Month: May 2023

Welcome Spring and the Beauty of Nature

In addition to welcoming Spring, several things came together for me last month. First, I began reading a book called Hagitude  by Sharon Blackie. (Fascinating book. I will discuss it in more detail another time.) Then I started listening to a number of talks given by Charles Eisenstein on Sacred Economics, the Next Five Years, and How the Environmental Movement Can Find Its Way Again.

These all spoke to me in different ways. The one talk with the most impact on me was what Charles Eisenstein said about climate.

“A central theme of my book on climate is that if we are to focus our attention on a single substance, it should be not carbon dioxide but water.”

Water

I think you know that I am very interested in water. I have written about it in previous blogs (The Secret Intelligence of Water) and my new children’s book is all about water — Joey and his Friend Water. My book will be published soon. I’ll let you know when.

I know when Spring has arrived when peach blossoms are for sale at the local market.

Plants and forests are my passion.

In addition to Charles’ emphasis on water, I was reminded of things that I have “known” for years but had almost forgotten.

Charles Eisenstein included a video “How plants could save us” in his talk about the environment which I found interesting. He spoke on how we must think holistically about the earth and by stabilizing forests, wetlands, grassland, and marine ecosystems — numerous benefits beyond cooling the atmosphere would result.

Some of these ideas we learned in school.

For example, we learned the impact of plants and that plants increase biodiversity, prevent floods, and stop erosion. I remember this from when I was in grade school in South Africa — and that was a long time ago.

We also learned that plants drink water through their roots. But what happens to that water? Plants fix carbon and release oxygen into the air –the process of photosynthesis. However, something I did not know is that for each molecule of carbon fixed and each molecule of oxygen released, several hundred molecules of water evaporate. This cools the forest the same way perspiration cools our bodies.

Did you know that leaves are home to many species of bacteria? Some of which are light enough to rise high into the atmosphere. Water adheres to these bacteria, and this helps to form clouds, which again cools the atmosphere and produces rain.

Plants are made mostly of carbon.

So not only do they take carbon out of the atmosphere, but they also deposit it underground where it can stay for hundreds of years if undisturbed.

Our earth is two thirds water. Oceans are filled with plants that do the same as the plants growing above ground. These plants under the seas contribute to cloud formation and fixing carbon also. Another big reason to protect them, too.

I could go on and on.

My beliefs about our planet are in sync with Charles Eisenstein. I really do feel that the earth is a living entity and is resilient. We need to think of the grasslands, the wetland, the forests, the estuaries, and the rivers as the earth’s organs. Like the organs in our bodies, everything is connected. Everything.

As with us, when the organs are not in balance, we and the earth are unhealthy. When the organs in our bodies and the earth’s organs are in balance, we and the earth are healthy.

We saw during COVID how resilient the earth is. The atmosphere was cleaned, and the earth began regenerating herself. To solve the climate crisis, we need to help by protecting nature and allowing her to do her work.

Charles set out three priorities for us:

1. Conservation: Protect any remaining intact ecosystems from development.
2. Regeneration: Restore life to places where it has been depleted.
3. Detoxification: Stop the use of herbicides, pesticides, toxic waste, and other pollutants in the environment – and clean it up.

In celebration of spring, I decided to plant my peas…and then the rains came.

Take Care.

~~Ellen