A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child?
I do not know what it
is any more than he.I guess it must be the flag of my disposition,
out of hopeful green stuff woven.
Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner’s name someway in the corners, that we
may see and remark, and say Whose?
Or I guess the grass is itself a child. . . .the produced babe
of the vegetation.
Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow
zones,
Growing among black folks as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the
same, I receive them the same.
And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.
Tenderly will I use you curling grass,
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
It may be if I had known them I would have loved them;
It may be you are from old people and from women, and
from offspring taken soon out of their mother’s laps,
And here you are the mother’s laps.
This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old
mothers,
Darker than the colorless beards of old men,
Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.
O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!
And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths
for nothing.
I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men
and women,
And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring
taken soon out of their laps.
What do you think has become of the young and old men?
What do you think has become of the women and
children?
They are alive and well somewhere;
The smallest sprouts show there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait
at the end to arrest it,
And ceased the moment life appeared.
All goes onward and outward. . . .and nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and
luckier.
Walt Whitman
photo copyright RGlavan, Bayville, NY 2010
Look what my incredible children made me for breakfast! All the vegetables were picked from our garden too! They know just what I like!
"Our Children no longer learn how to read the great book of Nature from their own direct experience, or how to interact creatively with the seasonal transformations of the planet. They seldom learn where their water come from or where it goes. We no longer coordinate our human celebration with the great liturgy of the heavens." - Wendell Berry
This is the first day of my 30 day challenge. The first thing I did this morning was to make myself a cup of green tea. Then I realized that the tea was from China! Oops!! Not a great start to my Challenge. After I put aside the tea, and all the negative thoughts that were flooding my mind about this challenge, I went into the garden to find breakfast. I emerged from the garden with a smile and a bounty- many types of greens, a cuke, a tomato and blackberries. The kids wanted more than salad. Local peaches and organic whole wheat pancakes made with local eggs and blackberries went over well for the kids. I don't think this challenge is going to be easy. I spent quite a bit of time over the last few days wondering how I will manage for a whole month. No almonds, or avocados? Sea salt or pepper? Am I crazy? What kind of oil can I use for salads and cooking? Are there any grains that are local? Can I really do this? Why did I even propose this crazy idea?
We were invited to my brother's house for dinner so I stopped at a local farm on the way. Peaches, lettuce, tomatoes, scallions, peppers, local apples and honey! I made a great salad for us. They served a nice watermelon for dessert. The kids ate nonlocal stuff at their house. I didn't push it. After all, I am not doing this to torture my family. I want this to be a great learning experience for us all. And it already has been.
“Food consists not just in piles of chemicals; it also comprises a set of social and ecological relationships, reaching back to the land and outward to other people.” - Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food.