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Appreciating the Beauty and Wisdom of Nature

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Archives for December 2018

The Gift of a Paper Birch Tree

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In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.  –Aristotle

One of the most marvelous trees in Nature is the Paper Birch.  It thrives in colder-climate regions, is one of the first species to grow after a wildfire in these northern climates, provides food for moose, deer, birds, and porcupines, and the bark is an excellent fire-starter, even when wet, because of its high oil content.  The leaves have been used for centuries by herbalists as a topical for skin problems as well as infusions for a wide array of internal problems.

These beautiful trees have been designated National Memorial Trees for Mothers with one planted at Arlington National Cemetery named the National Mothers’ Tree.  We are fortunate to have one right outside our front door.

The shiny white bark has characteristic ‘dashes’ in light gray, and as the tree grows, the older bark peels off in large curls.

The curls of peeling bark get stuck on the knots where the branches grow and hang on until it gets worked loose.

We also have a pile of logs from an old Birch that had to come down.  The rotting process has begun.  Often the inside wood will rot away leaving an empty shell of tough birch bark.

Fungi, like a stack of morning pancakes with frosty white syrup of snow, grows from one end of a log.

Colorful lichens decorate the ‘eye’ of the log where a branch was cut from the trunk.

There is something almost magical in the bark of a Paper Birch, with its strength, resiliency, and weather-proof properties.

From downed trees, the bark can be peeled off in thick layers.  The Native Americans used the bark for making containers and canoes, and for the shells of wigwams.

But in our household, Chris uses the bark to make ornaments for our Christmas tree and for gifts!

 

A marvelous tree—from beautiful live Mothers’ tree to downed logs to handmade gifts of Nature and Love.  In this season of advent, the ‘old’ is peeling away in anticipation of what’s to come—we make room for the new.  We may get hung up on knots of uncertainty, of doubts and fears, but whether we are ready or not, the Child is born to the Mother of God, the new year greets us, Joy is made available—do we embrace it?  Life is a magical, miraculous gift, and we are the strong, resilient participants, the givers, the receivers, and the gifts themselves.  From our household to yours, we wish you Love, Protection, and Peace!

Fair Warnings and Feeding Frenzies

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One semester before returning to graduate school, I worked as a teacher’s aide at our neighborhood elementary school.  It was a traditional, old-style, brick schoolhouse with two stories, wide stairways, and big windows.  I stayed with one student who needed some extra help with staying on task and controlling his behavior.  I was prepared for my work with him and with a whole school of exuberant young children, except for one thing—I wasn’t warned about lunch time!  Lunch was held in a big gym that was built to one side of the school—lunch tables were lined up under basketball hoops, and a long line formed around the walls of the gym as we waited to get our lunches.  In the winter, heavy coats, hats, and mittens were thrown down in haste along the wall in anticipation of recess.  Excited anticipation in young children is not conducive to savoring a nutritious, delicious lunch, and on that first day and every day thereafter, I could not believe how fast the food was gotten, gulped, and trashed as a necessary precursor to what they really wanted—recess!

Mother Nature gives fair warnings.  Sometimes she does so in colorful and dramatic ways: sunrises like this mean that some kind of weather event is literally ‘on the horizon.’  The beauty of the colors are not just visual art to be noticed and appreciated; it means something.  When I looked at the western horizon, the sky was dark with heavy, snow-filled clouds.

I wasn’t the only one to notice—the birds knew, too.  Every morning usually has a ‘feeding time’ for the birds, but before the snow came, there was a feeding frenzy!  More birds, more movement, more excitement.  Purple Finches flocked to the feeders and to the ground beneath them, gulping down black oil sunflower seeds.

Gray-cloaked Juncos hopped around on the grass and snow, gathering seeds and gathering friends.

At the back feeder, the beautiful, brassy Blue Jays shoveled through discarded shells in search of intact seeds as the snow began to fall.  An old tin tub holds acorns and corn cobs—another cafeteria for the birds and squirrels.

 

Fair warning in a vibrant sunrise and fair warning in a Black Friday National Climate Assessment that was released and refuted by the White House.  Climate scientists anticipate what is going to happen based on science, data, and expertise.  The latest report confirmed what climate scientists have been seeing and reporting for decades—the rise in greenhouse gases is hurting the economy, the environment, and public health.  Get ready, be prepared, make changes—yet another fair warning—this one intense and wide-reaching.  The questions of whether the right models were used, whether scientists were profiting from this, and if this was for political reasons are moot points.  All we need to do is look at what Mother Nature is saying—the warnings are consistent and persistent—record rains, flooding, wildfires, droughts, high temperatures, extreme fluctuations, and ice melts.  The evidence is right before our eyes.  The real question is why aren’t some of us noticing it, seeing it, believing it, anticipating it?  Just like any other form of denial: the ‘cost’ of seeing the truth is more painful than the ‘cost’ of believing our own story.  How do we not throw away what truly sustains us just to quickly get what we want?