from Corona Farm in Pt Townsend, Washington
Lichen are comprised (symbiotically) of a species of fungi, and a species that photosynthesizes (usually algae, but sometimes bacteria). The two species are distinct, but cannot survive without each other. They live almost anywhere, and sometimes, in their interdependent partnership, put out fruiting buds that transmit a particular type of lichen to other locales.
Written & Performed by Harriet Greenwood
stood on the highest hill and then I cried
nobody answered me
climbed up the tallest tree but it was bare
far as my eyes could see
where is the earth I knew
what have we done to you
chorus
but it seems that they don’t want to know
maybe they can’t bear to feel
break the glass hold back the weather
aren’t we all in this together
surely this can’t be down to me
surely this can’t be up to me
surely this can’t be down to me
I recently saw the film The Economics of Happiness. It was excellent. The first part of the film describes eight problems with globalization; the second part of the film suggests that localization is an answer and provides examples of people growing their own food and otherwise building community. It is a message I have heard before and it is a message with which I am in agreement.
For a number of years I have made efforts to localize myself. Every week I go to our farmers’s market. I grow some of my own food in a small vegetable garden and orchard. I patronize locally-owned businesses and avoid franchises and corporate stores. I volunteer and participate in my community. But does this make a difference?
I’m excited to have recently discovered Tom Reed, a wilderness photographer whose deeply thoughtful creative journey has led him to create two beautiful books on the spiritual epiphany of mountain views.
I’ve reviewed both books in Gatherings (The Granite Avatars of Patagonia and Moved by a Mountain: Inspiration from an Alpine View in Alaska), but I want to share his TedX talk (from Homer, Alaska) on “Natural Beauty and Aesthetic Arrest” here:
