Butterflies in Winter
Amongst her repeated subjects is the butterfly. Sitting under a pile of snow and cold darkness here in Minnesota, butterflies seem far away. Their fragile beauty, strong determination (able to fly thousands of miles), and utterly obvious impermanence (most living less than a year) make them great subjects for Buddhist poetry. Here are four of Chiyo-ni’s butterfly haiku. May they inspire dreams, especially for those of us living in the winter darkness right now.
Mushroom Man
Mycellium have the potential to clean up toxic waste, rein in E. coli, and cure Alzheimer’s disease. Plus they make a mighty fine addition to any stir fry.
Daddy, Can We Have A Blueberry Tree?
When visitors “adopt” their very own blueberry plant, they learn – especially the children – more about the farming life, as well as reaping the rewards by harvesting fresh blueberries.
Breaching
For Birgit Piskor and her friend Perry, a kayaking adventure in pursuit of gray whale sightings off the southern Baja Peninsula turns into a near-deadly encounter with two of the huge mammals.
All Alone in the Night – Our Living Planet
Watch this amazing video called ‘All Alone in the Night’ which is time-lapse footage of the Earth, as seen from the International Space Station. I could wax poetic about this … but as they say, a picture (or in this case a video) is worth a thousand words.
In The Company of Trees
Guest Author Joanne Marks writes about opening to the subtle realities of nature, based on her experiences with a grove of trees she’s come to know over a 7 years period of harvesting there medicine.
River Of Life
Life in the driest state on the driest continent was different this spring. Nature provided a beautiful prelude to the season of rebirth in South Australia. The Murray River floodplains were transformed after more than a decade of drought. Just add water!
Paddling the Shelburne River – Part 1
Didn’t sleep well. Reading last night from Michael Smith’s book, Paddling the Tobeatic, I worked myself into a lather at his strong recommendation to allow eight days for the trip we plan to complete in four and a half. I awoke repeatedly to the lashing rain on my bedroom windows, the trees over the house shaking in the first light. It’s been raining for a week. It’s cold.
Dwelling in the Rainforest: A Portrait
An inspiring portrait of nature, from a West Coast forest dweller.
The Zen of Wild Turkeys and Snakes
Nathan Thompson encounters a couple of weird coincidences while exploring the wild places.
