The heart of our woods, formerly an idyllic tree-lined hollow, is now something like a lunar landscape due to a small forest fire. But a recent ramble revealed a translucent pale green fern frond, rising from the blackened forest floor, unfolding in a slightly unusual pattern... perhaps the heat of the fire disrupted the pre-programmed spiral form?
No matter, it was such a welcome sight. The first herald of the year's second spring for us. A symbol of life pushing back against destruction. Of rebirth and renewal. Or maybe it's not really all that simple, not that "black and white"as the phrase goes? Maybe life and growth partner with death and destruction, the black and the green, in collusion... "in cahoots" as the old folks say with a wink. In cahoots.
I ponder the upcoming 2010 Earth Day as I walk. Recalling the devastation of the earthquake in Haiti last January, and the primeval power of volcanoes at work in Iceland this week. I consider that Earth Day isn't just planting trees, hanging laundry out on the line and recycling. Clearly, the uncontrolled and barely-understood forces of nature on this earth are relentlessly at work in the world, creating and destroying, giving and taking away. Not exactly the gentle Mother. The grand and the minute spirals of life and death, always spinning, from the sub atomic to the galactic. Same laws, different scales. How do you fit a whole planet into a day? And do you just ignore the scary parts? I am thinking that if Earth Day were an ancient holiday, there'd have been plenty of sacrifices made.
I wonder about the fern's altered form.
(And I bet horses don't worry about this sort of stuff, except possibly the part about green stuff growing).
That is an intriguing unfolding. It would be interesting to see how or if it affects the fern's growth.
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