What is it about windrows?

Pass by a field with windrows and one senses a feeling of peace and calm. Why? Even if you have never farmed or even visited a farm, there is something calming about those rows of hay.

Windrows offer a promise. A promise that you are prepared for what is to come. That despite the snow, sleet, or hail, all will be well. The barn becomes full of that sweet aroma of mixed grasses and whatever winter may bring, all is well. The field is ripe with harvest; the animals will be cared for; and, all is right with the world.

Perhaps the rows that follow and adjust to natures terrain serve as a lesson to us all. When we are in harmony with all of life, all that surrounds us, we can rest assured that all is well if we just take the time to stop and examine the peace that surrounds us all.

Hubris

In our hubris, we build in tornado alleys, flood plains, deserts, frozen tundras, earthquake fault zones, beside volcanoes and all manor of stupid places, all the while thinking we can control nature. But, ask the people of Fukushima, the Jersey shore, Oklahoma, New Orleans and all of the many communities around the globe where Nature has decided to flex it will, who controls who.

Perhaps if we lived with and as a part of Nature, we would come to understand that humanity can only control its own stupidity and not Nature's sacred elements.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT Study predicts imminent irreversible planetary collapse

This is an important story that needs constant repeating. Time is not on your side!
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Study_predicts_imminent_irreversible_planetary_collapse_999.html

Using scientific theories, toy ecosystem modeling and paleontological evidence as a crystal ball, 18 scientists, including one from Simon Fraser University, predict we're on a much worse collision course with Mother Nature than currently thought. In Approaching a state-shift in Earth's biosphere, a paper just published in Nature, the authors, whose expertise span a multitude of disciplines, suggest our planet's ecosystems are careening towards an imminent, irreversible collapse.
Earth's accelerating loss of biodiversity, its climates' increasingly extreme fluctuations, its ecosystems' growing connectedness and its radically changing total energy budget are precursors to reaching a planetary state threshold or tipping point.

DON'T JUST SMELL THE ROSES

The lengthening days of spring turn our eyes towards the earth. We rake the last of the leaves, weed the emerging flowers, prepare the mower and the trimmer and perhaps ready our gardens. Sometimes we focus too much on the ground and miss the the dance in the air.

Just the other morning, the sun was rising and the air still had a slight chill. Sipping coffee, I looked out the window at the daffodils but then my senses were bombarded by an aerial display that gave me cause to just watch the air. Having recently filled the bird feeders the night before, I was given a pleasant surprise by our feathered friends. Scores of bright yellow goldfinches flew to and from the feeders. Last years pair of humming birds hovered at the window as if saying “thanks for the sweet nectar” and buzzed to the red glass for their morning drink. At least two dozen robins paraded across the lawn in search of emerging worms. Blue jays came in and scattered the goldfinches, but only momentarily. Red winged black birds took their turn on the sunflower feeders only to be replaced by chickadees. A small flock of geese flew low and then honked their way to the nearest body of water.

The air was alive with life, color and sounds and songs. The parade and acrobats continued and scores of barn swallows performed feats of flight that still mystify our best engineers. It then dawned on me that perhaps we look down to often. We get so caught up with the chores that must be done on the ground that we overlook the beauty and inspiration that circle above us.
It seems that these days we are so concerned with the negative side of our world that we neglect its beauty. These wonderful creatures worry not about where they will get their food, they just search and find. Nature, sometimes working through us, provides for their needs. They do not worry about their next meal, where they will sleep or how to escape the next storm. They just live life to its fullest and sing their songs and do what needs to be done and at least appear happy with the bounty that has been provided for them.

Perhaps we should take a lesson from these wonderful creatures. Perhaps we should not be so concerned about the trials of life and so consumed with worry that we manifest all sorts of diseases. Perhaps we should go through life in expectation that our needs are met. Perhaps we should sing a little more, allow others their turn at the trough and relish the sheer joy of each breath. If we could just understand that when one feeder goes empty, there are plenty more to choose from and we need not worry ourselves to death.

Maybe by looking up just a little more, rather than down, we will the see the beauty and joy that is all around us, that is available by opening our eyes. We move through our days so quickly that we fail to take the lessons that are offered freely and openly. Take a moment and don’t just smell the roses, but look around at all of the beauty that nature offers.