Bee Power

To my fellow lovers of life and victors of the free world. I am a new Beekeeper, i am terrified about what has and is happening to our Bee populations. We will not survive without these sweet little innocent lovers. The chemicals being used on our lawns, and flowers and vegetables, are poison. Where there is a bloom with pollen, bees feed. If chemicals have been used, the bees return that poison back to the hive. They survive, not thrive, just survive thru summer and fall. Winter is a death sentence. Their immune systems collapse. They die. They die because we think clover and dandelions  are weeds. They are beautiful lovely flowers filled with amazing pollen. All a gift of God, that we really must not continue to take such advantage of.
~Peace and Love and Bee Power, Colleen
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Whatever you call the natural order of things: God/Goddess, Mother Nature, evolution and so forth, it can likely be agreed that it is a natural process. None of us came up with it! (grin). The nature of it, the source, the core, the central wisdom: it is a given in our cosmic mathematics. The life cycle of bees is just one proof for the human family to review.

I wonder so often: who are we to think that we have the better answers for the daily life of the natural world? This earth and its organic procedures were here way before humans.Truly, we are stewards of what we found upon arrival. The human ego, however, seems mighty determined to dominate, even when the evidence is clear: things were cool before we started tinkering. This is not to say that we don't have a contribution to make to our lives with nature. Innovative solutions abound, when a general respect for the earth and her inhabitants is honored. Compassionate understanding and intention can lead the way to miraculous results.

 Metaphorically speaking, how have we humans poisoned our brothers and sisters, cultivating toxic energies that are unknowingly consumed and taken back to family homes (hives) corrupting a natural process of human evolution? I'm just sayin'. (smile)
Caring for each other is primary stewardship: human ecology.Talk about a productive use of natural resources! Go exploring in yourself. Find the naturally-occuring, free source within yourself!! It is OUR natural process. I've named it Center Love. You choose your own name. But may I suggest living it as your main natural resource? Bee a good steward! (pun intended)

Center Love Evolution starts with each one of us!

Shalom, Jean
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Closing good news: Facebook post from my cousin Fearn last week:

Our empty hive received a swarm of honey bees today! This is the second year in a row this has happened. Welcome honey girls. may you be healthy and happy here. We love you!

~Fearn Lickfield

Apple Compassion

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There is a baby apple on my baby tree! (Actually, there are two, one on each tree!)

[Baby apples forming on 1yr sapling]

 

This to me is a symbol of growing compassion. Why?

Well, I’m a little bit of an introvert, and although some days I receive energy from interacting with people, other days I absorb more energy from the quiet rustling of trees and
the tranquility of being alone in the grass.

I never tire of interacting with nature—even in the skin-drenching, cold, awakening rains of spring or the thick, burning heat of midsummer—because to me it is the manifestation of God and His creation.  I can be my comfortable self in nature and God will shine his sunny and windy and rainy love upon me in equal measure.  I still love people; sometimes I just need to love them from a distance.

 

[Gods Glory!]

So when I am striving to cultivate plants or simply exist respectfully in the midst of them, my purpose is twofold: 1. With every photograph of gorgeous plant I take  (oh so many!), I am expressing my appreciation and awe at the complexity of God’s design; And 2. I am exercising my muscles of compassion for my fellow humans. (Some days the workout seems harder than others!).

The way I see it, we are all connected. Not just people to people, but people to earth, and even generations to generations connect across time. By planting in, and investing in the landscapes around me, I am investing in not only present beatification and fresh summer veggies, but also future generations who will inherit whatever we leave behind.  We connect with the past and the future through nature, by experiencing the hard work that our ancestors have wrought, and by improving upon the conditions for our children. Isn’t that cool? Nature is such a universal element that all peoples can profit from it, and find a sense of the spiritual therein. So I say, enhancing nature enhances the spirit! 

