We drove through valleys where human life had grown careless and halfhearted under the influence of the coal industry and its invariable ruination. We drove through other valleys spared so far the misfortune of coal, where the modest houses were painted and there were flowers in the dooryards and excellent vegetable gardens.
— Wendell Berry, from "My Conversation with Gurney Norman", Imagination in Place
i was just listening to a radio program on biodiversity and the necessity of reconnecting to our food sources, even through simple gestures like cooking and eating together, shifting how we approach food, which in turn means how we approach our planet, which really means how we gauge the importance of human life. james and i also just (re)watched Mindwalk which calls for a major paradigm shift. and simone weil and wendell berry break the soil inside me and your small flowers break me again. and this is only the beginning.
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erin
Erin, I watched Mindwalk when it first came out. I adored it then, but now I do not remember their conversations. I have tried to find it, and unfortunately, I couldn't find it on Netflix. But yippee, I just found the whole film on YouTube! The fact that both the book Robert recommends and this film are available online restores my appreciation for the Internet.
DeleteThank you, friends, for your tremendous inspirations.
I liked your comment, Erin. Small gestures – awareness of food sources; the proper, loving, respectful preparation, cooking and sharing of food; gardening for biodiversity on one's own small plot; a hundred other things – are so important. Small, individual actions do add up when everyone joins in. Huge forests grow from tiny acorns (to state a truism, but it's profoundly true nonetheless). If you don't know it already, do read Jean Giono's inspiring 'The Man Who Planted Trees' (I've already recommended it to Ruth), which is all about how one person can make all the difference.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reminder of this book, Robert. I found it online in pdf format:
Deletehttp://www.aprendendoingles.com.br/ebooks/the_man_who_planted_trees.pdf
Hey, tell me what you think! It's short and quick to read.. and unbelievably beautiful and inspiring...
Deletein so many ways this is a book that i think i might need to read. lately too often i have felt the impossibility of change. (and what is it with walking? i know it personally but truly it lends itself to revelation, the connectedness of self to natural surroundings, i guess, but i am suspicious that it is perhaps more.)
ReplyDeletethank you
xo
erin
I'm trying to picture this...the difference between valleys. I'm sure it's very true....
ReplyDeleteIt is a sad visual, very sad, Boots.
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