The Cherry Tree Dilemma: Mindfulness, Complexity and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

  In attachment blossoms fall, in aversion weeds spread. Dogen, Genjo Koan (1233 CE) Smack in the middle of the back yard is a non-native, very short tree that, when I moved in, looked like a dwarf, would-be weeping willow. Scraggly, neglected, it stood just over five feet high, and its branches hung down to the ground all around. It took up a fair amount of space; of course nothing grew in its shade. I did recognize it: a weeping cherry—not a naturally grown specimen of one of the beautiful Japanese varieties, but a “frankentree,” which, as Brian Funk of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden has written, “are the flowering cherries on sale at home improvement stores” that “look like mops, or umbrellas, or octopus trees.” They are created when “weeping cherry branches… are grafted onto a straight trunk that was cut off at five feet tall.”  Well yes, exactly. Not only was it ungainly, but: what was the point of its existence, and what good would it do?  I mentally tagged it for rem...

One Year on the Blog

A year ago, after my comments on others' blogs got longer and longer, I realized I could start my own. So I did. Since then, I've learned a great deal--about blogging, about writing, about whatever it is I'm writing about. Writing this blog has become essential to me. What was intended to be a blog about gardening has become a blog about living in the biotic community from the point of view of a gardener. Which I hope doesn't sound too pretentious.

Many thanks are in order.

Thanks to all my blogging friends, from Blotanical and elsewhere, you who welcomed and helped me when I started, who read and comment, whose blogs I visit regularly--a network that seems to expand daily.

Thanks to the editors, bloggers and readers at Energy Bulletin who have made me feel welcomed in that lively, most interesting community. Thanks to those who follow with Google Friend Connect and those who now have "found me on Facebook," too, where I only recently set up shop.

Finally, greetings and thanks to all of my unknown readers who show up in my stats, many from the U.S., but who also hail from, to me, far flung places, among them Iran, Israel, Brazil, the Philippines, Ukraine, the UK, Canada, Australia, India, and Russia--so many countries, so many ecosystems and ways of life!

In the midst of frightening, tragic world events, blogging, as I experience it, is a form of community building, is an activity of hope. It is hard for me now to imagine life without this cyber community.

Best wishes for health and happiness to you all during this next year.

Comments

garden girl said…
Congratulations on your blog anniversary Adrian! Your voice adds a great deal to the sustainability conversation. I truly enjoy your well-researched, fascinating posts. It's a pleasure visiting. Thanks so much for what you're doing!
Diana Studer said…
Happy blogaversary! Your posts are always worth waiting for ;~)
Don Plummer said…
Congratulations! We're looking forward to another year of thoughtful articles.
Garden Girl, EE and Don,

And looking forward to reading your posts, as well. Wasn't sure if this blogging thing would last for me, but it seems to have taken on its own life.

Now I'm always thinking about the next post. What did I think about before? Who knows? I don't. Must have had some extra space in the attic I call my brain. ;)
Dave Coulter said…
One of my favorites spots in cyber-space! Keep up the good work!
Anonymous said…
Happy Blogaversary, Adrian. I just named you on my current post as the garden blogger who had done the most to educate me about the importance of native plants. So thank you, and I'm looking forward to another year of thoughtful and thought-provoking posts. Best, Jean
Hi Dave, well, you should know this blogging thing is partly your fault!

Hi Jean, I'm honored. I've learned a great deal from you, about gardening in different zones, and about blogging.