Planting ideas
Inconvenient Truths
15/December/2006 13:05 .Permalink
Whilst the heads of the European Union meet today to discuss yet again climate change and energy technologies, Greenland and the artic circle continue to disappear into the surrounding oceans. Its so difficult to bring such major environmental changes into prospective, and even more difficult to see what you personally can do about any of it.
Living in Spain makes it easier than perhaps you think to play a small but significant role. The hours of sunlight, european grants and the availability of wind power are all realistic options for us an individuals as well as citizens of any town. If you live in a house in the country, you may like to read through this, or if you live in a town try to find out what steps your ayuntamiento is taking to move towards a sustainable future. And as Al Gore says in the film An Inconvenient Truth, if they are not doing what you think they should be doing, ask why.
And this is what Im going to be doing in the new year here. I’m going to interview the Alcalde - New Years resolution 1.
Play: Anything by the Weather Girls
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Reflections above the clouds 2
01/May/2006 12:53 .Permalink
Today I discovered the secret to eternal life. That is if you are an Olive tree. For the last few years I have pondered the art of pruning as randomly demonstrated by my elusive neighbours. Today, after another month of tentative and unsatisfying snipping I saw the answer.
Initially, I tried to keep the old stuff whilst encouraging the new shoots to grow into interesting and characterful shapes. But soft words and good intentions were not enough. Crowded stems, hemmed in by old and brittle fingers meant that the tree had but a stunted pattern of growth. I couldn't keep it all, I had to learn to let go of the old and to place my faith in the promise of the new.
I still find it difficult though. Understanding the theory is ok until you are standing there with a pair of loppers in your hand and trying to decide if that beautifully shaped wizened arm should be amputated so that the pathetic spindly 3-leafed stem may grow into its place.
And so we return to our trip inland, knowing now what to let go of here in order for the new to live.
Reflections above the clouds 1
16/January/2006 12:51 .Permalink
Caring for Olive trees makes you think a lot about time. These trees have withstood numerous forest fires and yet they continue to live and produce fruit. As you work with the trees you come to recognise the seasonal spurts and sleeps, the cycles of production and rest and their enormous capacity to endure life´s changing climate.
Yet despite being surrounded by such fine examples of endurance, I found myself eager once again for change.
What once was a joyful trial, an eager experiment, a diversion for its own sake, has now the apparent weight of time thrown in.
Friends may argue that after 40 yrs of dodging and ducking, a little bit of permeance might not be such a bad thing. And its true that an endless life of swinging to and fro does eventually lead to travel sickness and the craving for a root somewhere, someplace, sometime.
Roots mean growth with a purpose. Roots mean not having to reproduce life every few years under the promise of change. Roots mean seeing beyond the corner. They also mean tripping up a lot of the time.
Play: Justified and Ancient.