mostly,  i pulled Kochia.  would wander away,  thinking to think or do something specific but then it never would happen.  Thoughts would begin but dissolve.  Doings would be approached but dissolve before i got there.

I watched some on this screen off and on and thought about how what we do now,  when we are afraid or when something is deep in our heart,  we March.  We gather and March.  How strange, really.

 

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the Giant Sage,  out in the Front Oasis i saw,  has grown such thick arms up from this Earth here.  It will be there forever now.  It's next to the Mirror Chair.   I thought to cut some pieces and make a smudge stick but then just took this one sprig.  The fragrance is intense.  I played it a small song and will leave it here to dry until some moment i want to burn it.

 

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the Mirror

 

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back and forth to the Raft.  Will take the diamond stick.

daughter Jenny called this morning early before setting out.  She talked again about how the Hill seeps.   Sweats.  scratch the earth in some places an inch and it will seep.    I think how before Us,  nothing was "built" there.  There is the original road,  a path really,  that they follow to someone's originally  imagined homesite at the top where her home will be.  No one seems to know that history.  Before that,  maybe only the Yahi people.  Who didn't "build"….just lived.  Do you remember the story of Ishi,  Last of His Tribe?  Oroville is where he appeared from out of the wilderness.  Maybe he walked that Hill.  Slept there.  Knew it.    Not all of it seeps.  really,  not much.  but there are two places.  One is on the road/driveway that needs to be strong.  The second is closer to Alyssia's site for her home.

So today was French Drain day.   They have been watching the water,  it's movement,  it's need.  How to learn the way of that water,  give it something it likes,  see if it likes it.

 

 

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12 responses to “Earth Day 2017 a gentle disarray”

  1. Mo Crow Avatar

    love your photo of the sage and singing drum

    Like

  2. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    It is ridiculous how much the thought of sticks accompanying you on your journey makes me happy And strange but true I marched today. This time with my nieces and my husband an incredible chemist who has touched so many lives through his amazing work Not a long journey this time. Just up to Montpelier but a smaller number but we stood and listened to what we could do here and watched children celebrate the 🌏 and hoped we could make a difference.
    It is still a new place to us. But of course to hear the speakers. Was to stretch. To reaffirm in a time of fear This week back to writing and calling. But it was so good to get outside. Rain or not and to simply move
    Ishi filled my junior year at Berkeley. Made me change my major. Circles within circles Singing drums and sage
    Gentle day grace

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  3. Deb G Avatar

    My parents dug ponds to deal with a similar issue. One dries out in the summer but during the winter they really keep things from getting overly soggy and they have attracted more wildlife.

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  4. grace Avatar

    good to read this….
    right now they are keeping it to the barest minimum…just enough to
    be able to use the “driveway” and to keep Alyssia’s place dry. This
    place being so just new…they haven’t seen it at other times of year
    yet and this particular year being so different for that whole area…
    SO MUCH RAIN, RAIN beyond RAIN.
    so the barest minimum at this point, then maybe a year of Watching.
    or more.

    Like

  5. grace Avatar

    yes…Ishi. Need to find the book again…see how it feels
    to read it some 50 years down the path….
    I’d momentarily forgotten that your True Love is a Chemist…
    so a double love day for you…

    Like

  6. grace Avatar

    they go together, don’t they

    Like

  7. beth Avatar

    So much to think about. I’m glad the goat tagging went smoothly. Just wanted to mention… I believe there are state and federal restrictions on moving wood and dug up plants across state lines. And I suspect CA is particularly strict. As you are thinking about what to take, you might want to check into that. For example, in the midwest they are desperately trying to contain the spread of emerald ash borers. There are even restrictions about taking firewood across county lines in some places here.

    Like

  8. Martine Bos Avatar

    a place so just new, living on original land……how wonderfull is that….

    Like

  9. vicky aka stichr Avatar

    Being from Berkeley, Ishi was a large part of our history lessons, in school. Not that we learned the important matters, like Him being the last of his tribe. Mentioned, but not really given to us to understand it.
    Like understanding the Hill and how water makes it’s way upon it. I am glad they are taking the time to listen to the land as much as possible.

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  10. grace Avatar

    yes…i am very aware of that…and making decisions
    based on the wisdom of it

    Like

  11. grace Avatar

    it’s really quite something to absorb…

    Like

  12. grace Avatar

    the listening, watching is something that we all hold as
    primary. I am so happy watching daughter and granddaughter
    as they go, so GLAD about the conversations, the
    commitment

    Like

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