The golden thread, a maple tree, spirits in the yard

Today I heard a snippet of the song “Volare.” I was a small child when I first heard it on the radio and didn’t understand or even recognize the sound of the words. My grandfather explained to me that there are many languages, and that so far I was only learning one. This was a new piece of knowledge, and it seemed to have arrived by a forward momentum. From then on I would know it and add to it. My life was going somewhere!

But that sensation has left me during the pandemic. I have sat in the same spot day after day and watched my tree leaf out, then shed and seem to die two and a half times. I have stared into the same few neighboring yards and thought about all the lives that have been lived in this place, ancestors I have sensed during all these months of sitting still. The accumulation of knowledge seems to have shifted into reverse.

I wonder if anyone else has had a heightened sense of living in history during recent years, and of the past being very close. I love the idea of being a good ancestor, a phrase attributed to so many people that it must be in the public domain. But what about being a good descendant? Can’t that be as powerful a way of focusing on what can be done to protect the planet? How can we best acknowledge our ancestors and the world in which they lived? We can learn about it, understand what it was and how it changed and why, understand where we are in the sweep of history and what we must contribute to the protection of the planet. I have learned and feel in my bones now that everything we do truly has an effect on the future. We affect the past, too, in how we choose to honor it. One of the links below is about planting native annuals, a practice that recognizes the past and creates a healthy future for our gardens.

The pandemic isn’t over, and even if it were it would be hard to leave my view of the tree and all I have sensed from this vantage point. But I can hear voices from the past calling me to do what I can, now. Volare means to fly in Italian. It’s always wise to get a bird’s eye view, past and future in one sweep. It’s important to think about how best we can take action. The rewilding movement in Britain is honored this year at Chelsea. It’s worth considering what can happen in our own plots.

Here are a few recent links that touch on various aspects of tending to the earth, from activism to gardening, all inspiring.

Not Too Late Climate

Highlights of the Chelsea Garden Show

Eastern Native Annuals

Unraveling by Terry Tempest Williams

Quaker Activists in Pennsylvania