Eco Essentials

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – At one point this summer I found myself in a car with some other professionals, carpooling to the second location of our learning event. I did not know the other riders well, but we all kept the conversation going for the duration of the 40 minute drive.

A woman in the front seat remarked on the forests that we were driving through, saying that she wished there was some sort of forest management to keep the forest floor tidier, cut down and haul away dead trees, and keep things trimmed.

Now, I am not an expert, but I know a little about how nature works. I was overcome by that thought that this person had no idea that what she was suggesting was, in fact, a recipe for disaster.

Forests aren’t botanical gardens that have shrubs shaped like giraffes. The forest is a living ecosystem and the rotted undergrowth feeds the new growth, the dead and dying trees provide habitat and, if left to its own devices, a forest lives and dies in perfect balance.

I guess that forest is like a lot of things ~ leave the messy, let things lean and sway and crash, and in the end, there will be new growth, there will be new insights, there will be a renewed sense of home. So much of the day-to-day can look like a jumble, but resist the urge to trim and sculpt ~ just live, breath and learn ~ we are all still growing – perfectly.

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com