Church of the Earth

I always think I know what I am going to write about, each week, mulling it over as I work in the garden. I was sure that I was going to write about how much I love the island and what it means to my heart to be accepted by all of you. But when I got home late last night after teaching for 12 hours, I got a note from former school chum and new Vineyard owner, Wendy. She wrote;

"Thanks for the newsletters, they are fun and informative. We have been tucking, suckering, hedging, spraying and mulching the vineyard non-stop. Every morning 5am still too hot. Overwhelmed to say the least. But learning like crazy and loving it. The clusters of grapes are beautiful! Nothing like "The Church of the Earth" is there?"

The church of the earth! That's it, isn't it? This is our sacred ground and we it's guardians, protectors, ministers, if you will. And our job, to be dutiful in caring for it. I just don't seem to be doing all that I can. If only I didn't have to drive, buy gas and being a part of this madness. Or why is everything wrapped in plastic? Why, on the rare occasion that Joe and I eat out, do we have to bring our food home in styrofoam? When will this end? When do we find our connection to earth realizing that there are answers in us as individuals in knowing what we can do to make things better? We can't rely on politicians or policies or government or wishful thinking. The answer lies in each and every one of us. And even though I know this, it takes complete focus and energy to live in a different way. As we are all being bombarded with what others think we need and should have, we never realize we really don't need much at all. So onward and upward as we look for a new ways to solve old problems. As Albert Einstein said "If we knew what we were doing, they wouldn't call it research."

My goal next week, since I have it off, is to get rid of every bit of what I don't need dropping it off to Salvation Army. Begin to live in a simpler way, without clutter and see if the lack of clutter, will unclutter my brain, giving me room to think about what it is that I can do. But, in the meantime, I have been in my church, with my hands in the dirt. This week, I dug up most of the garlic, planted cabbage, cauliflower and transplanted tomato plants. The green peppers are getting big enough to pick, the elephant garlic is huge, the green beans are being harvested, along with the zucchini and squash. Joe planted beets and Judy has wandered around the garden finding places for heirloom seeds that she wants to try. We are always running out of space, so it is a good thing that we pulled the last of our amazing beets, giving us another place to dig. This morning, with cup of coffee in hand, I sat in the garden with grateful thanks that I have had the opportunity to do something that matters, no matter how small in the scheme of things.