As a New Year Begins...

It is late December, a time for us to reflect on the joys and challenges of the past year. For many of our non-human friends, it is a time to rest and rejuvenate in southern locales, having survived long flights and innumerable obstacles. Monarch migrations (and indeed their entire life cycles!) have always especially intrigued me --- how can these fragile-looking insects possibly make the long journey from here to Mexico? Their persistence and courage are inspiring; their tenacity and resilience almost unbelievable.

A wonderful tribute to Monarchs was shared with me several months ago, and

I pass it along to you, in the hope that you will be encouraged and inspired, as I have been, by the beautiful words and message. Many thanks to Steve Garnaas-Holmes for giving me permission to share his work, and to add a few photos from around the farm!

(Unfortunately the poem will not likely be aligned properly if you are viewing it on your phone, and is best viewed on a computer screen!)

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ENDURANCE

-by Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Consider the monarch --- beyond the miraculous stained glass window of its wings, seashells of scales arrayed light and dark, sunlight and night-black,

each in its place, gilding the meadow with its art;

beyond its legs, thinnest joined, muscled hairs

that grasp and walk; or its tender, curled proboscis

that uncurls and reaches deep to drink of nectar;

beyond its thousand-paneled eyes, consider:

that it is here at all.

That these flimsy wings, these little plates of dust

that flap with such naive abandon, such feeble hope,

such confident weakness, and carry it hither and thither

with seeming helplessly random wandering,

have borne this creature through winds and currents,

around storms and cities and over superhighways ---

and somehow, it is here.

That it is the great-grandchild of those famous pioneers

who flew south to Mexico, never having been there,

but who followed the wisdom passed down from

their great-grandparents, who flew north,

never having been here -- yet it is here.

That this wisdom spanning seasons and continents

was carried by a caterpillar who, in the fullness of time,

wove itself a casket, crawled in, and devolved into mush ---

just a soup of goo --- and waited, until from the mush

a butterfly formed and grew, and in time

ruined its casket and emerged

and unfolded its ridiculously wrinkled wings,

still with the wisdom of how to get to Mexico

on those thinner-than-paper wings of black and gold

somehow preserved and carried from flower to flower ---

and came to you.

Consider, then, when you feel overwhelmed,

and up against the odds, the likelihood

that by the grace that livens every living thing,

you too will endure.

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Wishing you the blessings of hope, faith, and endurance as we embark on a New Year!

-Merri-Lee

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