We can learn to take care of the earth by watching our friends, the animals. Many of you have had miraculous experiences with creatures of the wild. If not in person, then on instagram. In my backyard I had a bunny, a groundhog, squirrels, hawks, condors, robins, lots of blue jays all of the sudden, and a finch, and three wrens that came right into my house just to say “Hi!” We can hear them talking to us in the sight. But how do we utilize them as our guides for our plantings and our art and our music and our law and our daily routines? We wake up when the birds begin to sing. Around 4:30 am. I think we have to watch something that we cannot yet see. Their movements. The way they speak to the earth and with the earth and with us. We want that flow in our bodies. We want to move with the earth like natural beings. We are natural beings but we’ve been stolen because we spent our lives trapped in ugly cement buildings called schools instead of being outside learning about nature and animals. Most of us know almost nothing of the land. So we need to seek out the ones who do. Farmers of the old ways. All farmers know of the land. But not ranchers really, because their business is to grow animals that never want to participate in being livestock. But plants love to participate in farmer’s lives. So find a way to visit a farm. Or call a farmer. Find a way to talk to a mennonite or an amishman. Be active in seeking out the earth. Go sit by a body of water and watch its currents. Go fly fishing without hooks. Stop and see cows and horses. Sit by the river all day with a picnic. Go to the park and watch the squirrels and feed them peanuts. Decide you are finally going to feed the birds. Just don’t plant anything outside today. Not until you understand the animals’ movements better. It’s ok to plant things inside. I just think we need to reflect a little on our animal friends’ bodies. The moon seems a little off in it’s cycles still and the sun has been colder. But I think that’s all on purpose. So try to base your work in instinct of right now instead of what you always knew. The way I check in with my instincts is by writing the words, “my senses say…” Then I tap into something other than my mind. So you could try that. In fact, I think if you are a farmer you are a writer of the land. So get more education if you need it. Do it when your crops aren’t keeping you so busy. Think about what your gift is along with being an author of the land. Maybe you’re an author. Maybe you’re a lawyer. Maybe you’re an architect. Maybe you’re a nutritionist. Maybe you are even an airline pilot to study the earth from above. The earth is doing really well now. Can you tell? Who will write our real farmer’s almanac? Is it a team effort? Who will coordinate the writing of that important guide book? We like to have our references when there are things we have to study. Go now and study your friends. You have a fun day in store. Plant inside. Putter around the shed. Eat something delicious for lunch. Study your greenhouses. Play around. And really, really listen for the squirrels and the birds. They are your natural timekeepers. Right there in their little furry, feathered bodies. Namaste.