Emily & Samwise Try Harder than the Supreme Court

Even before Samwise and Emily were here, Atticus was learning the importance of being gentle.

Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh died six months ago, and yet daily, I consider something he said when I read about the dire situation of our planet. He said, “What we most need to do is to hear within us the sound of the earth crying.”

I think of this in every woodland walk, from every open mountain ledge, while listening to the crows’ chatter and the frogs’ croaks. I consider it when I take note of the droughts and the feverish increase in wildfires or how the stars sparkle and clouds float across a dreamy summer sky.

I understand that no matter how hard we try, we are more takers than givers when it comes to our relationship with Mother Earth, but gosh, it seems foreign to me that so many just don’t give a fig. They race for every last dollar while never considering the actual cost—of what is being done to nature, and in the end, to ourselves.