Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Land Is Healing Me...


Fox Haven's Story

I exist within a nested web of being. I am a holon: simultaneously whole unto myself and a part of other living wholes. Long ago, people named this place Catoctin -"Land of Abundant Wildlife." I am a part of Catoctin, as many other beings are a part of me.

My body rests upon ancient bedrock bones, and my flesh, worn from those bones, covers itself with trees. I am a complex forest- this is my natural self-expression.

There was a time when the tissue of soil and plants over my bones was thick, rich, and resilient. People appreciated my wild nature. They gave me the gift of renewing fire, encouraging my fullest expression. In return, I gave them abundance: nuts and berries, and animals. We nourished each other.

Later, others came. When these people met me, they saw me as a savage to be tamed. They did not know that I could nourish them in my fullest expression, or that they could nourish me in return. I lost much of my tissue - plants, wildlife, and soil - in a very short time,
over and over again.

I always spring back. I am transformation. I unfold myself in every moment, each creation transcending a previous destruction. My slopes give a glimpse of how magnificently diverse I can be. I cover myself with beings within beings, nested one inside the other in glorious array.

-courtesy of H.C.