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- We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones
We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones
Death means life, embrace all of it
Jake Rayson
June 04, 2023
We are living in the midst of a climate crisis, our economic systems are currently incompatible with life on earth. As you may know already, crisis comes from the Greek krisis, “turning point in a disease, that change which indicates recovery or death”. In other words, THERE IS EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR.
Action is what we need, and you know best what form that action takes. Me? I make wildlife friendly forest gardens, build digital stuff for climate activists and write countless indignant letters. Your skills, pleasures, inclinations, these will all differ, and it’s up to you to find out how best to step up to the climate challenge. The best thing is that, together, we are not alone.
“What I tell my students, when they feel singularly unfortunate to be born in this moment, is this is your moment, the moment your soul showed up incarnate. In this world. It is an astonishing moment to be alive. You could have been born into a lull — instead you were born into a tipping point. It’s your one life and you’ve entered it at a flexion point — a point when everything you do matters. How often in history does a soul get to live in such an era? Don’t waste it. Show up for it. With everything you’ve got. Some will invent, some will organize, some will witness, some will grieve, some will console. Live this life now. Even if in fury and grief, live it. You don’t want to die not having lived. It’s incredibly easy to find a way around experience rather than through it. But you will have cheated yourself out of your only possession: your life. You are here now. Now is the time to live fully, not hide, not escape.”
Forest garden photos
Amazing display of Hawthorn flowers this year, whole branches bedecked with floriferousness
Also very dry and warm in West Wales, so that the willow seed has been accumulating in great gossamer drifts
They’re not pretty but dead hedges are so useful. Here, I have disposed of the carcass of an old rotten pallet
Lovely fragrance from Rose 'Blush Noisette' but would rather a simpler rose for pollinator access
Inspirational quote
“We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones”
YouTube latest
4 stages of creating a garden: survey, design, framework & area. This is maintaining garden at the framework stage
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Resources Special
I have made new resources page natureworks.org.uk/resources
Quick links
A Curious Herbal - lovely post by the brililant Maria Popova about Elizabeth Blackwell’s 18th century Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants
Thrutopia - neither dystoptia nor utopia, thrutopia is a vision of a realistic way forard, an idea and article by Prof Rupert Read
Seek - Brilliant realtime app for ID plants, fungi and animals, from iNaturalist. What I love is that there are badges and levels, so I think it could work really well in a classroom setting.
Planting potatoes, unearthing the past - Antonia Malchik hits it out the park, again. She writes so well, tying together people, places and ideas.