The Human Family

With the record breaking amount of rain
here in West Sonoma County, Northern California,
our artesian well is once again providing
water for MuRefuge's pond.
Dwight Sims' sculpture of hands
is a favorite place for the birds to drink.
The water sprite that inhabits this
area is joyous as well.

Grandfather,

Look at our brokenness.

We know that in all creation

Only the human family

Has strayed from the Sacred Way.

We know that we are the ones

Who are divided

And we are the ones

Who must come back together

To walk in the Sacred Way.

Grandfather,

Sacred One,

Teach us love, compassion, and honor

That we may heal the earth

And heal each other.

OJIBWAY PRAYER

As one spends time tending a native ecology habitat, listening as well as observing, the plants and other BEings will show and tell of their vibrancy or struggle to actively participate in maintaining the balance so ALL can thrive here at MuRefuge. Within a whole and healthy ecology a diversity of species support one another in their resilient will to survive in spite of instability in the climate, aka climate destabilization which is much more descriptive of what is happening both here at MuRefuge and around the globe than "climate change." 

One recent morning passed I was honored to watch a mother-to-be Pipevine Swallowtail lay her eggs on species specific Pipevine leaves. 

These eggs will soon hatch and small wiggling black and red caterpillars will begin to voraciously consume the leaves, to quickly grow into large caterpillars that crawl off the Pipevine and fasten themselves firmly to a structure forming a chrysalis where the mystery and magic of nature will happen: a Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly will emerge.

One Monday afternoon past the young man who is assisting in the care of MuRefuge noticed a quite stunning spider, one we have not seen before.

A year ago, thinking it would be more efficient, we covered the noxious weed pile with a "composting blanket." For those of you who read the posts of last Spring, you aware the huge pile of weeds pulled and piled near the Persian fruiting mulberry tree. This is an excellent example of a human idea "run amuck" as the mulberry tree's root system was smothered with the human created blanket. To my surprised however when the blanket was removed after the weeds composted, the tree is now visibly coming to life.

The able young man who assists in the care and well being
of MuRefuge has spread the composted weeds
over the mulberry's root system
so they now provide nutrients to the tree.

The human family, focusing on themselves have strayed from the "Sacred Way" of living in harmony and honoring all sentients BEings. "Human family" "brokenness" seems to be the norm in the 21st century where living every day in search of the next new thing to make humans' lives easier, more fun and without regard to the enormous consequences to Planet Earth.

"I do not believe that we are fated to destroy the Earth by fire, heat, or technology run amuck. But if there is a happier future it will come down to this: to act with compassion and energy, our hearts must be in it; to act intelligently, we must understand that we are but one part of an interrelated global system; to act effectively and justly, we must be governed by accountable, transparent, and robust democratic institutions; and to act sustainably, we must live and work within the limits of natural systems over the long term." 

Dangerous Years: Climate Change, the Long Emergency, and the Way Forward 

David W. Orr (2016)

As each of us consider the impact of our taking advantage of the vast number of human advancements to make humans lives easier, may we each be enlightened enough to realize the folly and consequences of our unbridled consumption on the well being of Planet Earth. May we each live with less and less, returning to the "Sacred Way," and