January 11 2025 Work Party

“Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allowing ourselves to move gently toward what scares us. The trick to doing this is to stay with emotional distress without tightening into aversion; to let fear soften us rather than harden into resistance. We cultivate bravery through making aspirations. We make the wish that all beings, including ourselves and those we dislike, be free of suffering and the root of suffering.”
–Pema Chödrön, Comfortable with Uncertainty

And a song for you.

November 23 2024 Work Party

Thirteen loppers, 11 clippers, 10 root slayers, five little shovels. Four hundred harvested and supplied willow stakes, 116 potted plants laid out by the maintenance contractor. One snake skin, three copies of The Serviceberry, four steady goat feet. 105 Scirpus microcarpus, an unspecified number of harvested willow whips, an uncountable blanket of red cedar seedlings huddled under tiny rectangular skylights. Two fleeting moments of rain, so light it barely whispered. Three hours well spent.

June 1 2024 Work Party

We took a field trip this week to the main entrance of ƛ̕ax̌ʷadis Park for a special restoration work party in partnership with the City of Kenmore, Confluence Environmental Company, and Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group. We worked in a wetland area on the peninsula between Swamp Creek and the Sammamish River to remove reed canary grass, yellow flag iris, and Himalayan blackberry so that native rushes, sedges, and willow can continue to establish themselves there. It was a treat to work in a different location and off the boardwalk and an honor to tend to a wetland. We’re looking forward to going back in three months!