Perception resides in the individual.
We see or hear, smell, taste or feel, what we expect, what we hope, what we fear.
In President Barrack Obama's speech this morning I heard something important to me: The mention of climate change and acknowledgement that this is a real challenge we must face.
When I travel to other places in the world, I am always struck by the knowledge and desire in other countries to actively work toward reducing carbon levels. They seem to see the potential impact on humanity if we do not. For too long, Americans have looked away from this reality. It is time to look again without fearing change.
Green Spirit She stood Verdant and golden Light clinging As she jumped Forward into dark.
Her fiddle head,
Green with idealism,
Boldly understanding
Each day unfurls.
Tender in innocence,
Her resilient stem
Was fibered by
Challenges of eons.
The slightest breeze
Raced through
Her leafy wings.
She met the Sun’s
Invitation to dance
With
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I write about the natural world because it is the source of my sanity. We all have our frustrations, whether with work, family or just our interactions with other humans. Take 10 minutes outside today - walk, weed or just sit and watch. Let yourself be part of something bigger than your immediate life.
Lost and Found
among chirps and flashes of white tail feathers
among flashing black eyes and yellow beaks silhouetted in the sun
between faint gurgle of fountain and flutter of delicate bathers
between chatter of kinglets and purr of goldfinches
beneath red-tailed hawk and circling turkey vultures headed north
beneath dark raven duo frolicking on a playground of blue
beside a whirl of magenta-dipped male house finches and
beside the quiet reserve of a wren slipping in to pluck a worm
among quiet life, calmly focused on this moment of this day
I find patience and peace
and lose anger and frustration
Keri Dearborn, January 30, 2012
Green Holiday Action #14
The Greenest gift is one that is directly from your heart to someone else.
When you write a poem or a story, compose music or a song, or create artwork for someone, you are giving a gift of the mind and soul.
My mother carved this stone bear for us as a gift.
Frequently, I stop short of doing this because I am afraid of rejection. But whenever I have been courageous and given a gift of the mind, it has always been deeply appreciated.
Here is a poem for all of you busily juggling everyday life this Holiday Season.
The Cure
There's a cure
For breathless days
For scattered minds
Schedules that never end
A balm for lives spread thin
Minds turned in
Feet that no longer hug the ground
Pick something
From bush or tree
From earth or stream
Clutch firmly in your hand
Smell the miracle of growing things
Sink your teeth into terrestrial texture
Savor the taste of timelessness
Pick something
from its earthly womb
and eat it
- Keri Dearborn 2009
For other Green Holiday Gift ideas see:
There is something in the air. A crackle of dry leaves, a cool morning breeze. It just happens. The parching hot days where the temperature soars over 110 degrees, disappear overnight. You awake one morning and autumn has come. I know most people in Southern California don't notice the change, but I do.
This is my favorite time of year. Oh, there still may be a few days of high temperature, but the air has a different taste. It brushes your cheek with a gentle stroke. The season has turned and now I start to look for the return of my winter migratory bird friends.
Watching the Kinglet
A white wingbar laces through
Green and golden leaves.
Pointed beak leads fluttering wings
over limb, past a mourning dove
up under a crinkled bough
to dart a gnat.
Pausing for a wingbeat,
The tiny kinglet chitters.
A warning? A scolding?
Then disappears behind a leaf
Weaves up through autumn heavy limbs
Plucks caterpillar from barky twig, then
Tilts his head at me just long enough
To flash a coral crest.
With raucous rant
He skips up out of sight.
The rose nods in silent observance.
The squirrel ponders the flavor of acorn.
Desert tortoise shovels last foot full of dirt
Before settling in for the winter.
Emerald green oxalis shoves
Up between geranium and rock
Attempting to overpower green brethren.
House finches dabble in the bird bath.
Orb weaver spins a spiral death net
Between two delicate stalks,
While her neighbor, funnel spider hides
Waiting for prey to approach her webby lair.
Unwary ant tumbles down the delicate slope
Of a cone-shaped pit and into the jaws of an ant lion.
Slender salamander silently stalks
Earthworm venturing from the safety of soil.
Shy rabbit passes by,
A crimson leaf surrenders to the breeze,
And the Cooper’s hawk swings low
scattering doves and finches.
The world is busy.
Stand in one place and its stories unfold.
