Category Archives: Proze-iac Thoughts

Why I Voted For Trump: Past Sins Versus Current Evil

In the immediate 2024 Election aftermath, many critics, liberals, and media members asked me (and over half the country) why I voted for Trump for President. The uproar — despite Trump’s overwhelming victory and the liberals resounding defeat — has not slowed down. In fact, it seems like the media and those who didn’t vote for Trump are doubling down.

Is Trump Evil? Am I then also evil?

Almost every day (when I choose to read or watch anything), I’ll see something from a relative, friend, or just the media badmouthing Trump and those who voted for Trump. The narrative usually runs something like: “Those who voted for Trump are either stupid, ignorant, or deliberately choosing to ignore what a terrible person he is, and how he’ll ruin the country.”

Fortunately (according to their narrative), they are the enlightened ones, those who didn’t vote for Trump, whose duty is now to protect and preserve this great Nation. This they will do by standing strongly and firmly against the Bad Orange Man (no matter what he does), by pointing out how hateful, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, homophonic, warmongering, and stupid he is. It further becomes their duty to convert all those who voted for Trump, that we may see the error of our ways (although years of campaigning against him has not been successful).

If we are not willing to change, to see the error of our ways, then we too must be hateful, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, homophonic, warmongering, and stupid.

It is in this post-election scenario that I wrote the following, as a response to a relative’s forwarding an anti-Trump post. I did not respond on social media, but I still feel it’s important to let my feelings and logic be known.

If Everything Against Him Is True, I Still Have Compelling Reasons Why I Voted For Trump

“All right. I have tried to listen to what some BYU graduate said about Trump being “a sexual predator and how dare he get into office and nobody cares that we put a sexual predator in the office”, with an open mind. I think if you listen to it [and other anti-Trump commentary] with an open mind too you will see perhaps some of the same problems that I see with it.

Although the presenter does make several very good points, (and I’m certainly willing to think about them), the post’s beginning assumption, which he continues to bang on like a drum throughout the video, is that people who voted for Trump voted to put a serial sexual predator into the White House.

I’m trying here to say okay maybe I’m responding cognitively (or whatever whatever he said) and all the reasons that he said that I would feel the way I felt. (But isn’t it interesting that by using that very argument, he gives people absolutely zero way to feel other than how he’s wants them to feel?) So I’m going to go on the assumption that I do not believe that Donald Trump is a serial sexual predator. I do not believe the proof is there that he is currently that.

I think the same argument could be made for Bill Clinton and in fact Is even more so for Bill Clinton, because evidence shows that he was doing that type of thing in the Oval Office. In contrast, the evidence for Trump doing that has been, what, decades ago? So, for the sake of argument, let’s say Trump was a serial sexual predator. Do people have to be judged by the worst thing they’ve done in their life, for their entire life? There is no changing? There is no repentance?

[Sidenote: When presented with this arguement, most folks will say “Well, Trump never repented. He never said he was sorry. So how are we to know what he did?” Uh, is that our job? We get to go around and look at others and say “You didn’t repent. Or, if you did, you didn’t repent and change in the right way. Therefore, according to me, you are still guilty, and still a bad person.” Do we have that right?

So right off the top I don’t agree with his argument. He makes an assumption (Trump IS a serial rapist), and then builds on what I feel is a flawed assumption. If he would stop pounding on that point, I think he might have a valid arguement.

How Safe Do Folks Who Voted For Trump (Or Didn’t) Feel Now?

The video presenter’s point about why people don’t feel safe with Trump is, I think, valid. Many people (my relatives included) don’t feel safe having a man in the White House who, they are convinced, is a serial rapist.

I’m also certain that there are a lot of people that don’t feel safe with Trump, and not because of Trump’s sexual proclivities. There are people who don’t feel safe because he hobnobs with the presidents of Russia and China and North Korea. There are people who don’t feel safe because he says fracking is okay and “drill baby drill”. There are people who don’t feel safe because of his border policies and because of his announced intent to deport people. There are people who don’t feel safe because of his economic policies. There are people who don’t feel safe because of his environmental stance. There are people who don’t feel safe because of his business dealings. There are people who don’t feel safe for a lot of reasons.

