We unearthed root balls bigger than child-sized heads, bigger than my fist, not quite as big as my foot. In these root balls we saw brains and hearts and arteries and capillaries. We honored these roots even as we removed them from the earth, embracing it all. We were defenders of place, habitat, native ecosystems, and humankind.
And then there was thunder, lightning, rain, and hail. If you stood still for just a moment, hail bouncing, rain pouring down, you might have deeply felt our inextricable connection to the earth and everyone and everything on it.
It was good.
September 20 2020 Work Party
September 5 2020 Work Party
We admired the tenacity of the Himalayan blackberry as a species and its multiple reproductive strategies. We marveled at the beauty of roots working so hard, curling and twisting and winding, to seek light despite six inches of cardboard and mulch to suppress them. We devised strategies to remove prickly canes without falling victim to sharp thorns, and we did the math that told us that we had found a cane that was the length of 5,000 sisters head to foot if she were to lie down next to it. We stood six feet from one another and realized that was close enough to feel the warm presence of a friend. And we gathered evidence that tiny groups of people working together toward the same goal can, indeed, create mighty change.
Thank you all, for everything.
Summer 2020 Maintenance
Wallace Swamp Creek Park / Kenmore, Washington
Saturday, August 1, 2020
Maintaining our habitat restoration area / before and after
February 2020 Work Party
There was the story of the tires – SO MANY TIRES – and how we kept finding them as we dug deeper and deeper into the earth. Who put them there? How long ago had it been? How would we carry them all out of the wetland?
There was the story of Sally the salamander told in another post, which turned out to be a story about discovery, connection, and delight. Before that, there was the story of the biggest worm some of us had ever seen, and it turned out to be a story much like the one in which Sally appeared.
There were so many stories. The story of the Himalayan blackberry root ball as gnarled and big as the root of a tree. The story of a teen bringing their father along, leading us grown ups into a better and brighter future. The story of standing before a task as big as any and of taking just one small step in the right direction. There was the story of human persistence and determination and ingenuity.
It was the story of all of you.
Thank you so much to everyone who came out to Wallace Swamp Creek Park this month – I had such a good time writing and witnessing the stories. And thank you to those following along and cheering us on here. Everyone is so needed.
The March work party will be announced soon!
January 2020 Work Party
The most beautiful things happen when community comes together. My heart fills every time. I hope yours does, too. Thank you.
Wallace Swamp Creek Park
MLK Day of Service/Habitat Restoration
Sunday, January 19, 2020
December 2019 Work Party
I’m going to share a secret with you all. I’ve had a number in mind when thinking about how many people I’d like to have participate in the Wallace Swamp Creek Park habitat restoration events that have happened this month and last. It’s been a different number each time. It’s really neither here nor there, because any number of people coming out is meaningful and matters. I would consider it a success – truly – if I worked alongside just one other community member to mend that space.
But get this. You all have exceeded my secret number both times – by a lot! You amaze and delight and give me so much hope! The work we are doing in Wallace Swamp Creek Park is habitat restoration, it is climate action, it is salmon recovery, it is community building, it is taking care of the land in our collective care, and it is so much more. When I see people showing up to do that work, I am really so gladdened and hopeful and genuinely happy. I wish I could let you all into my heart so you could see what is there instead of having to attempt words, which can feel so inadequate to convey what I want to here. But words are what I have, so:
To everyone who donated cardboard for the event today – THANK YOU. To everyone who came to the park to drop off cardboard or to lay that cardboard down and shovel, haul, dump, and spread wood chips – THANK YOU. Thank you for your concern, care, and active participation in our community. To those of you following along and asking questions and interacting with me here – THANK YOU. You are all so needed.
Until next time!