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Life June 4, 2012
The weekend was full of life around here. My niece, Catherine, delivered her first baby – a little girl named Hazel Elizabeth. She’s beautiful, but I wouldn’t need a picture of her to tell you that. I knew she would be beautiful because I’ve loved her for months. Her mom and dad are tired but happy as can be. And I mean that. How could you be happier? Yesterday morning, friends here in Westcliffe hosted another friend, Christina MacLeod, to talk with us about pollinators. She’s a beekeeper, an herbalist, and acupuncturist. Her lecture at the local garden club didn’t go far enough for our host so she asked Christina to expand her lecture so that a few more of us could learn about plants and the way they keep themselves alive. Christina is a walking encyclopedia. I guess these days you’d say she was a walking search engine. Any question we asked about bees, wildflowers, medicinal plants, plant procreation - any of it - she knew the answer. I didn’t retain as much as I would have liked. I’ve never been good at remembering things like tree, plant, or bird names. What I did retain was the wonder of plant life. She described how some plants have a landing pad for insects called a keel (like a boat’s keel). When a bee or a beetle of the right size and weight lands on that keel, it opens up and exposes its pollen to that bug who then carries a tiny portion of the pollen to the next plant. She talked about how important it is for all of us (yes, you and me and anyone else who can) to plant a garden and include in that garden plants that attract bees and other insects that cross-pollinate the plants in our neighborhoods. A thriving pollinator population has an enormously positive impact on the whole system in which we live. Bugs, bees and birds being able to do their thing allows for fruit to grow and, therefore, food to eat. Without them, we’re stuck with junk food. But even that’s not a given. We can’t have potato chips without pollinators, or a piece of toast, or even a coca cola. We ended our day yesterday on a hike in the Sangre de Cristos. Brent has property at 9300 feet, so we often take our dogs so they can have a good run and a swim in the creek. Tasha is a huskie, so she has a natural urge to take off. She always comes back, but yesterday she took longer than we would have liked. We spent two hours looking for her as a storm came on with rain, thunder and lightening. When she finally showed up, she was soaked and bedraggled. We gave her a treat to remind her that we like it when she comes back, but I think her days of leash-less mountain climbing are over. It’s just too upsetting to think of her getting lost for good. We all slept well last night and woke to a perfect summer day. It’s going to be a good week. I’ve been asked to write a song that needs to be recorded and on its way to England by Thursday. If all goes well, I’ll post that song here next week. It’s been a good exercise for me to write a song quickly. There’s no time to ponder it. It just needs to get done. Have a great week, everybody,
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