So why this particular moral or amoral stance and fear?

The video presenter then goes on to say that doesn’t mean that I’m a bad person because I voted from Trump, but “we need to do better.” In what way? I can say that I didn’t feel safe with Kamala or the Democrats for a dozen reasons. I didn’t feel safe and I don’t feel safe with many of the standards that the Democrats espouse. I don’t feel safe with the hypocrisy of having a president seduce an intern in the Oval Office and prey on her, and then coming back several years later and saying oh by the way this guy that you elected is a sexual predator even though what evidence there is is primarily hearsay from decades ago. So I think, as in all political discussions, we have to make choices between the lesser of two evils. My inability to feeling safe with Kamala Harris and the Democrats far outweighs my lack of safety with Donald Trump. And that is on every ground: Moral, economic, military, social, emotional, everything.

More importantly, while I recognize that people who have been abused or feel at risk would not feel safe with a sexual predator in the White House, I believe in the people he is surrounding himself with (let’s assume he is a sexual predator). They are going to protect my daughter and my granddaughters and my sons and grandsons from all the things that I’m worried about them experiencing far more than the Democrats have proven during their last several terms that they are.

What I’m Afraid Of And Why I Voted For Trump

What type of things do I worry about, you ask? I am frightened for my grandchildren being constantly bombarded with the being gay is good or that they can mutilate their bodies messages. I worry about my granddaughters having to listen to drag queens in public schools, exposing them at a young age to a life style I do not think is appropriate. I am fearful my children will have their parenting rights taken away from them, just because they don’t agree with society or the Teacher’s Union.

I worry about my daughters and granddaughters and sons and grandsons facing nuclear war. [Update: Many are worried Trump will start World War 3, nuclear war, and end us all. Reality: Biden/Harris just gave the Ukraine permission to use medium-range guided missles to strike Russian within her borders. Problem? The missles guidance depends on either the USA or NATO-enabled satellite systems. If Russia gave Cuba missles, then provided the satellite guidance to strike at Miami, Atlanta, Houston, and Disney World, we would consider that an act of war.]

Biden/Harris did that very thing last week, after they lost the election.

I worry about my children and grandchildren facing economic destruction. I worry and I’m scared for the potential downfall of our constitutional republic. I worry about a continuing open-border policy that allows criminals to freely come in, be housed on the taxpayers’ dollar, flown to a place where “they can be safe”, and then proceed to kill young women jogging. (This happened less than 10 miles away from where my niece and nephew are raising their children on the other side of Georgia.) I worry about the government putting so many restrictions on our property at Spirit Tree Farms that we can’t use to benefit Nature and the environment the way that we would like.

These and other factors that I’m afraid of far outweigh, sorry to say, the worry that YOU and others like you are going to be directly and adversely impacted by having Trump in the White House.

In a nutshell, the reason I voted for Trump is this: Even IF all the claims against him are true, the things I fear the most are the policies and practices of the Democrats. The potential results of his character flaws, even if they are as bad as the Democrats and the majority media claim, are nowhere near as bad as the potential, promised, and proven results that the Democrats have brought, are bringing, and would bring.

The people have spoken. We have four years to watch the results.

Southern Evening Sorrow: IMprov Free Verse

The constant droning
of the neighbor’s farm irrigation water pump,
or it is it his tractor,
provides background noise
for the birds screeching
and the bugs chirping
and the frogs croaking and splashing.

Unpleasant,
this,
the man-made droning
that never goes away,
unlike the giant flights
that roar overhead
but eventually fade
into the distance.

Still,
better than the TV and social media,
with their constant
look at this look at that you won’t believe what happened today oh my goodness this is so significant!

My heart is breaking slowly,
in small pieces.
I was tired of being lonely.
I was tired of being alone.
I know how to do alone
and lonely
so well.

My stomach is too full
to go hang out
at a pizza place.
I don’t drink,
so a bar provides no relief.

I’m glad I don’t live on the coast,
on a beach
where I could simply take off my shoes
and my robe
and Walk
and Walk
and Walk
toward the sunset,
until the water washed over me
and lifted me
and carried me
where it wanted.

If I Walk
and Walk
and Walk
and let my feet carry me
where they want,
there’s a good chance
I’ll find my way back
to this porch later this evening,
because the bugs always start
to bite
around sunset,
and they provide poor companionship.

Lifting Field Work From Drudgery to Nature Joy: Prose

Backstory: We take care of (earth partnership, earth stewardship) six acres of land, including woods, wildflowers, fields, and gardens, at Spirit Tree Farms in Northwest Georgia. 

The other day I was out working in the field, planting chard, lettuce, and raking in wildflower seeds into a large area we’d burned a few days before. Sweating, I looked up at the sky and caught myself resenting the work I HAD to do. I noticed that I was feeling down in my soul.

Just then, several birds flew overhead. As they called out in a Springtime serenade, I felt my heart lift, and my soul rejoice. I continued what I was doing, but it was no longer with sadness or resentment, but with a glad and joyful heart.

Why is it that we can do the exact same thing, especially working out on the land, and it can either be a task or chore of druudgery, or something we do with joy and gladness? What is it that leaves us feeling uplifted and strengthened? What is it that makes the change?

As I thought about it, out in the field, I realized that the mere act of THINKING about what I was doing, and changing my mind about how I felt about my field work, helped me feel better about the tasks I was doing out in Nature.

Even more importantly, as I pondered about it, I had to ask myself: “Why am I doing this?” When I decided that I was doing what Heavenly Father — often — has asked me to do (partner with the land, heal the Earth), they my soul was uplifted. In fact, it was the birds flying overhead that reminded me that I was in partnership with them, and with all of Natiure. And whjen you feel like you’re part of something bigger and more significant, that you’re helping and serving the Earth and everything on it, that you’re working to heal the Land, then it is easier to feel joy in what you are doing.

Of course, that means you do have to ASK Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ — the Creator — WHAT they want you to do. What part are you to play in Earth partnership? They are the great biologists, the perfect gardeners. In The Book of Mormon, the prophet Amulek said: “Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.” (Alma 34:24). But I think it’s even more than your crops prospering. It’s YOU prospering in the crops of your fields, learning, growing with them, connecting. Even if what the Creator tells you to do doesn’t work out the way you think it should, you will learn from it and grow and change.

Most of all, you’ll feel connected with the Earth. You’ll feel part of a greater whole. And that connection lets you #FindNatureJoy in ways that will keep you doing what you need to do, what you should be doing, in ways that will support you and bring you joy.

Finding Nature Joy

As the birds soared and circled and called out to me as I begrugingly worked in the field that Spring day, I felt connected to them, and to what I was husbanding, planting, and tending in the field. I felt connected to the sun, the clouds, the breeze, the dirt. Smiling, I turned my face upward and waved at the birds. Then, weeping, I waved at them, thanked them out loud “THANK YOU!” for their song and their visit, and plunged my hands deep into the ground.

ANd felt connected to the Creator, to the Earth, to Nature, to all of Creation. Because I was a part of it.

 

Cold Medicine Free Verse

As he wearily made his way
to his king size empty bed
alone
it was a song better left unsaid,
unsung.

He heavily breathing
from sinus infection
and midwinter cold
and allergies
and dust,
from cleaning up messes
that were not his own,
yet were,
taking the green pill,
medicine that would cure
his cough
or at least let him sleep,
(although he must be woken up later to take the medicine that would keep his heart beating.)

And he just watched a movie
about lunch
that reminded him of a film
about dinner,
and why has never anyone made one
about breakfast,
the most important meal of the day,
because after breakfast no one can write.

Don’t wait up.
And the movies and the poems that spawn them,
he wonders if he could write such,
that perhaps some obscure
Art House actor and actress could make them come to life
and seem more real
and less pretentious than they are.

Then, in the midst of his rambling,
the door opens
and she who was once
the author and finisher
of his life and salvation
interrupts
and he doesn’t know if it’s about
old men’s diapers
or the ice cream mess
he had to clean up from the floor
because she,
unaware,
left it there.
Will the House burn down someday?
Is he the only one who can see?

And the art house films
remind him of his daughter,
cosmopolitan
(though not in a cosmo girl type of way,)
but living in the Queen City
or the Big Apple,
and now he is out
in rural deplorable land
and he wonders if his lack of connection
to the arts,
to music,
and to Passion
is robbing him?
Or is it feeding his soul
with something much deeper,
much more mature,
something that Nature can bring
only to those who are immersed
deep
within her.

He shuts his eyes
and picks his toenails
and slowly moves
back
and
forth,
wondering if he will fall
while reaching for
the box of Kleenex
rescued from the back
of a non-functioning SUV,
at first covered with mouse feces,
but then underneath functional enough
to capture
the dregs of his draining brain
as he pushes
and pushes
and pushes
so hard that
his ears pop.

I Didn’t Dare To Steal Your Dreams

You blame me,
us,
them,
for stealing your dreams.

“How Dare You!”
you shout,
face twisted, contorted
into emotion.

Sadly, no one told you,
no one guided you,
to know,
no one can steal your dreams.

Just you,
and only you,
can let your dreams,
hopes,
desires,
visions,
slip away.

You can blame others
all you want,
as loud as you want,
but the truth is this:
You’ve lost your dreams?
That’s on you.

Micro-Garbage or Micro-Trash Urban Dictionary

Thanks to my daughter’s use of “micro-garbage”, I made a submission to Urban Dictionary. Even if they don’t approve it, here’s the definition!

Micro-garbage, micro-trash in urban dictionary

Micro-garbage, aka micro-trash: Small pieces of plastic and other non-biodegradable litter and garbage that annoyingly show up even in forests, beaches, parks, and gardens. Examples include cig butts; bottle tops; plastic tape from cardboard boxes; gum wrappers; broken glass; fast food anything (wrappers, cups, lids, straws, styrofoam containers, condiment packages).  Take a deep look at any nature setting and see how many small pieces of garbage litter the ground and plants. (Then, pick it up!)

Examples of micro-garbage in a sentence:

The wildflower patch was so full of micro-garbage that we couldn’t enjoy the beauty until we’d picked up the junk.

My walk on the park trail was disturbed by the micro-trash littering the bushes.

By the end of our walk in the woods, our pockets and backpacks were stuff with micro-garbage.

She laughed at my nature-loving attitude, saying: “Your yard is full of micro-garbage!”

Doubt Your Doubters, Negate Your Nay-Sayers: IMprov Prose

Have you ever had the experience of being certain you are doing what God inspired you to do and someone came up and told you that you should be doing something else with your life? How did it make you feel? Did it confuse you? Did it make you frustrated and angry? Did you feel contention? Or that you were being derailed? Did you question yourself? Did you question your own inspiration? Did you doubt?

This happened to me recently, and I have to admit that it was one of the most emotionally painful experiences of my life! I’m certain this person had good intentions, but it hurt. What they did was tell me about something that concerned them, then insisted that Marnie and I spread the word about the issue they were concerned about: Lift up a voice of warning! Use your social media and communication skills and experience to educate and warn others about this awful danger!

Unfortunately for them, as soon as they brought up the subject, I felt like throwing up. The issue was not new to me, and I’d already resolved how I’d deal with it. But their pushy insistence that I pay attention to this vital issue and DO SOMETHING NOW! raised contention in my heart. It didn’t feel good, and it was not something I wanted to be involved with at all.

Unfortunately for me, it made me doubt what I am about.

Process Steps to Recognize and Avoid Doubt and Contention

Through this negative experience, I learned several truths about dealing with doubt and contention that I think can be good guideposts for all of us.
  1. Recognize that, as soon as you feel inspired to do something, forces will gather to get you to doubt and NOT to do something. It could be a direct command from a spouse, parent, family member, leader, friend: “Don’t do that. You’re waisting your time.” It could be a suggestion: “That’s good, but you could do _____ instead.” Or people will come up with any number of reasons why you can’t or shouldn’t do something. Anticipate the naysayers, and you’ll be prepared to overcome them.
  2. If you are certain you are on the path that Heavenly Father has inspired you to be on, know what that path is. Marnie and I have recently come up with a fairly strong mission statement about what we’re supposed to be doing. After floating around for awhile, we realized what we are to do deals with helping others find peace and joy in nature, hear God’s messages in nature, and then express that peace and joy creatively. You can read more about Spirit Tree Farms mission statement here. Because of that knowledge, I knew as soon as this person started telling me what I should do, (because it was a contentious political subject that I didn’t want to be involved in,) that was not the right thing for me to do.
  3. The topics we’re passionate about do not have to be an either / or situation. It’s not a “better than” situation. Our passions — our purposes — are just different. This person is committed and concerned about this particular political topic. In fact, it might be a great topic for Marnie’s Front Porch Sense blog, which deals with politics. Other people might be concerned about the food bank, or about native plants and wildflowers, or about unemployment and making sure everybody has jobs, or about more effective ways to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His message, or about exercise and good health, or about any number of other things.
    Isn’t it great that we live in a world that has so many options and so many important topics we can be involved in? My mistake in answering this person’s thoughts was to negate and demean what they had said by saying things like: “I won’t make any difference” or “I don’t want to waste my time with that.” That immediately put them on the defensive, feeling that I thought that their passion was not important.
  4. Feel how a topic makes you feel. If somebody tells you to do something, pause, and feel how it makes you feel in your soul. When this person brought up this topic and told me I needed to do something about it, I felt and knew immediately that, because of the contention, anger, and nauseous feeling that I had, that it was not a topic I needed to be involved in. It was okay to be aware of it, but I didn’t need to spend my efforts doing what this person wanted me to do.
  5. Be resolved in what you want to do and what you are inspired to do, and express that up front. It wasn’t until very deep in the conversation that I realized how strong my resolve was to do what I needed to do (see #2 above). This person actually did me a favor because, in sparking that deep realization, I discovered that I had not been as passionate and as energetic in doing what I was inspired to do as I needed to be.
  6. Don’t argue about it. At the start of our discussion, I immediately came up with several reasons why I shouldn’t or couldn’t or wouldn’t do what this person had asked me to do or had suggested that I do. The reasons were logical and well thought out. But, later on, because they are a skilled arguer, they threw those same reasons back in my face. When I said that I was going to do something else, they derisively said: “Oh, like go plant blueberries?” That hurt my feelings. It made me angry and it made me distrust them. In fact right now I’m working through not even wanting to be around this person anymore, and not trusting their friendship at all. Don’t give people the opportunity to turn your words against you.
  7. In the same vein, recognize how you have been inspired by Heavenly Father to do certain things, and just say that. It wasn’t until well into the argument and conversation that I finally got to the point of saying “Obviously, you feel inspired to do this thing. I feel inspired by Heavenly Father to do what we are doing at Spirit Tree Farms. It’s not better than or worse than, it’s just different.” And once I said that, the arguement and contention — and my own doubt and confusion –dissolved.
    I once wrote an on-line dating article about how it’s okay to say no. The principles in that “Just Say No!” article are valid here. When we give reasons for not doing something or for doing something, we give other people the opening to argue and tell us that we’re wrong. It’s like a salesperson overcoming objections. But when we say “I don’t feel that this is what I’m inspired to do right now. I feel inspired to do this other thing!” then nobody can argue against our feelings. The argument ends.

Increasing My Resolve, Doubting My Doubts

Despite the fact that I’m still a little angry and hurt about our discussion, I’m also grateful that it happened. The arguement, resolution, doubt, and pondering about the topic and my response helped me realize how strongly I feel about what our mission is:
“We teach Nature observation so people can hear and feel and experience God’s love and messages in Nature. As they do, we show them, by example, how to let Nature inspire their own unique creativity.” Mission Statement: What We Do At Spirit Tree Farms

I also feel strongly about where that inspiration comes from, and so it was like a renewal of my testimony about my purpose. I don’t doubt. And the arguement actually is motivating me to do more. Because as I was sitting in my rocking chair, getting ready to watch a sports event on TV, I realized, through this discussion, that, although I was passionate about this topic, I hadn’t done a lot recently to move forward with what Heavenly Father had asked me and inspired me to do. For all the anger and contention this discussion and criticism brought into my house and my soul, it ended up being a positive, because it motivated me to work harder at what I know I should be doing.

And that’s a good thing.

And now I’m even more motivated to go plant blueberries and connect with the Earth!

Reconnecting with Earth: Shoeless in grass and white crownbeards

Don’t Doubt Your Purpose In Nature

Sitting In Nature, Deep: Verbal Riff

While sitting out in Creation Girl and my work-in-progress grape arbor on the banks of the West Chickamauga Creek at Spirit Tree Farms, I had some thoughts about sitting in nature. Rather than wait until I was at my computer, I picked up my phone and did a voice recognition verbal riff. A new prose-writing method for me, but one I could get used to! It’s quick and effective, and I hope captures the message well.

Sitting in nature requires putting your phone away, or maybe not even bringing it. It means laying your tools down, including pulling your snippers out of your pocket and throwing them onto the ground, to better be prepared for the messages Nature is going to send you.

Sitting in Nature Means Not Seeing So You Can Experience

Sitting in Nature means looking around and, instead of seeing privet that needs to be pulled, or wild grapevines that need to be trellised, or invasive grasses that need to be burned, or ironweed seeds that need to be gathered, just sitting. Listening. Feeling. Sensing.

Taking this deliberate time, making this purposeful effort of rest and nature observation and connection means hearing and feeling the negative ions of the distant creek running over the rocks placed there as a fishing weir by pre-contact native residents of this land. Sure, these Ancient Ones worked, but they also stopped, looked, listened, felt, learned, and taught.

Like us, they watched the late season butterflies flit among the few goldenrod and burn weed and ironweed blooms still available. They no doubt marveled at the bright blood-red stalks of pokeweed, nearly spent, holding on to the last vestiges of purple berries, to provide fruit throughout the winter swaying with the late autumn breeze.

These people of the land saw that same breeze give dead and dying ironweed stalks a shake, spreading their seeds like salt from a shaker. They felt the late Autumn breeze and wondered at its warmth and smiled at its gentle caress. They looked at the skyline of multi-hued deciduous trees and probably put that sight in their memory banks for later on, when they would make blankets and paint paintings showing those same Earth tone colors.

Developing Symbiotic Relationships With Nature And Families

Undoubtedly, these nature observation experts listened to the squirrels chattering, gathering and husking hickory nuts and black walnuts, preparing for the winter. In the Indigenous tribal culture, the older wise ones probably showed the younger ones which plants to gather. Then, the younger ones, full of life and energy and supple bodies able to bend and lift, used the old ones wisdom and knowledge to quickly harvest what the tribe needed. The old ones sharing that knowledge freely, and accepted the youth’s gift of energy and work, a symbiotic relationship in a group of humans mirroring the symbiotic relationships found throughout nature.

