Yesterday was the first day Jeanne and I, in our official Forest Steward roles, hosted our inaugural green belt party. Our bit of green belt is covered with ivy, including climbing up trees, which weakens them by their weight. Jeanne made oatmeal cookies, we arrived an hour before our volunteers did. We made nervous small talk, we laid out tools: rakes, shovels, clippers, cultivators (my favorite) and hori-horis another formidable tool. And we waited. We hade sixteen people, including three teens who came from their high schools.
Before we began to work, we reminded everyone that we were standing on Duwamish land, that our bit of greenbelt was once a mighty forest of towering cedars and Douglas firs. The volunteers built ‘racks’ to put bundles of ivy on. They liberated several trees. They talked and joked and worked for two hours, raking and digging. At the end we stood in a circle, thanking each other for a productive and lovely day. As soon and Jeanne and I had locked all the tools away and packed up the car, it started to rain, a soft Seattle rain. It was like a blessing on our bit of restoration work. We’ll be back in a month…to continue to treat the Earth with care.
For the benefit of all beings. And with much love
Dear Coyote, thank you for your stewardship. I was out this morning, pulling Ivy off the front of my house. I wish I could get up into my giant trees, but nope. Anytime your party wants to come here. I will give them lemonade and cookies and whatever else I can bribe them with and you I would actually give you all lemonade and cookies for no damn reason. Love you darling. R