I have a vivid childhood memory of being sick with the stomach flu and standing in the doorway of my parents’ bedroom looking for my mother. Her care for sick children was tender and thorough. She would bring us ginger… Read More ›
Nature
October Magic, by Molly Remer
In was in October that my last grandmother died, my last living grandparent. As the leaves turn to red and gold once more, I wake thinking of her each morning. I wake thinking of my maternal grandmother too, who died… Read More ›
Telepathy, Women, and Birds by Sara Wright
I am a naturalist and ethologist who has studied many animals and birds in their natural habitat; my 15 year study of Maine’s black bears is perhaps the best example of the work I do. I am a dedicated animal… Read More ›
A Deep Ecology of Horse Manure by Mary Sharratt
My recent move from Northern England to the Silver Coast of Portugal has been a radical change on so many levels. Not only am I coming to grips with a different climate and culture and immersed in learning a very… Read More ›
Passionflower Autumn by Sara Wright
I am gazing out the window; an almost bare leafed apple tree’s sap has begun its descent for the winter months. Trees participate in a great round; breathing slows as the tree becomes drowsy. Soon the merciful cold will put… Read More ›
Bareskin by Sara Wright
When we meet our deep brown eyes mirror a mutual need for light to penetrate human darkness. Your eyes are wary and fearful; Mine hunger for your touch. I cry out softly “Don’t be afraid… I love you”. We share… Read More ›
Tree Teachings by Sara Wright
I breathe in the scent of moist wooded bogs, crystal lake waters, baskets of dew heavy and sweet soaking heat through every pore… note withered leaves shriveled mosses and still the rains do not come. The Earth is on Fire…. Read More ›
What is Natural? The Wooden Chair Discussion by Ivy Helman
When I begin my class discussion about defining nature, I often start with a wooden chair or table. I point to it and ask the students, “Is this chair natural?” I pause. They have already been introduced to the idea… Read More ›
Sacrificial Gathering in the Long Covid Desert by Tallessyn Zawn Grenfell-Lee
I am a fairly private person; but I do like nice hugs. I grew up in a home that involved so much intentional love and affection that I came to see it as a normal part of any loving relationship…. Read More ›
Where Am I Going? by Esther Nelson
My sense of direction is, at best, poor. In spite of that, I love a road trip. With the advent of affordable GPS (Global Positioning System) devices, driving long distances has become easier. Unfortunately, that tool (GPS) is not always… Read More ›
Herb Talk: Bee Balm by Sara Wright
For Carol. Women’s relationship with plants stretches back to the beginning of humankind. Most of us know that women invented agriculture and became the first healers. I come from a family of women who all had gardens, but no one… Read More ›
Morning Meditation by Sara Wright
I have just returned from the brook where I offered up my Toad Moon prayers to the song of the Hermit thrush and to the rippling waters – first honoring my body with a poem written just for her, and… Read More ›
La Llorona Musings by Sara Wright
In Abiquiu New Mexico I walked down to the river and Bosque (wetland) communing with trees, leaving in the dark and returning before dawn every morning. Red Willow River is a tributary of the Rio Grande. I didn’t need to… Read More ›
In Sight (Part 2) by Sara Wright
This post follows In Sight (Part 1). Yet, I was content enough here wasn’t I [living part of the year in Abiquiu, New Mexico]? The desert was starkly beautiful, and I loved the place I lived, doing my best to… Read More ›
Living with Uncertainty by Sara Wright
I was deeply moved by Carol’s willingness to share deeply personal feelings about how her visit to the hospital , enough so that I decided to write about how the Covid virus has impacted my life and the lives of… Read More ›
Ecocide and PTSD by Sara Wright
The fierce light of the white star pierced her thick white fur as the mother froze. She was trying to imagine how her cubs could make the jump from one jagged ice flow to another in the cracked deep blue… Read More ›
Lessons From Birch & Mother Earth—Grace, Resilience, and Rebirth by Mary Gelfand
When I moved to Maine from New Orleans 15 years ago, I was delighted to discover how many birch trees were on the property where I lived with my new partner. Previously I had had little contact with these beautiful… Read More ›
Back to Back by Sara Wright
The Predator dug a hole in turtle’s wake scooped and sucked down pulsing life one dark night. An empty pit and shriveled eggs mark the theft . Her children are dead. Vulnerability and violence are bedmates She bears thirteen squares… Read More ›
Letting Go by Sara Wright
Every year I bring back wood frogs, peepers or toads to this property to increase my amphibian population… this year with a drought underway the peepers captured my heart because a bizarre heat wave hit Maine just after the coldest… Read More ›
Midsummer Meditation by Sara Wright
It is past “midsummer” and we are moving into the hottest time of the year without a drop of nourishing, healing rain… When I walk around outdoors I find myself focusing on the many different ferns that grace the forest… Read More ›
The Song of the Forest by Sara Wright
When He comes I forget who I am. My story vanishes. Boundaries dissolve. Emerald green, leaf filtered light, clear mountain streams, trees, lichens, moss – become ‘all there is’. In the still dawning animals speak. Nature’s ultimate gift is… Read More ›
Gardening Through the Storm by Tallessyn Zawn Grenfell-Lee
I spend a lot of time thinking about gardens. I think there might be something to them. It seems strange to talk about gardens during such an intense time. The crucible of injustice, laid so bare during the pandemic, is… Read More ›
A Ladder to the Stars by Sara Wright
A Ladder to the Stars Every evening at twilight she climbs a ladder to the stars… Venus is her guide … As the Evening star (who also rises at dawn) this Goddess of Love is her Muse. As a woman… Read More ›
Caprine Community by Laurie Goodhart
Two recent posts, Community Immunity by Natalie Weaver on May 6, and Carol Christ’s May 11 essay, Women Invented Agriculture, Potter, and Weaving…, have spurred me to focus and finally share something that I’ve meant to for a long time. … Read More ›
Nourishing Wholeness in a Fractured World, by Molly Remer
List for today: Rescue tadpoles from the evaporating puddle in the driveway. Look for pink roses in the field. Look for wild strawberries along the road. Listen to the crows in the compost pile and try to identify them by… Read More ›
Seeding In by Sara Wright
I watered the soil thoroughly because it was so dry. Like my foremothers and the women who came before them I intended to plant seeds, and May has been a month of bizarre weather extremes. The last waxing moon frost… Read More ›
My Green Spaces by Esther Nelson
I don’t do well being cooped up (staying at home) all day and every day. Thankfully the state of Virginia, where I currently live, has kept their parks open during the COVID-19 pandemic. For two months, I intentionally scheduled a… Read More ›
Forward, Upward, Inward: A Spiritual Response to Right Now by Rachel Hollander
Brother Francesco, known to the world as Saint Francis of Assisi, left us many sweet and lovely poems and songs. In “The Canticle of the Sun,” he wrote about the gifts of nature. Brother Sun, his light and radiance. Sister… Read More ›
May – A Time of Becoming by Sara Wright
Returning home to Maine in April has allowed me to experience winter turning her ancient wisdom filled face towards the maiden of spring. Although the month has been chilly, and until two days ago snow covered tree stripped mountains still… Read More ›
La Llorona and the Dark Green Religion of Hope by Sara Wright
I recently returned to Maine after what can only be called a harrowing journey from the Southwest. Grateful to feel beloved earth under my feet, I walk along the pine strewn woodland paths to keep myself sane. My animals have… Read More ›
