Pic, above, here.
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Hurricane Irma, not long ago, took half our roof, and tons of branches crashed to the ground.
Pic, above, here.
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Getting generator placed/ready, check. Front/back porches ready, check.
Pic, above, here.
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Setting potted plants from their table top outside, onto the ground, a few demanded to be brought inside, for the duration of Hurricane Michael.
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Oddly, setting those few terra cotta pots on their table top, inside, supplied quite a few moments of sharing with centuries of cultural ancestors, and my choice, only last year, to throw my lot in with them.
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"I don't know how you people who haven't learned our language do not learn it, because without it you are not a whole person." Alutiiq Elder
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"We all have a moral responsibility to carry forward ancestral wisdom & honor our connections to the Earth, wherever our place may be for the sake of community & individual wellness." Alutiiq Elder
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"....our very well being is interdependent with Nature & each other." Alisha Drabek
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"Take care of the elder you will become." Mary Peterson, Alutiiq Elder
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"I am in part the result of ancestral soil communities being unearthed as if they were already dead, as if they were never alive." Alutiiq Elder. Since we've lost being agrarian/pastoral in our lives, we've lost more than the perceived drudgery & hardships of that life. A garden whisperer, I've known where real joy resides, Nature. Walt Whitman certainly knew, here, and, here. Science is catching up. Some cultures have never had the need for science to catch up.
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For the Alutiiq the word for 'old' breaks down in meaning to, 'in front'. Their "cultural metaphor of the past is 'in front', where we can see it, not behind us as in English." Past forward. Setting plants inside, on the old mahogany drop leaf table, sharing those moments in community, and communion. A surprise moment of benediction, felt as strongly as if in the pew with pastor and community, across centuries. All, not sought, instead, a simple choice made, for what is important, to me. Bringing a few plants inside for winter. That was all, nothing more.
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" The experience of eternity right here and now is the function of life. Heaven is not the place to have the experience: here is the place to have the experience." Joseph Campbell "
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Preparing for Hurricane Michael, receiving moments of eternity & kindred community, merely moving plants from a table top outside, to a table top inside. More than mundane, insignificant. Yet, not insignificant, in the least, to Providence.
Pic, above, here.
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Adding science to this equation of plants moved to a table top & moments of eternity and community received, "Mycobacterium vaccae is a harmless microbe found in healthy soil. When inhaled it increases the release of serotonin in the brain, boosting mood and decreasing anxiety. That's one of the reasons gardening is good for you -- it's Nature's antidepressant." Nicky Kyle.
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Drawn to the beauty of plants on a table top, inside & outside, how could I have known my garden would give me another gift of Providence?
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Resources, E.M. Forster writes of, resources not in the realm of lucre, there lies fortune. Mine, and yours.
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Garden & Be Well, XO T
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A couple of hours without power, and at most 25 pounds fallen tree branches with Hurricane Michael. Mexico Beach, Fl, where Hurricane Michael made USA landfall, was a honey pot for Beloved & me. A tiny city time forgot, too small to grow, it retained most layers Beloved & I remember well growing up in the 60's. We always stayed at the elderly El Governor hotel, all rooms on the beach and with kitchens, zero flash. Recently we decided to plan a trip to Mexico Beach with our 5th wheel. Lifting up in prayer all those affected by Hurricane Michael, and especially our sweetest of honey pots, Mexico Beach, FL.
