looking with wonder at the diversity of life. imagining ecological justice. marking climate change. celebrating ancient stories and connection.
no planet b. planets align over the oldest story in the stars. ginkgo & cycad & fern: their ancestors saw the volcanoes change climates. a coral fungus & snail shell remind us of the sea ebbing and flowing over mountain tops, the possibilities of transition. the lupine is resilience: when mt st helen's erupted in 1989, she was the first to flower in the ashes. the sacred kingfisher finds safety from the python. (pigment mixed with reclaimed iron oxide from Sunday Creek pollution and ash collected from 1989 mt st helen's eruption).
california pelican. ice plant might be the first plant you see, but the pelican knows they haven't been here long. the poppy has the softest petals, hummingbird sage the sweetest smell. in the dunes at sunset catch a hawkmoth in flight, wings the color of moonlight. walk inland and climb the oak tree (or maybe a eucalyptus). stare up at all the things that fly. remember the sea: the sound of the blue whale, the largest creature to ever roam the planet, a mammal, breathing; the same breath and lungs as you.
dragon moon over lassen valley. in ancient chinese stories, dragons might be the amalgamation of various creatures, hold moon pearls, live in mountains. their spine forms the ridgeline. water accumulates and spirals around the dragon home. in california, wildfires burn and the sky turns red. we forget where the water comes from. the ridgeline that used to spill fire and ash becomes just a mountain. the monarchs continue on their journey; the full moon rises at sunset not just one day, but two.