• 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…