Friendship is a sheltering tree. – Samuel Taylor Coleridge Yesterday a dear friend dropped by unexpectedly, something that used to happen all the time. Though we hadn’t seen one another in months, within a single minute we were talking about Big Things, and small things too. Whether Coleridge or Madea, many […]
Like many in these homebound times, I’ve been trying to chip away at some long-delayed projects. It’s not purely practical or productive – it’s also a way to feel some sense of normal, some sense of progress, in a time when neither of those things is so easy to come by. It’s a way to […]
I’ve been lucky to spend a lot of time in the garden lately, where I victoriously harvested 6 whole green beans yesterday, after defending them from bunnies and groundhogs and deer. In getting closer to all sorts of plants, I’ve learned a lot more about roots. Some are shallow and easily disturbed, like the […]
Stay right where you are. Don’t run away. Dig in. – Pete Seeger Fo a few years now, thanks to the wisdom of Pilar Gerasimo, I’ve been trying to follow a more seasonal model of work: using the winter for deep foundation-building projects, spring for sprouting up new ideas, summer for […]
Purl two? Many of you have likely seen Purl, the new short film by Pixar about a ball of yarn who is the lone “other” working at BRO Capital. The story follows Purl as she adapts to fit in with her colleagues, doing everything she can to be less Purl and more Bro. Then one […]
When a mother redwood tree falls, from her roots a ring of saplings springs up, called a fairy ring. And when that ring grows up, it is called a cathedral. I was able to gather with dear family and friends recently, and had a vivid image of our roots, all intertwined, holding each other up. […]
Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light. – Theodore Roethke I admit, this inspiration came from a curious source – it was the quote of the day on my Bloomberg terminal earlier this week. (Who says financiers can’t be poets?) The phrase struck me immediately, as lately I’ve been feeling the joy […]
The root of the matter. Loyal Honeybee readers will know that I’ve been sharing my fascination with mycorrhizal networks for some time now. These wonders star in Peter Wohlleben’s terrific Hidden Life of Trees as well as in numerous publications we noted here about a year ago. Lately, I’ve been trying to move past the […]
Redwoods, part 2: Shaking the Senses Dear friend, branding genius, and fellow biomimic Victoria Keziah has given us the best gift of all, this description of the glory of redwoods, and an invitation to witness the miracles all around us. She writes: A walk into a redwood grove shakes the senses. One first notices the […]
Redwoods, part 1: Fairy Rings and Cathedrals As the nights grow longer and the year draws to a close, it’s natural to think “legacy thoughts”. What do we have to show for the year? What do we hope to seed for the future? Dear friend and fellow biomimic Victoria Keziah recently reminded me of the inspiration […]