Beautiful piece, Mary. I am reminded of my home state, Texas, particularly West Texas, where the oil and gas industry has devastated the desert. To an outsider this land looks like a flat, desolate stretch of desert, but before the fracking and explosives were used to extract oil and gas, it was a pristine land, sitting under a huge blanket of a sky and unremitting sun. I often wonder what it will take to restore the desert. I have the feeling the land has many stories in several parts of the country to tell about the devastation that came from progress.
Thank you, Mary, for this heart felt essay. It has changed my view of wildflowers and their power to heal. Also, knowing the history of a place, though sometimes a harsh reality, brings us closer to healing that which we have avoided seeing/knowing. Praise for your work!
“They found their home, these flowers of today—where they belonged, where they could do their work” There is so much deep wisdom in this piece about who we are and who we can become when we find our place.
I am touched by your piece, and I cry for the land. I have far-removed relatives that lived in the area, and did so to avoid the pestilence of human destruction. I'm grateful for the wildflowers and I'm grateful for your article, telling me they have moved in. It takes away some of the sting.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You bring such beauty and truth through words and photos, through all the challenges of human kind and Nature from which we are dependent.
My own home place has a similar history, having been founded (and ripped apart environmentally) during the 1850 Gold Rush and the next few decades. The plants continue to work their healing magic.
Beautiful piece, Mary. I am reminded of my home state, Texas, particularly West Texas, where the oil and gas industry has devastated the desert. To an outsider this land looks like a flat, desolate stretch of desert, but before the fracking and explosives were used to extract oil and gas, it was a pristine land, sitting under a huge blanket of a sky and unremitting sun. I often wonder what it will take to restore the desert. I have the feeling the land has many stories in several parts of the country to tell about the devastation that came from progress.
Thank you, Mary, for this heart felt essay. It has changed my view of wildflowers and their power to heal. Also, knowing the history of a place, though sometimes a harsh reality, brings us closer to healing that which we have avoided seeing/knowing. Praise for your work!
“They found their home, these flowers of today—where they belonged, where they could do their work” There is so much deep wisdom in this piece about who we are and who we can become when we find our place.
I am touched by your piece, and I cry for the land. I have far-removed relatives that lived in the area, and did so to avoid the pestilence of human destruction. I'm grateful for the wildflowers and I'm grateful for your article, telling me they have moved in. It takes away some of the sting.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You bring such beauty and truth through words and photos, through all the challenges of human kind and Nature from which we are dependent.
My own home place has a similar history, having been founded (and ripped apart environmentally) during the 1850 Gold Rush and the next few decades. The plants continue to work their healing magic.