And so, with these two humble sticks that are in fact Apple trees, I am growing my spirit and my compassion for the world at large.  Just as others may seek to change people’s lives when they serve others in teaching, nursing, I seek to change the outcome of humanity’s future by changing the landscape of the land!

I grafted these apple trees just last spring, so this is the first time I’m seeing them develop. This is only the beginning! I am not planting the apple trees for immediate joy--though I still receive weekly satisfaction watching more leaves, branches, and now tiny new apples emerge—but for the long-term satisfaction of my mother’s grandkids to enjoy. And maybe their kids!

But wait, you say you don’t have your own apple trees? No yard to put them in? (not even your mothers? Harness what you do have. Go ahead, pick the low-hanging fruits! You have the power of the sun, and the wind and the rain! Dry your clothes outside on a nice day.  Or if you’re feeling ambitious you make a solar oven! And after all that hard work, enjoy some tea, brewed in the sun! J We are fortunate in the Western World to have an abundance of water; yet it is still a precious resource to be guarded.  Collect rain water for your gardens, and consider using drip hoses around your plants—it uses less water AND delivers it more directly to where the plants need it most, in the roots.

And of course, whenever and wherever possible, plant things! Let them grow! Encourage green leaves to help the earth and heal people’s souls. (You can ask for help if your thumbs look a little blackish, there are plenty of growing resources out there, and garden friends to be made!)

And I bet, by the time my apple trees really get crankin’, I will be filled with the spirit of compassionate giving, and ready to turn all the energy from nature into energy with people!  Then I can share the fruits of my labor and nature’s compassion with my neighbor! I can’t wait!

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Chelsea Powell grew up in Dayton and enjoyed the experience of The Miami Valley School. She proceeded to study architecture and horticulture at U.C., helping to start a garden in downtown Cincinnati. She now continues her search for good design with various plants, people, and projects in Southern Ohio.

Love the neighbor!

Out of the blue of a beautiful evening, after a just ok day at work, toting an achy body from a weekend "trip"- into this poor-poor-me moment in time, comes my neighbor Eric.

He had noticed that my pile of yard debris - I should say PILES of yard debris - were adding up, growing taller, taking up more and more of my pretty yard. He had walked his dog by fairly often, so to note the life span of said pile. (smile) So on this cool June evening, with a truck borrowed from another neighbor to haul is own yard debris, Eric came over to rid me of mine. I had the front door open, screen door closed, so I could hear the truck pull in and sounds of an organized effort.

I went to the door to find this kind soul hugging bundle after bundle of tree branches, taking them from pile to pickup in short order. I walked out in bare feet to greet this action, deeply humbled by this random act of kindness. We chatted away as he continued. I was sort of stunned with appreciation. Finally, I thought to go inside, put on shoes and help, for heaven's sake. Soon enough, the job was done and off he went to the yard debris center in our community.

Action! It's about action.

Later, after running a few errands, I came home to find Eric walking toward my house, laughing that the yard center wouldn't take a couple of ply pieces. We laughed and talked some more. The bumper stickers on my car set several topics in motion: drums, drink, children, music and church. We even had some friends in common. The follow-through: idea to action, by this cool neighbor, changed the landscape of our neighborhood (not to mention the landscape of my landscape. )

The universal common ground in the human family is really so simple. Love each other. Treat each other the way you hope they'll treat you. Simple. And no question about it: actions speak louder than words!I'm grateful for Eric tonight and for the magnificent movement of the Spirit!

Mountain moment

Have you ever felt like the path you're following was cut out of rock for you? Like a magnificent  rock was sculpted, chiseled into open space, allowing you to slide through, like a ray of sunshine?
If not, wrap your imagination around this idea, as it pertains to you in the present moment. What if?

Because, really: what are we but a mirror image of stardust, billions and billions of us moving at a glacial pace in comparison, yet skipping in and around rocks, being shaped while we shape other glowing particles? Imagination is power. Your power. And you can move mountains.

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