- Read and Journal: I'm reading the book Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth, by Randy Woodley. It's a deeply inspiring devotional with thoughtful daily prompts for action.
- My theme for the whole year is awareness - of my body and my environment; my thoughts and feelings; of how my behaviors and actions impact those around me; and of that-of-God inside and outside myself.
- Take creative action: I'm going act on my leading to become more rooted in Creation, with small and large actions at home and in my community, and with writing and artwork.
- Fast: This year (as much as possible) I'm going to fast from all new plastic - I won't buy anything that comes in a plastic container unless I'm sure it's recyclable, and I'll continue to experiment with plastic alternatives.
March 2, Ash Wednesday-
1. Read: I'm well into this book by Dr. Randy Woodley, but this week I'm reviewing early readings. Today I read #1: Practice Silence. “Like most Americans, I work and live a life full of distractions. But in my heart, I always long to be learning from Creator through the abundant gifts of nature in the most teachable place I can find. ... Some days it may only be watching a morning sunrise ... or listening to the wind. But I'm learning to savor these moments in which Great Spirit's silence can be heard in my heart.”
2. Awareness: Today, when we get a break in the rain, I will go on a wonder walk with my grandson around our yard, stopping to taste and smell herbs, climb inside bushes, and splash in the puddles.
"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in." Rachel Carson
3. Begin plastic fasting: The website Futurium talks about plastic fasting, and says, "Everyday objects account for the top ten items in the plastic waste found on beaches ... For the seas, beaches, and marine life in all its variety, this waste poses a major problem." My purpose for this fast is to strengthen my discipline, and become more aware of how my buying habits impact the earth.
March 3, Hina Matsuri-
1. Read: Today I read #4: What the Plant People Are Saying, about how humans are changing the land. “...as more carbon is released into the atmosphere, plants are less able to develop the nutrients needed.”
On Hina matsuri some Japanese families perform the purification custom called hina-okuri: By stroking or breathing on paper hina dolls they symbolically inject them with their own wrongdoings or ills, then they pile their dolls in a small wooden boat, and float them down the river!
Today I will seek to become aware of a connection to the nature spirits - the kami - or that of God in all of nature, and offer my prayers of hope. My hina doll says "I release my addiction to plastic, and commit to using safer alternatives".
3. Action: In
#4: What the Plant People Are Saying,
Dr. Woodley challenges us to do one thing each day to help restore nature to her former glory, and today I'm offering help to the soil of the land we live with. 
The soil is pretty good (lots of worms, tends towards clay but drains pretty well) but we really disrupted our garden beds this year by moving them all around. All the digging I did destroyed some of the fungal networks, and the sticky soil organisms that hold soil together, and some of the humus.
I want to give the garden as much love this year as possible to help it recover, so I'm going to follow these 7 Ways to Improve the Quality of my soil, to compensate for the damage I did, and today I'm adding organic matter - leaf mold and duck poop - to my spinach and lettuce bed.
March 4, World Day of Prayer-
1. Read: Today I read #8: The Harmony Way, about the basic worldview of all Native American tribal groups. “According to a set of values that are interconnected, the way of harmony and balance encompasses both being and doing and is applied to all life. The harmony way is a meaningful whole. ... The wisdom of Indigenous traditions and stories emphasizes the importance of restoring the relationships that exist among Creator, humans, animals, and the earth.”
2. Prayer for Peace:
God of the past, the present and the future,
Our thoughts and prayers are with our sisters and brothers in the Ukraine and the surrounding countries in their fear and distress
We pray too for all other regions of the world where there is conflict, unrest or oppression.
We pray that
reconciliation will overcome hatred,
peace will conquer war,
hope will replace despair
and that your plans for the world and for us its people will be fulfilled,God, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
3. Action: I love the motto of the World Day of Prayer: "Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action." What I understand from this year's theme is that each of us has a God-given purpose, and we can consider how we are called to transform the injustices in the world, and commit to doing the bit we are called to do.
Today I will join my Quaker meeting's ongoing zoom Meeting for Healing and World Peace, and listen for what I'm called to do next.
March 5, Sabbath for Peace-
1. Read: Today I read #13: Corn, about how the plants and foods of our heritage speak to us and give us an identity. "Growing corn and remembering its importance - and calling it by its proper Cherokee name, selu - connects me to my ancestors. ... Through her sacrifice, Selu has given us much to enjoy! When I gently hold the corn seed in my hands, it helps me to remember who I am."
2. Awareness:
Today I will again join my Quaker meeting's ongoing zoom Meeting for Healing and World Peace, and remember my roots in Europe: Britain, France, Germany, and Holland, and offer prayers of peace to the world.
3. Action: My heritage is Anglo-Saxon, and my ancestors grew oats and rye, and wheat for bread. (The bread grains of the masses were oats and rye; wheat was harder to grow, and therefore only available to the rich).
For my ancestors, bread was a symbol of wealth, hunger, war and peace. ("If they don’t have bread, let them eat cake..."). Even though bread is still a staple food, it is so easy to buy a loaf (in a plastic bag) that its value is taken for granted.
Today I'm going to re-start my old habit of baking loaves of multi-grain bread at least once a month on the sabbath. I use my kitchen aid mixer to save my shoulders, and a 7-grain cereal.
I think I'm also going to plant some oats or maybe rye this summer, and harvest a little bit of the grain, and use some home-grown straw to make my harvest doll. The ceremony of growing, harvesting, and eating the grain will help me reconnect to my roots, and to the land.
5. Plastic fast: I use a lot of plastic bags: Big and small garbage bags, zip-lock freezer and sandwich bags, those vegetable bags that come off the roll in the store, and then all the things I buy that come packaged in bags: Bread, tortillas, and the New York Times.
I reuse most of these - I wash out my food storage bags and reuse them repeatedly. I know that re-use is one good solution, but it's not going to solve the problem, especially since for many bags, my second use is for collecting dog poop, which then goes directly into the landfill.
To start then, I'm going to focus on the single use bags (kitchen and bathroom garbage can bags), and also those vegetable bags that come off the roll in the store.
And my solution for shopping is to bring a section of my own re-usable plastic, paper, and cloth bags to collect produce and bulk foods in. I'm going to pack a "grab and go" shopping kit!
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