Living with Nature

In one of his books, Joseph Wood Krutch decries the idea of nature as spectacle.  He reminds us that in order to truly understand and appreciate nature, we must have an intimate connection with it.  We must allow ourselves to be molded by nature, its rhythms, harmonies, and cycles.

We must know the habits and ways of everything surrounding us: the life cycles of the insects, the way that stones weather, what the birds and animals depend on for food, and what plants emerge only after the rains, as opposed to those that stubbornly persist even in times of drought.  I think of how much I love the desert marigold, one of the most beautiful of wildflowers.

Or the five-needle pricklyleaf, that is ubiquitous in the little corners of wildness that exist in our neighborhood.

 Bright globe mallow, that, like all mallows, has many medicinal uses.

  The Turk's head (eagle claw) cactus, like this young specimen.

Or the nipple beehive cactus, which, like many species in both the U.S. and Mexico, is affected by illegal poaching, and habitat loss due to unchecked land development.

We can learn harmony with nature, whether in the wilderness or in the garden, by only taking what we need,

and leaving the rest undisturbed, so that others, whether they be our fellow human beings or our fellow creatures, may find enough for their needs--even if that need is only for a place of beauty and peace.

The Desert Greens Up

The desert greens up with the late summer rains, turning rock and sand into a carpet of lush growth.  The drought resisters put on new leaves, and the drought evaders spring up, grow, and flower almost overnight.  As we walked the Cottonwood Springs trail in the Franklin Mountains State Park, we were surrounded by an unusually lush Chihuahuan Desert.  I was reminded of Isaiah 35, which anyone who has lived in the desert can relate to--a vision of the dry land blooming and suddenly filling with springs and waterholes as a metaphor for hope and joy.

Amid the rock and sunshine, life finds a foothold, as roots search for moisture brought by the monsoon winds.

"The rock, all matter, all life, is charged with dharmakaya . . . everything is emptiness and everything is compassion."
                                                      --Thomas Merton, The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton