“She said she wanted to see beautiful things. I took her
to where I planted my seeds.” ― Darnell
Lamont Walker
“The
clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” ― John Muir
Plants make me glad, at least mostly (admittedly there are some
weeds that bring me to less than glad, but happily they are far fewer than the
many delightful plants all around). I enjoy watching all sorts of plants grow
and blossom and change. And what a lovely riot of color we see in the trees
this time of year in the northern climates: oh my!
So when I read of yet another benefit
of plants, I take notice. I watched and appreciated this 2.5 minute NSF Science Nation video, and you might too? (Also below is a brief description worth a glance.)
Cactus
"flesh" cleans up toxic water
University of South Florida engineering
professor Norma Alcantar and her team are using the "flesh" from
Prickly Pear cacti, called mucilage, to clean up oil and other toxins from
water. With support from NSF, Alcantar has spent the last few years confirming
something that her grandmother told her years ago--that cacti can purify water.
“Using a natural product to clean
water” – making water drinkable in places where every day there is contamination,
or in places like refugee camps or disaster sites? – YES, please.
“Plants are nature’s alchemists, expert at transforming
water, soil and sunlight into an array of precious substances, many of them
beyond the ability of human beings to conceive, much less manufacture.”
― Michael Pollan, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
― Michael Pollan, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
Enjoying and appreciating plants brings me to this poem
that I recently came across and have been pondering. Before reading it
and the quotes, allow me to wish for you opportunities to bow often, and
many moments of goodness and much gladness.
“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of
our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing
dreams from the deep singing mind of the earth.” ― Dale Pendell
When I Am Among the
Trees, by Mary Oliver
When I am among the
trees,
Especially the willows
and the honey locust,
Equally the beech, the
oaks and the pines,
They give off such hints
of gladness.
I would almost say that
they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the
hope of myself,
in which I have
goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through
the world
but walk slowly, and bow
often.
Around me the trees stir
in their leaves
and call out, “Stay
awhile.”
The light flows from
their branches.
And they call again,
“It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do
this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to
shine.”
“God is not only something metaphysical, but also the physical world,
the plants and animals, the mountains and rivers, the air and the sun and the
earth.” ― Jeffrey
R. Anderson
“So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a
whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant
with applause.” - Isaiah 55:12
