Good Morning, Earthlings!
Phew, elections are over and it was not a disaster for Earth-friendly and people-friendly candidates! I’d call that a win, considering the alternative.
I hope you all voted and saw the cool lunar eclipse very early Tuesday morning. I saw it at 4am when I awoke, a big bite out of the moon but it was not red yet. Next time I looked it was below the horizon, the ridgeline to the west of West West Village, which often obscures my sky viewing and makes it nearly impossible to get to the ‘next’ town on the map, Athens. Got to go WAY north or south to avoid the ridge, at least in a car. Joys of country living. 😊
Some color from the Sanctuary Garden
We have been trying to schedule a field trip to Gordon and Mary Hayward’s property in Westminster West so they can show us their latest Earth-friendly project, the South Meadow Restoration. See below. But the weather is not cooperating! I’ll let you know as soon as I have a date.
South Meadow Restoration
Gordon and Mary Hayward are presently working with Cory Ross of the Windham County Natural Resources Conservation District as well as Jennifer Garrett of the Vermont Land Trust. The Haywards own the five-acre field adjacent to the Westminster West Road and Josh Gold’s place. They are creating what they call a Forested Riparian Buffer over 150 feet wide at the bottom of that five-acre field. You’ll see the unmown area either side of a small seasonal stream that runs north to south at the bottom of the sloping field. Over 500 very small native trees and shrubs have been planted by volunteers (including Rich Talbot, Sky Rhomberg and Gordon) in that grassy band. From the road, you can see a pink or white flagging on each plant. As the young plants grow they will provide more and more habitat, especially for birds. A big patch of existing milkweed for Monarch butterflies remains in place. Each year, in late Fall, the area east and west of the buffer will be mowed.
On Friday, Dec. 2, 5pm, our neighbor and friend Nicole Crouch-Diaz will be at our meeting at the West West Church (see map below)
Nicole’s new business is called Earthen Company: Healing with Nature “Flower Essences for Home and Everyday Use”. EarthenCompany.com beautiful website!
She will tell us about her inspiring healing business, and will bring her wonderful products to sample and purchase for holiday giving. Mark your calendars.
Lyla June, one of may favorite Wise Women, of the Dineh people, has this to say on how her/our ancestors took care of Mother Earth:
3000-year-old solutions to modern problems | Lyla June | TEDxKC - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH5zJxQETl4
LEAG core group member Michael Daley sends us this “good" news, in that Big Ag seems to be waking up to its role in our planetary crisis:
Big agriculture warns farming must change or risk ‘destroying the planet’ Report sponsored by some of the largest food and farming businesses finds pace of shift to sustainable practices too slow https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/03/big-agriculture-climate-crisis-cop27 I saw a wonderful article in VT Digger recently by LEAG friend and presenter Skip Lisle. Everyone who lives near beaver habitat needs to know this, so please read, and then talk to your SelectBoard to ask that your Town Budget include a chunk of cash for Beaver Deceivers. We are so fortunate to have Skip nearby, in Grafton: Skip Lisle: There’s enormous potential for beavers and flow devices - VTDigger https://vtdigger.org/2022/11/03/skip-lisle-theres-enormous-potential-for-beavers-and-flow-devices/ Saturday, November 12 • Noon It’s time to RALLY! Join in solidarity with climate and forest activists around the US calling for an end to logging mature and old-growth forests on federal public lands like the Green Mountain National Forest. The proposed Telephone Gap project on the GMNF could cut nearly 11,000-acres critical for carbon storage, biodiversity, and water quality protection. This rally is one of many planned around the US in a National Week of Action for Climate Forests. Together we can send a loud and clear message from New England to Washington, DC! WHEN: Gather at NOON for the rally; optional visit to recent clearcuts at 1pm WHERE: GMNF Rochester Ranger Station RSVP: For more info and carpool options Wear orange or bright colors! For more information visit: SavePublicForests.org/events Sponsored by the Save Public Forests Coalition "Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous to be understood. How grass can be nourishing in the mouths of the lambs. How rivers and stones are forever in allegiance with gravity while we ourselves dream of rising. How two hands touch and the bonds will never be broken. How people come, from delight or the scars of damage, to the comfort of a poem. Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say "Look!" and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads." ~Mary Oliver, "Mysteries, Yes"
with love and hope for our planet and our people and our plants and our water and our animals, Caitlin Adair
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