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comparisons.   to need or want to choose one thing over another….to judge one thing as better than….

How everything carries its own Beauty,  its own unique singularity,   not more than,  not better than.  The specific singular Isness….to appreciate this….just for what it IS.

And then.

Finishing reading The Moth Snowstorm  …. Nature and Joy     by Michael McCarthy

"At some unknown moment between  1 July 2006 and 1 July 2007, according to the demographers of the United Nations,  a momentous milestone in the history of humankind was passed with no one being aware of it:  the percentage of the world's population living in towns and cities exceeded 50 per cent.  Henceforth,  most people on the planet would live urban rather than rural lives,  and for the first time would no longer be in close contact with the natural or even the semi-natural world  (which farming represents);  a majority, and a rapidly expanding one, would no longer have direct access to the rhythms of the growth  cycle, to the effects of seasonality,  to quiet, to the visibility of the stars, to non-industrial rivers and natural forests, and to wildlife ~ to birds and wild mammals, to insects and wild flowers ~ even where, as in more and more places, wildlife was impoverished.  Nature in any form would no longer be part of most people's everyday experience."

the book came highly recommended by the On Being interview a while back.  And tho it was full of so much,  i'd hoped for more,  i'd,  as always, hoped for advice on how to just go.  

I come away with the thought that no one knows how to just go.  

so i guess, maybe,  just this.  Whenever possible,  tell,  like TELL things you feel and see.  TELL them to the guy at the gas station,  the cashier at the grocery.  Whether they seems to want to hear or not.  Just TELL.  Tell how there was this so small bird this morning,  how there was a skunk in the compost,  how the Goat Manure seemed to change the pepper plants over night.  How it was sad that there was a possum squashed on the highway.  Any  thing.  Every thing.  Become the keeper of the Field Notes.  and share those.  Any way we can.  I know that many of us here already do that on blogs,  but to keep on,  and to share it face to face as much as possible.   We can't forget how important any small thing IS.  Every small thing is.

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19 responses to “two things”

  1. jaime Avatar
    jaime

    My 17 year old nephew told me this past weekend that I was the first person to teach him how to use a shovel. Last year. It saddens me to know that generations grow up knowing nothing about the land. So much I want him to know. So much I will show him until he goes away to college.

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  2. ² Avatar
    ²

    dear Grace that’s why i dont blog , and for me it takes to match time , i know to share it virtual…. it will/can be nice etc….
    for Jaime…j’aime how lovely is that…
    dont feel sad , they have other things to do in there life’s ,
    i understand you , here is the same !!!

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  3. Michelle Slater Avatar

    You said it: TELL everyone about every little thing that matters! Connect and honor it all. Grass grows between the slabs of concrete and wild flowers pop up in the most unexpected places. I’ve seen the Ialanthus trees growing out of buildings too. Nature will do what it needs and we are a part of it too. Glorious.

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  4. julie Avatar

    We spent the past 10 days in the U P in a rented trailer. Driving toward the bridge, we saw a big black dog running across the road ahead of us. As we got closer, the dog turned into a black bear.

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  5. grace Forrest Avatar

    i know that land…my childhood and then taking my own
    children…what did you think? and black bears…
    shape shifters and did you pick berries? your fingers
    got stained? pine forests
    Love that you went there

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  6. Mo Crow Avatar

    (((Michelle))) I love how even us inner city folk can find the wonders of nature when we slow down enough to see with our hearts.

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  7. ² Avatar
    ²

    Michelle ,even you tell the words i will speak , nature do… we are part… thank you, and Grace and all of You here , when i read here by time the words i find , i say thanks and feel it in my hole heart and body we are connect with …
    we are ….

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  8. ² Avatar
    ²

    Grace , we know how imported it is to tell even or during the telling when people give there back and shake there shoulders ….
    we love them to

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  9. Anna Avatar

    Grace, what a sad threshold we have crossed–I can’t imagine not watching deer browsing in the back yard, finding tracks of raccoons in the driveway mud, hearing birds singing and breeze caressing the tree limbs, and the other day, a dragon fly landed on my knee as I sat in the sun–he had caught “lunch”, an iridescent green patterned tiny thing, which he devoured at his leisure while I watched. Right there on my bare knee!– Such a wonder! These things we must share, lest the world forgets.

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  10. julie Avatar

    too esrly for berries, I was inhaling Lake Superior looking for rocks ( Himself has become a rockhound) and looking for the me I used to love. Found it all, will be blogging about it when I get home. I knew you would know.

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  11. jaime Avatar
    jaime

    My 17 year old nephew just called and he has a job as a camp counselor for the summer! It will be so good that he has the chance to live in the woods and learn for himself. Then he can go to college and save this country…

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  12. grace Forrest Avatar

    you can show him as much as time allows, but best….he
    knows he has you, that your Love is Great and belongs to
    him too. I am so beyond HAPPY to know this…THANK YOU

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  13. grace Forrest Avatar

    but they know who we are, too

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  14. grace Forrest Avatar

    i always love so much how you TELL and SHOW this in your
    grand and great City

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  15. grace Forrest Avatar

    o…eeeeeeeeeeeeee, Lake Superior….how many times
    i literally crawled on my hands and knees on its shore, stones…..i would lick them…to see the true selves when wet…
    When i left Michigan, i brought some. I also took some back before leaving. When i left N Mex i brought the Lake Superior rocks. They are over there at Campsite B.
    I just LOVE this

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  16. grace Forrest Avatar

    it’s the Love. yes. because of the Love.

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  17. grace Forrest Avatar

    yes. Just like this. on your knee….it trusted and
    fed itself. Yes. We need to tell these things over and
    over as much as we can…maybe to hold just a bit of
    all that it was before that threshold

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  18. grace Forrest Avatar

    i love this so much, jaime….and we need them, the young
    ones that will inherit …..maybe he WILL save us…he
    could….
    Tell him…tell him that an old woman from New Mexico and California is counting on him.
    and if you don’t mind…what is his first name? i will
    set him in my prayer basket

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  19. jaime Avatar
    jaime

    Tayon’s name is Tayon. I will tell him that my friend from New Mexico, now California, is counting on him. He was very close to my mother (who was really old) and used to write letters to her and sign them Future President Of The United States. He imposed his picture on a Time magazine cover announcing his greatness. Besides his wicked sense of humor he is a kind and loving human being. President or not I know him as our future. He will be honored to have his name in your prayer basket.

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