We Are Stardust

We are intrinsically connected to nature. Our very molecules have passed through millions of other creatures since being released from the rock that composed the original earth. We know that from knowing the First Law of Thermodynamics - that matter is neither created nor destroyed. It just gets passed around a lot. I believe that our deep-seated need to reconnect to nature comes from the fact that we are all made of the same materials and we've all been part of every other life form sometime in the earth's history. As Joni Mitchell wrote in her song, Woodstock, 'We are stardust, we are golden and we want to get back to the garden."  We find our way back to where we truly belong when we connect to the natural world, and for me that often is a garden. In these times of "social distancing", I find even more connection to my place in this great web of life through my landscape. I'm an introvert by nature, so having "distance" is not so overwhelming to me, but I find that I have even more hours to fill than I am accustomed to. There are no lectures to give to college students, no talks to prepare for environmental groups and very few nature-oriented businesses I can stop by to make a purchase. I've stocked up, for example, on bird food as that type of business and that kind of outing is now considered "nonessential". 
I connect with myself at least when I am in my landscape and I get a chance to see that the rest of the world does not consider me essential. Life goes on all around me now that my plants are growing into their second year. I've been watching at least a dozen species of native bees visit my flowers this past week. It seems like with each passing day more are waking up from their long winter nap. The butterflies too are back. Where I had not much more than Gulf fritillaries a few weeks ago, I now have documented more than a dozen species over the past few days. Some have remained long enough to try to start a new family.
My bird feeders and bath have become a focal part of the overall neighborhood. I realize that all of these birds survived on their own before I ever put this feeder up, but they have now incorporated it into their daily routines. It has been my gauge in better understanding which species are living around me. I've found that I now have far more than I first suspected. The feeder has taught me, for example, that I have catbirds and not just cardinals and common grackles.
As I work and explore my landscape, it is easy to see that the rest of life is politely ignoring me. As life circles around me outdoors I have come to realize that my place is not as important as I imagined it to be.  It is true that I had a hand in creating this landscape and true that I could easily destroy it by burying it back in sod or gravel like my neighbors do, but the truth of the matter is that I had no hand in creating this life that is now around me. It was already out there and it was waiting like it always has for me to reconnect to it. I am thankful that the rest of life has not given up on me. I need that connection now more than ever.

Comments

  1. GinaMarch 29, 2020 at 4:25 PM

    Beautiful words. I find great comfort in nature and in knowing that I am part of it, but not the most important part. Stay safe and healthy. Thank you for bringing beauty and comfort to your readers.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ethics of Collecting Seed

Image
I've been writing lately about seeds and using them to create what is often called a pollinator meadow. A great many of the plants in my new landscape were grown from seed. Frankly, I have always loved sowing seeds and watching them sprout. I started in early childhood and I've been doing it since. It's rewarding and the anticipation of waiting for seeds to sprout is difficult to match unless you play the lottery. I rarely purchase seeds. I collect them. When I can, I purchase a few plants of a species I wish to add to my landscape and I then collect their seed after they bloom. If a plant doesn't prosper sufficiently to set seed for me, it is not a plant I wish to continue to grow. Over the years, I've tried a great many plants that I've failed to adequately provide for. Today in my landscape, I'm trying a few that I've never tried before. The exceptions come from plants that are not available in the trade. To grow these from seed, I need to collect ...
Read more

Wildflower Meadows - The Importance of Grasses

Image
A Natural Wildflower "Meadow" - Apalachicola National Forest I grew up in the prairie Midwest and was fortunate to have been caught up in the prairie restoration movement that blazed brightly in the last few decades of this past century. Very little of our original prairie ecosystems remain as the rich prairie soils were quickly converted to agricultural uses as European settlers swarmed their way over the continent.  These ecosystems are extremely diverse, regardless of where they occur. From the tall-grass prairies of the Midwest to the rockland prairies of the Mid-South and the true dry prairie systems here in Florida where I now reside, there are several universal characteristics - they are some of the most species diverse systems in the world and they are dominated by grasses. Grasses, in all their many shapes and forms, are what form the foundation of any "meadow." That must also be true for all the "wildflower meadows" I see extolled on s...
Read more

A Pollinator Garden is More than Wildflowers

Image
A natural grass-dominated meadow in the shade Splitbeard bluestem - Andropogon ternarius Lopsided Indiangrass - Sorghastrum secundum Sites on social media that are promoting pollinator gardens are rife with posts about wildflowers. Folks seeking to make their landscapes pollinator friendly seem to be almost-universally focused on wildflowers. What these well-meaning people seem to not understand is the importance of native grasses. Meadows, prairies, and other wildflower-dominated systems are mostly grass. Grasses form the backbone of every one of these plant communities. It isn't the wildflowers. They simply provide most of the color - but a living landscape is not about color, it's about creating habitat, and this habitat requires us to incorporate native grasses. It is true that the vast majority of grasses, and their graminoid relatives, are wind pollinated. They do not provide nectar and pollen for the most part, but despite that they are significant. More s...
Read more