Mother
Nature
“If
we throw Mother Nature out the window, she comes back in the door with a
pitchfork.”
Masanobu
Fukuoka
Masanobu
Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer and philosopher, who espoused natural farming of
the no-till, no-herbicide persuasion. He farmed in a traditional way and
obviously, had a close, personal relationship with Mother Nature. He knew her
well. Unlike all the romantics who want to tame the Mother, and make her out to
be only radiant sunsets, and gorgeous waterfalls, and beautiful autumn vistas, Fukuoka
acknowledged her, shall we say, irritable side. Mother Nature is not a woman to
be trifled with.
Right
now, she’s especially irritable. Maybe even menopause-style irritable. She’s hitting
us with a record number of named storms, monster wildfires, an animal-derived viral
pandemic, and rising oceans. Yesterday, I heard some truly naïve person on NPR say,
as I’ve heard the President say before, how great the melting ice caps are
since it will open up new shipping lanes and facilitate commerce. I really hope
she didn’t hear that, or she will cue the locust swarms and give us boils.
If you
believe that Mother Nature can be controlled, and especially if you think you
are smart enough to do it, well, what can I say—it’s been nice knowing you. Here’s
the thing—she gave us life and she can, by God, take it away. She cannot be
thrown out the window, ignored, or tamed. Forget the pitchfork; she has a
cosmic-sized Uzi and she will not hesitate to use it, my friends. Don’t make
the mistake of believing Mother Nature is some sweet, motherly, great-grand-mama
who bakes cookies for her beloved children—she will snatch you up and wipe the
floor with you before you know what’s hit.
Here’s
my advice—Respect the Mother. She has no tolerance for fools. She holds all the cards, and she knows exactly
how to play them.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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