Throughout the entire Nature observation and gathering process, either the elderly or the young — or perhaps both — felt the presence of the Creator, the Great Spirit. Together, they shared the joy found in sitting with and being enveloped by Nature. Maybe the sun caressed their shoulders as they munched on a foraged turkey tail or a goldenrod blossom. Or when they discovered and shared and relished a late-fruiting passion flower, they felt joy, and they gave thanks. And when they went to work again after sitting, resting, and feeling, that Nature joy stayed with them, so work was no longer work and drudgery, but instead a joint celebration with each other, with the plants and animals all around them, like dancers separate but in harmony, swaying and moving through creation itself.

We can learn much from the Ancient Ones. We should mirror that dance with Nature. Let’s make an effort to put down our tools and technology. Let’s take the time to find nature joy today, ourselves. Because, if we let it, if we spend time sitting in Nature, the energy we get and gather to us stays with us, lifts us, buoys us, and carries us through life.

An updated, more in-depth copy of this is on our Spirit Tree Farms blog.

Facing Insurmountable Tasks Advice — Partnering With Nature: Prose

Recently, I read a post in a Native Habitat social media group. The person asked the group what they should do about their recently-purchased three acre property that was disorganized and overrun with non-native, invasive species, some so thick as to make walking through the property nearly impossible.With some passion and frustration, they explained that they didn’t know where to start or what to do. Almost to the point of despair, they said they were worried because there were non-native vines all over the trees, not only strangling them but threatening to collapse the larger branches, as well as creating a dense shadow on the forest floor where nothing could grow. They specifically asked what poisons and herbicides to apply, and how to apply them, to control these troublesome invaders.
 
As you can imagine, there were many answers, ranging from the drastic to the thoughtful. Interestingly, most suggested the property owners focus on assessment and inventory.
Suggestions included:
*Get a plant app (such as PlantNet), and go through the property, identifying and labeling all the plants
*Make a calendar and a schedule, going through each section at a time to clear out invasives and control what is wantedSome were more drastic, including:
*Do a controlled undergrowth burn, protecting the big trees, and see what grows back
*Chop away everything invasive, and apply deep-acting herbicides to the roots
 

As I read these responses, I thought of our own experience at our six-acre Spirit Tree Farms in Catoosa County, Northwest Georgia. I realized that the original post exhibited the same fears and frustrations I’d felt when I first purchased the property:

  1. I didn’t know what was invasive, non-native, and undesirable, compared to what was native and welcome
  2. It was such a large task, I was overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start
  3. I was afraid to make a mistake

Lessons Learned From Partnering With Nature

It was then I understood the lessons I’d learned from listening to and working with Nature as a partner. This was the advice I gave:
 
  • Listen to the land. Many people think we have to use our own wisdom and knowledge to “Save the Earth”. The reality is, Mother Earth knows what she needs. Nature understands, even on a small scale, the actions we as partners should take. When partnering with Nature, work with the land.
  • Know what you want to do — in an overarching way. The original poster wanted a property filled with native trees, bushes, wildflowers, and other plants. Others might want a giant play area for their kids and grandkids. Some might want a food production focus, to be self sustaining. Still others might want a food plot for deer, rabbits, and game birds. At Spirit Tree Farms, we want walkable areas where we can teach and model partnering with Nature, along with Nature observation and creativity. These are all valid uses of the land, but they all require different solutions.
  • Do something. Do anything. Yes, making an inventory, designing an overarching plan, creating a calendar, are all vital — but they will not do anything to change the land or fix the problems. A favorite quote from my youth states: “The song I came to sing remains unsung. I spent my life stringing and unstringing my instrument.”
  • UPDATE: As I’m editing these piece some months later, I’ll add this thought: Do research sooner rather than later. I FINALLY got my soil tested (University of Georgia County Extension program). Turns out that I’d planted the blueberry bushes and ginseng roots in completely the wrong place. (The soil pH is way off). In other words, partnering with Nature means being smart, too!
 
