I wish I spent more time in the dirt. I had spring-time dreams of generating enough greens to supplement my diet and quickly realized the many lessons of the soil I had yet to learn. The earth I put in my little garden is still new to me and I know it as living system which requires nurturing and nutrients. We are still quite early in our relationship and I look forward to fostering more of an understanding of the balance needed to create the crops that will hopefully supplement the produce for my little family one day.
There is something so compelling about watching growth take place. With seeds, it’s additionally fulfilling because they become their purpose. I imagine that seeds do not wonder what to be when they “grow up”. They are the thing they are meant to be, at every stage. I am a little envious of this clarity of knowledge. As I near the completion of my undergrad, after many years of procrastination, I am finding myself wondering what the next step should be. I have stable income, but it does not provide me with the simple beauty of a plant’s purpose.
Considering who I am in this global climate has been on the forefront of my mind throughout this course. While my habits are more carbon neutral than the average American, I cannot reconcile my deep and abiding love of travel with their environmental cost. I realize how unwilling I am to sacrifice the flights that allow me to experience so much. What is ironic, is that I am most frequently seeking natural beauties. So, in the quest to see more of the earth I am directly contributing to the harming of her. I have several trips planned at the end of this summer, and I will need to investigate how many trees my flights are worth!
https://www.rdmag.com/news/2015/04/flight-greener-driving