders, fences, reservations.

 

The sky is our common home, the place we all live.

There we are in the world together.

 

The dream of sky requires no passport.

Blue will not be fenced. Blue will not be a crime.

 

Look up. Stay awhile. Let your breathing slow.

Know that you always have a home here.