Celebration of Seeds

This Season could easily be called "Celebration of Seeds". While all of Nature is moving into Brown Tones and preparing for Winter's Slumber, Seeds are absolutely everywhere.

Many Plants and Vegetative Materials are seemingly dying. Their Vitality came from the Earth, and their Death, which is 1 more stage of the Life Cycle, replenishes the Earth. In some cases, Fall is viewed as a sad time. On one level, it is. We shall miss our Companions from the Growing Seasons. But on other levels, I see pure undeniable Celebration.

The Plants have survived and thrived through the growing Season. They have produced Tender Shoots, Foliage, Stems, Flowers and Fruit. A Natural Consequence of such productivity is Seeds. Our Amazing Kin in the Plant World are so intent on continuing that they are bursting with the stuff of New Life ahead. It is their purpose and they are intent upon fulfilling it.

I went for a walk about today on the Loop around our Farm. I saw lots of Faded Flowers which were past Peak. Yet, looking closer, I saw those amazing Plants were now making Seeds.

Nature's ways of distributing Seeds are amazing too. The Thistle was sending Seeds Airborn with abandon. Changing Winds of Fall and Winter were partners in their initiatives. I wonder how far their Seeds will travel. While some 2 Leggeds would perhap scoff at my fascination with Thistle Seeds, Goldfinches would dazzle us in celebration of such things with their flight. These lovely sparkles of Sunshine will not nest until the Thistles produce their Down. The Down serves as Liner for the Finch's Nest on the Meadow.

And then we have those "Stick Tights". We do not know what the Plant is in the Photo which closes this Blog Entry. Earlier in the Summer, this Plant produced long spikes of tiny yellow Flowers from fern like Foliage. Those long Spikes with their Stick Tights are perfect adaptations to send their Seeds traveling with unsuspecting Mammals who may be passing by. My Wool Gloves and Warm Coat gathered several along my walk. I would stop and pick them off. Then find some more.

When I taught "Knowing Nature" at the University of North Dakota, I had 2 Native Elders (Merry Ketterling who is Cheyenne River Sioux, and Dorreen Yellow Bird who is Sahnish) speak to my class on their relationship with Nature. As 1st Peoples of this Continent, they had much to teach us in examining and awakening our own relationship with Nature. I placed a basket full of Native Prairie Seeds that Richard and I had collected in the middle of our Circle. Dorreen began her sharing with noting that she felt she was in the presence of many tiny little Ears. It took me some minutes to realize she was talking about the Seeds as Living Beings.

The more I gather and observe Seeds, the more I see them as Living Beings. How could I have been so self-absorbed to have overlooked this magic in the vastness of Creation?