I suggested that they pick one thing to do, and start doing that for a set time each day. I suggested the land owner start with spending an hour each morning and an hour each evening (during the cooler part of the day), and focus on one task. I pointed out that, if they didn’t have that much time on some days, even 15 minutes daily would bring a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
 
I pointed out that, in the original post, they seemed especially concerned about the invasive vines which were strangling the native trees. I suggested they go out with a small saw or a pair of pruning loppers and spend their time cutting and killing the vines at the base of the trees. I reminded them that they didn’t need to pull the vines off the trees just yet; killing them would (a) begin to solve the problem and (b) make it easier to pull them off later on. The key was to do something, and to focus on the highest priority, or their greatest concern.

Pulling Privet Parable

In my own experience, I listened to the land and discovered that a highly-invasive non-native plant, Chinese privet, was creating a mono-culture where nothing else could grow. Not only were these plants rapidly spreading, but they shaded out the sunshine, took up all the soil nutrients and water, and their roots and leaves distributed poison which prevented the growth of native plants.By listening to the land, I became “a man on a mission”. I would go out every day and pull up or cut down privet. Some of these bushes were as large around as my thigh, and would grow back shoots and runners even after I’d cut the main trunk. But I’d learned that applying herbicides to the trunk would potentially ooze through the roots, killing desirable plants around the privet. Instead, I kept cutting off the shoots, and eventually the entire privet system would die and rot to the point that I could use my angle-handled Fiskar shovel and leverage out the rootball.
 
I also learned to take advantage of what Mother Earth provided. Many people won’t go out and work on the land after a hard rain. “It’s too wet, it’s too muddy, it’s too gooey” they argue. Fortunately, I lived for 25 years in the Seattle area, where if you don’t work outside when it rains, you don’t work outside.
 
What I discovered is that, after a hard rain, small- and medium-sized privet plants — because of their shallow root system — came out quickly and easily with a firm tug. In fact, I now relish the rain, because I learned that I can pull out about ten times more privet and other invasive species when the ground is wet than when it is dry.
 
I explained to the original poster that, by listening to the land, and by working on what concerned them the most, they would probably learn lessons and get unexpected benefits as well. For example, after cleaning out a space of over 100 yards x 10 feet deep of privet lining my rural driveway — a giant monoculture — by the next year, more than 27 different native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and other plants sprang up in place of the privet. These native and beneficial species were there the entire time, but the privet was crowding them out.
 
This was such an impactful lesson to us that my wife used it as part of a presentation on Finding Peace in Nature. You can watch her first presentation about it here.  It was received so enthusiastically that she expanded the concept, creating a book, journal, and training on it. Explore that here: SpiritTreeFarms.com/Peace. It focuses on how we as humans should put aside our hubris and vanity in trying to “fix Mother Earth”, and instead listen to her as she explains to us not only what she needs, but what we need and can learn from her.
 

Partnering With Nature Needs Organization

This privet parable had such a deep influence in my life that now, when I go out to work on what I feel I should do on the property (yes, I pray about what I should do, what would be most beneficial to myself AND the land), I take a notebook (or my phone) along. When I get the thought to “plant / transplant something here” or “trim this /remove that from there” or even “burn this section of field”, I take notes.
 
I explained to the landowner that one of the most beneficial suggestions I’d received was from my wife, who is very organized. She noticed I was getting a huge list of things to do, but — other than the privet — wasn’t getting much done. She created a spreadsheet, and had me populate it with tasks, including the what, where, when and how (and, sometimes, when I need motivation, a note on “why”.) Now, when I’m inspired to do a task, I not only start working on it, but I put it into the spreadsheet, so the inspiration becomes captured and actionable.Ultimately, the lessons I’m learning from this experience at Spirit Tree Farms are:
*Listen to Nature and The Creator
*Do something / ANYTHING
*Capture
*Review
*Continue to listen
*Be inspired
*Learn
 
Many of these thoughts and lessons are captured on only in SpiritTreeFarms.com/Peace, but in other writings on NaturesGuy.com, CreationGirl.com, and my creative blog, CyranoWriter.com
When nature observation becomes more than forest bathing -- learning from wildflower wandering how be tap into creativity