People are Looking for Another Way + I Feel a Calibration of my Spirit When I + Old Man’s Wisdom

Good Morning from Prince Edward Island,

I love sunrise. I love walking through the woods and seeing green shoots stretching for a glimpse of the sun.

I love the sound of woodpeckers doing their mating call. It cracks me up to think they are banging their head through the extension of their beak against a tree.

Reading 21 books was my goal for 2021. I have completed or *started the following:

It seems that my reading habits are growing into having two books on the go: one fiction and one non. 

Early last month, over a few days, two people suggested I read Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. (Thank you, Vicki and Helen)

The author, a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation describes her book as “an invitation to celebrate the gifts of the earth.”

This morning I found a few articles in the New York Times and the UK Guardian about Robin. 

I read she feels her message is resonating now because. “When we’re looking at things we cherish falling apart, when inequities and injustices are so apparent, people are looking for another way that we can be living. We need interdependence rather than independence, and Indigenous knowledge has a message of valuing connection, especially to the humble.”

She prefers to work outside. She states that she “moves between what I think of as the microscope and the telescope,” observing small things in the natural world that serve as microcosms for big ideas.

Kimmerer explains, “The other day I was raking leaves in my garden to make compost, and it made me think, This is our work as humans in this time: to build good soil in our gardens, to build good soil culturally and socially, and to create potential for the future. What will endure through almost any kind of change? The regenerative capacity of the earth. We can help create conditions for renewal.”

This made me think about how many invisible miracles do I walk past every time I go out for a walk?

When I take the time to sit on the forest floor and listen; and give thanks, I feel a calibration of my spirit.

"In every living thing, there is the desire for love." ~ D. H. Lawrence

When I take the time to lay down in a field and look up and see cotton ball clouds against the contrasting blue skies and give thanks, I feel a calibration of my spirit.

When I hear the choir created by the forest’s bird angels; and give thanks, I feel a calibration of my spirit.

After our walk, I sat down to write this blog and wanted to listen more to what I had experienced this morning.

If unable to leave the confines of your space to enjoy the gift of the natural world, put the video on and let it be.

Let's go on a water adventure. 

Katherine MacLaine, our graphic designer took a stroll yesterday and captured the moment.  She blesses us with her many talents.  One of many is her ability to frame beauty through her photography. 

You will also notice the considerable damage we experienced on one of our paths. The work to regrade the path starts next week. I see many loads of shale and heavy equipment coming upon the Gardens of Hope.

Check out Katherine’s photography. Click Here to see the the Gardens of Hope Blog. 

"Honor all living things, for we are of the stag, and the salmon, and the bee; so destroy not life, save it be to preserve your own." ~ Scott Cunningham

May you get outside to get ‘inside' this weekend. 

And may joy be your constant companion and more than an acquaintance next week. 

With love from Prince Edward Island,

Bruce + Millie

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." ~ Phyllis Diller

ps. Your Morning Smile

The strong young man at the construction site was bragging that he could out-do anyone in a feat of strength. He made a special case of making fun of one of the older workmen. After several minutes, one older worker had had enough.

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is," he said. "I will bet a week's wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that outbuilding that you won't be able to wheel back."

"You're on, old man," the braggart replied. "Let's see what you got."

The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles. Then, nodding to the young man, he said, "All right. Get in."