Earth-wise Celebration on Wednesday

The Community Garden is having it's third-annual Garden Feast on Wednesday Sept. 23 at 6pm. There will be some food (bring potluck if you can, but come anyway if you can't). There will be a drum circle, music, food, bonfire, and a special appearance by Native American (Cherokee) Randy Woodley (who teaches at the Seminary). He will give a brief (ten minute) talk about ways of being Earth-Wise. This is co-sponsored by SOPHILO--the student philosophy group on campus.

Boyz in the Wood

Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods is a wake up call to our culture of being inside and being 'plugged in.' He says that children today suffer from NDD (Nature-Deficit Disorder) and that so much of our creativity and
social, spiritual development occurs in nature. It has inspired Jill and me to get our boys out hiking or playing in the woods as much as possible. Here is one of our camping trips from the summer when we were in the Redwoods.

Happy Reaper

I was amazed at how delightful it is to get into the rhythm of swinging a 2-foot blade back and forth across the lawn. This thing is solar powered (indirectly--via the food I eat which is produced by the sun), and I've never had so much fun mowing the lawn. I was looking for a way to cut the lawn high (making even longer, healthier roots) that did not involve a gas- powered mower.

I decided to try this and could not believe how well it worked. I was convinced my lawn would be all hacked up, but it came out looking not bad. If you'd like to give it a try, feel free to come over and test it on my lawn (but you'll have to get it away from me first). =)

Post Script: (added 10-8-09). I just read a short 3 page essay by Wendell Berry entitled "A Good Scythe" found in The Gift of Good Land on how much better a scythe is than a power weed whacker. Better, that is, at doing the job, and much more enjoyable to use--he actually finds it a pleasure to use. And I couldn't agree more. Here's a quote:

"The Marugg grass scythe proves itself an excellent tool. It is the most satisfying hand tool that I have ever used. In tough grass it cuts a little less uniformly than the power scythe. In all other ways, in my opinion, it is a better tool because, it is light, it handles gracefully & comfortably even on steep ground, it is far less dangerous, it is quiet & makes no fumes, it is much more adaptable. In rank growth one narrows the cut & shortens the stroke. It always starts - provided the user will start. Aside from reasonable skill & care in use, there are no maintenance problems. It requires no fuel or oil. It runs on breakfast. It’s cheaper to buy than most weed eaters & is cheaper to use than any other power mower. And best of all it’s good exercise."