A Poem for Humanity

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time if the droughts came,

and the corn died, the rain quit,

and the game animals left,

we just packed our simple villages

and moved to another place . . .

a place where the precious rain fell,

the rivers sweetly flowed,

and the corn grew tall again.

There was moving room for all.

But no longer.

We must therefore now carefully

– very carefully –

protect and conserve the water we have

for the future. For we know

we have only borrowed this sacred land

from our children.

– Doug Stewart

Mitigation is the Best Adaptation

Wind Turbines in Tunisia Photo by Anastasia Palagutina on Unsplash

“Mitigation is the best adaptation.”

Quamrul Chowdhury, Adaptation Expert and Lead Negotiator for the Least Developed Countries

The Hunger Stones resurfaced last month along central European rivers. These river boulders are carved with inscriptions that memorialize years of suffering, famine, and economic distress from past droughts.  One prophetic writing from 1616 translates… Continue reading

Mulch, Mulch, and More Mulch

During my South Florida Master Gardener training, a fellow student asked our extension agent what was the best solution to combat both our dry winters and torrential summer rains. “Mulch, mulch and more mulch,” the extension agent responded. That was 15 years ago, and I can tell you that was the best advice I ever received about gardening. Plus, it’s worked in both the subtropics and the high desert of… Continue reading

Plant Trees Sturdy for the Birdies

Lately, I’ve been waking up every morning between 5-6 AM hearing bird songs. There are sounds of Canadian Geese and Mourning Doves and many other songbirds . The other day, a Black-billed Magpie chased after my dog and me for about 200 feet –cackling all the way. Accidentally, we had stopped under a tree and the bird’s nest. My dog was oblivious. I… Continue reading

Homage to the Earthworm

Image by Gerhard Gellinger from Pixabay

Did you know that Charles Darwin spent his life enamored with worms?

“It may be doubted if there are any other animals which have played such an important part in the history of the world as these lowly organized creatures,” Darwin wrote in his final book (“The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Actions

It’s the End of a Decade and Time to Clean Out Your Crap

It’s 2020 baby!

It is the last year of the decade. This has been a decade where we’ve seen an unbelievable escalation of climate disruption along with a groundswell in the global youth climate movement. And, none of it is over yet (remember I said last year in the decade) as emissions are still going up.

This isn’t some post about the Marie

Lewis the Koala is this week’s face of the climate emergency

Australian koalaAustralian koala Image by Claudia Beyli from Pixabay

Last week, a video of an Australian grandmother taking the shirt off her back and plucking a koala from a tree, as a bushfire engulfed the area around them went viral. The koala was taken to a local koala hospital where he was treated. The rescuer named him “Ellenborough Lewis” after her grandchildren. Everyone… Continue reading

Birthing the World We Want

That Was Then

It’s record hot everywhere,” I heard a guy say as I was sitting under a tree outside of a café in Pagosa Springs, Colorado in late July. His son–maybe seven years old– replied,
“Yeah, if it’s this hot now, imagine what it will be like in 30 years. You’re lucky. Your generation screwed it up and we are the ones who have

Backyard Garden Rules: Nature Favors Diversity

Confession: I’m a lazy gardener

I’ve always operated under the assumption that most people are too. Life is busy, of course, and there are lots of moving parts. I love my garden, and love eating the bounty that it creates. I just don’t have the time to care for it. So, I plant and hope for the best… Continue reading

Earth Day: Love Yourself- Love Your Mother


“The Earth has lost her equilibrium. The fact that we have lost connection with Earth’s natural rhythm is the cause of modern sickness…

We need to realize that the conditions that will help to restore the necessary balance don’t come from outside us; they come from inside us, from our own mindfulness, our own level of

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