IF WE LOVE OUR EARTH, WE WILL LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR
Hate and prejudice is something we learn. It may be the reaction to change that we do not want. It may be due to inequities that we feel are not fair. IT MAY BE TO THOSE WHO HAVE MORE AND TO THOSE WHO HAVE not. It may be trying to compete in a playing field that is not equal. All of these things are inter-reactions between people. Mother Nature treats us equally. She teaches us valuable lessons and nurtures us. Her flowers smile at us and make us happy. In a beautiful garden there are many different flowers and each one contributes to the beauty of the garden. Each one is different but each one is valued for the contribution it makes. IT IS THE COMBINATION of them together THAT MAKES IT SO BEAUTIFUL. Each road and path through nature unveils new surprises but does not create hostel feelings within us. What we witness is a feeling of love, a happy pride of our inward strength. . Among the plants in a forest there is no hate, no bad lessons to learn. From an acorn grows the mighty oak and that is incredible. From a seed can bloom the most beautiful flower and that is a miracle. From the skies comes the warmth of the sun, the water to quench our thirst and from the soil comes all of our food. We learn from nature love and respect. We learn to become good people. Love the earth and the earth will love you back.
Mother Nature is an international language. It is one thing we all share in common. It is time for us all to unite and follow natural ways of life. It is time for us all to preserve the earth for it is ours not to own but ours to pass on to our children. Our earth is hurting and we need to stop interfering with her ways. We need to work with nature not against her. We need to enhance the principles she has taught us. We need to all fight global warming.
Fighting global warming starts in our own back yard by following nature’s natural ways. It starts by involving our children. It starts in our schools by teaching earth science. There is a whole living community taking place in the soil of our earth. Our soil on the earth’s surface is organic in nature because everything that comes from nature it puts back into nature. As the organic material breaks down a complex system of life emerges. A rich soil develops a food web with a teaming interaction of life. If we learn to understand the life that is taking place in our soils, we would be appalled at those who would commit mass murder by killing the life in our soils. But that is what we are doing when we follow a program of chemical fertilization and chemical applications of pesticides and herbicides. We are committing mass murder in our soils. We do not realize this or understand this or we would not do it. The beneficial life in our soils can range to the tiny microbial life or to the well identified earth worm and more. Microbes are minute in size but are the good guys working for us day and night. They purify our soils and keep our earth clean. It is amazing the system that nature provides to perpetuate plant life in our soils. Without plant life we could not exist. We need to preserve healthy soils. Sometimes I think we know less than we know.
People continue to fight among each other and we wonder will it ever end. If our DNA is to fight for a cause lets fight together to save the earth for our next generation. This is a cause that requires education and understanding. It is a cause that affects us all and one that the whole world can relate to. Take to the internet and fight with words not bullets. Build a movement for we are in the age of communication. We need to value not only our country but our earth.
A customer of mine bought a lot of flowers. She said flowers make me happy. Many of us take this phenomenon for granted. Lady Bird Johnson pushed for beautification across this country in the mid 60’s. Cities that were built with brick, mortar and stone were decorated and beautified with flowers. It made people feel good again and proud of their towns and cities. It made people want to come to these places to visit, work and shop. As my customer pointed out, flowers make us happy. Although this has a great uplifting affect on us we kind of take it for granted. We don’t take time to analyze it. Nature plays a profound influence on our life. Nature promotes love and kindness. I have always found gardeners to be loving people. We need to understand nature and spend more time with her. She teaches us many lessons that we can’t learn from a book.
We need to thank Lady Bird Johnson for the tremendous insight she had. She tapped into the universal truth that beauty satisfies our soul. She was aware that flower power and beauty can actually make a difference in our cities, suburbs, our towns, our homes and our economy.
Cities, towns and communities have learned this lesson. Lady Bird Johnson’s efforts have taken a long time to reach the level of achievement that her influence has now made on our country. When we go into a town that is filled with flowers we love that town. Flowers make a difference. When you go into a home that is filled with flowers you feel welcome, warm and happy. Flowers make a difference. They make us happy and create good vibes within a family. We have to thank Lady Bird for the role she played in this. Hopefully she is looking down to see how beautiful many of our towns now look throughout our country.
Beautification has led to sustainability. The building of beautiful parks and trails that follow a natural program has become the refuge for an embattled society struggling under the pressures of modern life. It has led to us to look to nature for our answers. We now know that greener environments promote health. When people are exposed to more greenery their psychological health improves according to researcher Dr. Frances Kuo. When we live in beautiful surroundings we want to keep it beautiful. It took a long time but these facts are resonating throughout our country. When you travel from town to town, each one looks more beautiful than the next. Towns are accepting their responsibility to make their town beautiful.
I have been a strong advocate of the organic movement. In my transition from the chemical world of gardening that I was taught by attending an Agricultural college in the 50’s to the transitional change that took place when I realized the chemical approach was the wrong one. I made the brave decision to change our growing operation into an organic format. Every day the lessons that I learn from Mother Nature surprise me. They expanded my knowledge and stimulate me to learn more. Living so many years in the dark I realize the lack of understanding that exists throughout our country on this very important subject. It is one of the most important subjects that we as a nation must understand. Once you learn nature’s ways your whole attitude about life changes. Lady Bird Johnson, who as a child lost her mother at age six, knew that natural beauty had the power to restore the human spirit and the ecological environment. She spent countless hours outside in the extraordinarily beautiful northeast Texas woods. Lady Bird Johnson did not only want to beautify America she wanted to change America.
Last week my email was about the algae blooms that are becoming so prevalent. This is a direct casual effect from using chemical fertilizers. My wife came up with a Native American proverb posted by one of her charities. I posted it for us to ponder. For some reason it got deleted from the text of my article although I have since reposted it. So I want to end this article once again with this Native American proverb. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.
