Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it is a celebration of abundance. In a culture that points us toward deficit after deficit, opening our hearts to abundance that surrounds us whether we see it or not, is not easy. Thanksgiving reminds me of my conviction to give daily thanks for the abundances in my life.
In joy,
Dana
The holidays can be such a crazy time, and it all starts with Thanksgiving. I always like to take a deep breath and think — what do I have to be thankful for? At the most basic fundamental level, I’m thankful to be – here, alive, with food to eat & a miraculous world around me, and friends and family to share it with.
Legacy Land Conservancy had its volunteer thank-you potluck yesterday, and to coin a phrase overheard yesterday, “I sure do love a good potluck.” It was lovely to sit around tables together, reminiscing about the year, and hearing how the help of a lot of individuals add up to some really big successes: including up to seven new projects to be completed this year. That’s up to seven farms and forests and wetlands that will stay open and natural for as long as you & I are around, and even longer than that. It’s a good feeling.
Thank you to everybody who helps in this great cause of land conservation. I know you each have your own individual reasons for wanting to help protect local lands. Janet B. yesterday reminded us of a great movie quote from Gone With the Wind with one of the key reasons: “Because it’s the only thing that lasts.”
Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours! -Suzie
It’s been a great year, and volunteers are a huge part of that. Come celebrate, meet some great people, hear who our volunteer award-winners are for 2009, and share stories! Details
P.S. – Didn’t volunteer in 2009, but interested in helping out in the future? Come on out! You’ll have a chance to meet folks who helped out this year, to see if it’s something that interests you.
Last week marked the fifth annual Heart of the Lakes Conservation Summit, a gathering of land conservancies from across the state of Michigan. The turnout was the highest ever – nearly 120. Starting from the handful at the first Summit, it’s a great tribute to how much the people of Michigan cherish the beauty of our state.
Legacy Land Conservancy was well represented, participating in not one, but two educational panels.
Conservancy Trustee Jim Govert (also an attorney with Miller Canfield here in Ann Arbor) taught a four hour class on how to develop a conservation easement that meets the landowner’s needs and will stand the test of time.
Executive Director Susan Lackey, along with Huron River Watershed Council River Ecologist Kris Olsson, were part of a panel describing the methodology the two organizations used to help the Conservancy establish its Huron River protection priorities. For those of you who may have participated in some way with the HRWC BioReserve study, you’ll be pleased to know that it relies heavily on that work.
One disclaimer…the heavy lifting on this project (on our end) was done by Mark Patrick, who left the Conservancy this summer, taking his expertise to a land trust in Missouri. Having to present this information reminded me again of the hard work he did in bringing us to this point, and how valuable it is to have a solid understanding of what we mean when we say that our 100 year vision is to protect ‘25,000 acres of the most important land in our area.’
…is a duck who lives in Michigan’s lakes and streams only in the winter months. This bird flies north in the spring! The other interesting thing about the goldeneye is the sound its wings make during flight. Listen at http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=434 and you will recognize the sound!
Witch Hazel
Given my fascination with weird seedpods, I was intrigued to read on Wikipedia that the seed capsule “…splits explosively at maturity in the autumn about 8 months after flowering, ejecting the seeds with sufficient force to fly for distances of up to 10 m.” Wow!
-Suzie
(photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/chiotsrun/ / CC BY-NC 2.0)
This made its way to me over the Internet. I apologize for not crediting the source, but by the time it got to me, the point of origin had been lost. But it does provide a nice thought…
One day , the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip , the father asked his son , “How was the trip?”
“It was great , Dad.”
“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.
“Oh yeah , ” said the son.
“So , tell me , what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered:
“I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us , but they serve others.
We buy our food , but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us , they have friends to protect them.”
The boy’s father was speechless.
Then his son added , “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”
…..Susan
I’ve got a one track mind these days! Meet us at the Johnson Preserve to close the loop this Saturday. Our weekend workdays have gotten us 3/4 of the way to having a complete trail. We are currently 2/3 of the way around the buttonbush swamp and plan to finish the trial this Saturday. We’ll also have some photo-taking opportunities available and some sign posting needed. To help, meet us just south of Lillie park; turn left at the first driveway after Lillie Park South parking lot. The driveway goes to a cell phone tower. We will also have a person in the Lillie Park South parking lot directing people.
Meet us at the cell phone tower at 12:00pm to help finish the trail at Johnson and close the loop!
- Dana
I’ve been interested in the idea of the commons for a long time – those resources that are held as community assets, not owned by any individual or corporation. Public nature preserves, like those the Legacy Land Conservancy has protected, are one example of a commons.
“Restorative Commons” is a collection of articles on the intersection between human health and the urban environment. It talks about, among other topics, how commons areas and green growing things can be as good for our own personal health as they are for that of a community as a whole.
“Restorative Commons” (pdf)
Publication Details (includes the Abstract, how to order a printed copy, etc.)
-Suzie
It’s coming along! I’ve had fun with two groups of volunteers now breaking in the new trail.
looks grrreeeaat!
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