Rolling, Crawling, Running

The afternoon was spent in the yard, mom and dad pulling weeds. The boys pulling leaves. Momma saying, "not that one!...stop, oh poor tree."

I remember this problem of plant terror from when I was leading teenage campers on nature trail restoration projects. On occasion my group would be assigned to trail clearing. This mean using clippers and saws to clear away vegetation all for the larger purpose of building a trail that would them be used by hundreds of people enjoying the forest. And yet as the crew would begin their work I would often note the enthusiasm with which they would go about their work. Relishing the destruction. Each whack at a branch would cause me to wince. How am I teaching these young people to love nature I would wonder?

Now I wonder, how strange it must seem to the boys that I attack some plant life with such disgust and others with such care. For them it must be hard to tell the difference between rampant morning and the spindly jasmine plant the neighbor is trying to grow on the fence between our houses. Or why is it that we can collect pine cones, but not pull growth buds off the Shore Pine?

My philosophy has been to have the kids invested in planting and that way they recognize the plants to spare...and yet what about all the existing plants? How do I get them to value those? Currently, I think it just takes time, learning to fall in love with each individual plants qualities: their shape,color, scent. I hope also that watching mom and dad take care of the plants by giving them compost and water and checking the soil and their leaves for healthy signs of insect life inspire them to see that there is an art to allowing some plants to live and others to perish. Finally,I hope that by giving the boys a chance to make mistakes that in the end the plants will be tougher than the boys.