Across the land in America one day a year, the skies flash with grandiose displays of fire and color, illuminating the upturned faces of patriots looking for something larger than everyday life. In those moments of their distracted focus looking out and beyond, I am on my hands and knees in the earth brushing my fingertips across the cool grass looking for the faintest hint of reflective life in the soil. The only stars and stripes I care for are the faces of tiny flowers growing alongside blades of grass and the stripes found on the spider who is frantically trying to escape the giant who has invaded its territory. The booming sounds of celebration over our continued success in taking over land that doesn’t really belong to us ring across a nation that is still in its toddler years. These sounds permeate the air, filling it with its importance as the doe stands at the edge of the forest languidly chewing plant life and shifting her ears from right to left in concert with the sound, always on her guard. The nation is a proud and boastful youngin, wanting attention and recognition for the beautiful finger painting as if it is a museum-worthy masterpiece. While most people crowd around and sing praises for the less than stellar effort, I want to stay nestled in the cool earth bed I’ve created, pulling the blanket of leaves over my tired body while I drift off into a peaceful sleep with visions of how I’m going to master working with the bees, the soil, the plants, and the heavens. Beyond the dark sky filled with fire, lies a network of life beyond anything we could comprehend. This life works in concert with the life below it, where my stubborn feet dig in deep for the long-haul. I recognize that it’s not my job to celebrate anything on this day, rather, it is to continue honoring the sacredness of where I stand in this moment. To honor and respect the lease I’ve been granted in taking care of my little piece of the earth. While the skies light up above, you can find me on my hands and knees singing to the dirt below me and thanking it for the tiny stars of life it provides us every single day.
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