A Dream that Healed the Earth

This past Wednesday morning, I had a dream that young people had an app on their phones that allowed them to pool information about the health of the Earth from anywhere on the Earth. The information on this phone app was updated and edited much the same way as Wikapedia from reports sent by locals as well as travelers. Information gained from precise measurement and chemical analysis by independent observers was most valued. The information was put on a map of the Earth using symbols.

The information allowed the rating of farms, forests, fields, deserts, factories, and cities with a map symbol ranging from green for a sustainable area to red for severely damaged area with toxins that take years to break down. A yellow symbol is an area in the process of becoming sustainable. An orange symbol means an area needs to change practices immediately so restoration can take place. The goal is a sustainable Earth. “A sustainable society is one that satisfies its needs without diminishing the prospects of future generations.” Quoted from Lester Brown of Earth Policy Institute. This definition of sustainability is the criterion for the rating of the areas of the Earth.

People used the information on this app when making choices about what products to purchase, what cases to bring to the attention of the government, which lawmakers to reelect, which multinational companies to hold accountable, etc. The Earth healed. This was my dream.

When actions are known because of transparency, persons or corporations committing unsustainable actions can be held responsible. As people’s actions all over the Earth are known and correct stewardship is demanded by masses of informed people, the Earth will heal.

Garden Insect Life Seeks Harmony

Our big lush stand of fava beans at our elementary school garden became a perfect example of the balance that plant and animal communities achieve when left to work their magic. In early spring, the tender fava bean tops became food for the aphids. The ants probably brought them as there were many ant colonies living in the loose soil in our wooden boxes which stayed well above the rainy season water level. I assume that the ants had sheltered the aphids in their nests and brought the ants to the bean plants to serve as their "cows". The ants don't have mothparts for sucking plant juices and depend on aphids for a nice sugary drink of plant juice.

Soon after the aphids began to multiply, the lady bug beetles appeared. By May, there were many lady bug larva and eggs as well as adult beetles. In fact, there is a whole colony of lady bugs at various life stages reproducing in this stand of fava beans.

We did not try to kill the aphids or wash them off with blasts of water. We just waited. Now their numbers are being brought into balance by a healthy population of lady bugs.

Many of our plantings include something for the insects; plants like alyssum, Verbena bonarensis, Matricaria, sunflowers, and salvias. We are planning a garden that supports a variety of life so our vegetables will be healthy.

In Celebration of Eugene

I sometimes visit Lewis Opportunity School, a small alternative secondary school in Santa Rosa, to bring plants, encouragement, and garden ideas. The teacher, his students and I work to beautify a school of run-down portable buildings, asphalt and cyclone fences. It is September, and school has started but something feels very different when I walk onto campus. Something is missing. Eugene is gone. He was the one who greeted me and made me feel that he knew I was part of a special mission to transform the world, one garden and one student at a time. He died during the summer.

I didn't know Eugene well, yet I felt our spirits were delighted by the same things. Eugene noticed which plants were starting to bloom. He knew which students were responding to the plants and which ones cared enough to work to help them grow. He would have been thrilled to see the sprays of yellow daisies on the towering Jerusalem Artichoke plants in the parking-lot planting area, to see the harvest from the potato patch, to see that the newly planted nectarine tree had made in through the dry California summer, and to see how much the grape vines had grown during their first summer.

When I arrived on campus with arms full of plants, Eugene's smile welcomed me. He loved it when I emerged from the bathroom in gardening clothes, my teaching outfit left behind, my mud caked worn-out running shoes on my feet. Now I could do magic. Eugene likened my transformation to what superman did when he donned his cape.
He knew my gardening clothes revealed my true identity.

Transforming the campus by getting the students to create beauty with plants was making a difference in student lives, if not now then years later. They were producing food with their own efforts. The seeds were being planted for a better world. "You can do this yourselves. It's easy." This was the message given by the act of gardening here. Eugene celebrated this vision, and he communicated this with his beaming smile and words of cheer.

I am including the anonymously written poem as a tribute to Eugene and to all who work to create a more peaceful humane world.

A SPIRITUAL CONSPIRACY

On the surface of the world right now there is

war and violence and things seem dark.

But calmly and quietly, at the same time,

something else is happening underground

An inner revolution is taking place

and certain individuals are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution.

From the inside out. From the ground up.

This is a Global operation.

A Spiritual Conspiracy.

There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet.

You won't see us on the TV.

You won't read about us in the newspaper

You won't hear about us on the radio

We don't seek any glory

We don't wear any uniform

We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles

Most of us work anonymously

We are quietly working behind the scenes

in every country and culture of the world

Cities big and small, mountains and valleys,

in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands

You could pass by one of us on the street

and not even notice

We go undercover

We remain behind the scenes

It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit

But simply that the work gets done

Occasionally we spot each other in the street

We give a quiet nod and continue on our way

During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs

But behind the false storefront at night

is where the real work takes a place

Some call us the Conscious Army

We are slowly creating a new world

with the power of our minds and hearts

We follow, with passion and joy

Our orders come from the Central Spiritual Intelligence

We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking

Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Movies ~ Kind words ~

Smiles ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance ~ Social activism ~ Websites

Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness...

We each express ourselves in our own unique ways

with our own unique gifts and talents

Be the change you want to see in the world

That is the motto that fills our hearts

We know it is the only way real transformation takes place

We know that quietly and humbly we have the

power of all the oceans combined

Our work is slow and meticulous

Like the formation of mountains