appreciation of place.

Wild Ones,

Trebbe Johnson wrote something so beautiful here that I want to share it with you. It was published in Orion Magazine in 2015 and is titled Uncommon Gratitude. This piece is something that resonates so deeply with me. It also hits home as she writes of Northeast Pennsylvania, where I am from.

Gratitude is huge in my book, especially when it comes to my own personal relationship with the natural world. It might seem like something so simple and yet, it is so powerful in its transformative ability – both within our own psyche and in building a deeper, more meaningful bond between human being and our wild counterparts.

There are so many emotions that come up when we witness the taking, the destroying, the exploitation, the devastation, the abuse, the violence, the purposeful and intentional harm – to wild places and spaces, to animals, to trees, to all who may have once called a place home. Or in the practices and methods that drive unecessary pain and abuse to living things while contributing to global warming and climate change. Attached are emotions of grief, sadness, frustration, heartbreak, and also an overwhelming feeling of helplessness.

Many times we believe there is nothing we can do. But there is. There is something so profound in the simple recognition of place, of animal, of an individual life or the collective, of what once was, what will never be, what could have been. To acknowledge, to honor, to respect, and to share with it or them, our joy as well as our pain.

I agree with Terre. There are so many gifts a place can give to us. And in return, we can offer our respect, our appreciation, our gratitude, our thanks if/as we take or the land provides, our expressions of wonder and joy, and even our recognition of sadness and grief. It is a way to honor place and be reciprocal in our relationship.

We have the opportunity and the ability to see and feel what others may not. To hold place as important and sacred, even if it never belonged to us, only to the wild. To hold all which is alive as sacred and worthy of respect and existence. To honor what gives its life so that we might live our own. This includes recognition of the forgotten, the lost, and the hurt as Terre so eloquently speaks of in her piece.

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To mirror Terre, here are some gifts that I receive from place:

• morning birdsong
• sunrise through the trees
• friendship with an old pine
• a pair of Ravens nesting nearby
• Crow calls both distant and near
• a boisterous and brave Red Squirrel
• a male Downy Woodpecker who doesn’t mind my company
• a forest floor full of Trilliums in spring
• trees that offer privacy and protection
• rich soil that brings abundance and sustenance
• visits from an array of Dragonflies and Damselflies
• Orb Weavers spinning amazing webs
• a graceful fox darting through the woods
• a Flying Squirrel only witnessed by hidden trail cam
• a raft of Turkeys who gather for mid morning meetings
• unobstructed views of starry nights
• entertaining Moth watching nights
• an orchestra of night sounds
• lightning bug light shows
• full moons like a backyard spotlight
• nightly aerial shows at dusk from a local bat colony
• some of the best and most cherished memories of my life so far
• a place to finally call home

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