Understanding Our Place in the Order of Things: Encounters with the Wild

Hello Beautiful Beings,

Summer is upon us.

With the best of intentions of staying on top of writing throughout the seasons, I am loosening my hold and allowing summer to have it’s way. In my process of learning to be more realistic with the expectations we put on ourselves, and untangling myself from the production-focused societal mantra that we all know so well, I will take the summer off from writing and come back to sharing recipes and articles with you with the return of the focus that Fall brings.

We were haying this past week. As many of you know, making good old-fashioned dry hay is not without its challenges. A forecast of 5 days of dry weather quickly morphed into a lot of rain. And in spite of the rain we were able to get a half decent crop dry and under cover thanks to the extreme heat. We are grateful. It is humbling to surrender to what is beyond our control and to once again learn to trust.

Amidst the work there’s always a taste of the magic and of our connection with the Natural World. I share with you an amazing capture of a coyote making his way across the field of cut hay earlier in the week. I know, I know there is much fear and malice towards these creatures, and yes they can cause harm.

It took many years of working with the land, the animals and our ecosystem to come to a place of peace in my own heart around coyotes, and I now long to allow them their place in the world . The process took time and many wide ranging experiences. When I witnessed a similar story shared in the film The Biggest Little Farm that came out a few years ago, I was struck by the universality of that experience. And humbled. And awed. If you ever get a chance to watch the film, I highly recommend it.

To me, coyotes are symbolic of the wildness of place that still exists - even in a region such as ours, a region where the untouched Natural World is hard to find. I recall a few years ago in late Fall, watching a coyote hunting mice in the pasture field behind the house. The day was grey and cold, the clouds hung low in the sky, the wind a steady and inhospitable companion. My first impulse was - of course - oh no, a coyote. But then my heart softened. And I remembered the pact I had made with myself. And I could feel the importance of his place in the order of things. I could feel the wildness that his presence anchored in the order of things. And I did not want to erase that wildness in myself or in the beauty and magic of the world that we live in.

Yes we can attempt to erase all risk, uncertainty and danger from being being alive and walking this planet. The truth is, life itself is risk. To show up in the world authentically is risk. To love deeply is risk. To taste the wildness that dwells in the depth of our soul is risk.

With summer upon us, school almost out for many of your children, and graduation upon us, I am reminded of a poignant 2013 University of Victoria Convocation address by Patrick Lane that speaks to the essence of this experience entitled “An open letter to all the wild creatures of the earth”. It’s a short read and very moving.

And so I end with a paraphrased and amalgamated quote from one of my favourite authors and poets, Wendell Berry. May it stay with you over the summer months as you drink deep of the beauty and wonder of this Natural World that we are blessed to inhabit.

Until we understand what the land is, we are at odds with everything we touch. And to come to that understanding it is necessary, even now, to leave the regions of our conquest – the cleared fields, the towns and cities, the highways – and re-enter the woods.

As I go in under the trees, dependably, almost at once, and by nothing I do, things fall into place. I enter an order that does not exist outside, in the human spaces. I feel my life take its place among the lives – the trees, the plants, the animals and birds, the living of all these and the dead – that go and have gone to make the life of the earth. I am less important than I thought, the human race is less important than I thought.

And I come into the peace of wild things. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day blind stars waiting with their light. For a time, I rest in the grace of the world and am free.

Have a beautiful, blessed and safe summer season.

Much love 💜 Jacinta