We have been blessed this year in the St. Louis area with cooler weather and rain with the dogwood, red bud and other trees slowly blossoming and leafing out on the branches. It seems like so many of our springs lately have been missed as we transition from winter directly into hot summer temperatures.
Yesterday I planted my three remaining shrubs I purchased this month and as I dug the holes, placed the shrubs in the holes and packed the dirt and mulch around them I thought about a lot of things. For one thing, it is much easier to plant shrubs after several days of rain. So next time, I will buy the shrubs, but wait for a cool day after a steady rain to plant. I realized that I need to use the shovel to slice around the hole before digging and that I had learned that from watching my nurseryman Joe, who has helped plant gardens at my last four homes who is now retired. I remembered he used a tarp to throw the dirt and grass clumps keeping the area tidy. I improvised with several buckets. I loved sitting on the ground and running my fingers through the dirt to break it up the clumps. I loved how the bushes looked with the fresh mulch circled around.
When I realized how much I loved sitting on the grass looking out, versus the view I have from my elevated deck, I decided to bring two chairs from the garage to place in the backyard so I can sit on the ground. I visualized where I want my Iris and butterfly gardens to go and vowed to build my square foot garden this fall to be ready for planting vegetables and herbs next spring. I envisioned a small stone patio outside the sliding glass door to my walk out basement with a bed of perennials around it. The backyard was so beautiful, and I know I am blessed with the view to the natural area behind me. I am excited that the birds are flocking to my feeder in the front of my house again this spring after being absent from it most of the winter and I decided to get another birdfeeder for the backyard. I’ve been really worried about the twenty-nine percent reduction in the bird population in North America since 1970 and I want to encourage everyone to feed the birds and restore natural habitats.
Although the coronavirus has been stressful on everyone, I realized that the reduction of carbon dioxide may be improving our spring and that birds are now singing outside my windows. After reading about how pigs are raised in warehouses and slaughtered quickly as the news covered the coronavirus effect on farmers and packing industries, I realized that I really don’t need to eat pork and subject pigs to those conditions. I didn’t eat much pork before because of health reasons, but now I know I can do without it. The empty freezer cases at the grocery store reminded me of that fact. I thought about installing a bidet in the toilet, so I don’t need to use toilet paper.
It is as though God has said to us, we can help our planet survive by making simple changes – working from home, installing bidets, eating sustainable food, get back to nature, plant a vegetable garden and spend time with family playing board games or hoops instead of rushing them to activity after activity. It has been pointed out that although financial experts say we should have six months to a year of cash for living expenses for an emergency, the majority of corporations, small businesses and Americans don’t have that safety net. We need to ask ourselves why? Is this solely a problem of wealth distribution and expenses rising faster than income, or is it also a consumer-based economy always on the move which tells us constantly to spend and, in the process, we are destroying our natural resources with our greed?
I am not sure of what the solution is, but I hope as Americans and world citizens we can envision an economy that is better balanced in wealth, built for resiliency and better for our environment. I believe this is a wake-up call for a new beginning if we will listen.
No comments:
Post a Comment