This morning … Hearing this beautiful spiritual music and seeing the level of care that you all have given this work is wonderful . This church represents both struggle and survival of a freed slave community . The tireless leader of the community died suddenly last year and we are working to make her vision a reality . We thank you .
It was this experience that gave rise to my further understanding that it is small , mutually respectful experiences that make all the difference , elevating business transactions , which after all are human transactions , to something far more .
Learn more about Sugarland Ethnohistory Project : sugarlandproject . org
The Little Merlin
Navigating winding rustic Peachtree Road on her way home from the C & O Canal one evening in early May , local amateur photographer and self-described nature lover Megan Benton saw the SUV ahead hit a good sized bird sending it spiraling to the roadside . The SUV carried on but Megan quickly turned around and found a smallish raptor with injuries . “ I didn ’ t really stop to think . I grabbed a towel from the truck , wrapped the bird , and headed straight for Owl Moon Raptor Center . I look back on it now and realize that I did not even consider securing the bird ’ s relatively huge talons .” As it turns out , according to the center ’ s director , Suzanne Shoemaker , the little bird is a bit of a rare find in this area , a type of falcon called a merlin . The juvenile female , now named “ Benton ” after her rescuer had sustained both beak and spinal injury from the collision but is , according to Suzanne , “ a fighter and progressing daily .” Megan and Suzanne both shared a deep thankfulness for each other – the earnest rescuer and the tireless rehabilitator . Learn more about Owl Moon Raptor : owlmoon . org
Little Trash Santas
John Poole Middle Schooler Ciaran Moroney is the kind of overachiever we need right about now . He sees his local community ’ s natural environment as ground to explore and steward . He is most serious about the stewardship part , first taking on neighborhood cleanup projects on his own with a few buddies and then forming a green club at his school , enlisting classmates to join . For any adults ,
we know just how hard it was to navigate middle school much less organize a new club , pressing tapped out classmates into community service . But Ciaran pesters pretty good and convinced both the middle school and Poolesville High School clubs to join together to do a big roadside cleanup in early April . Two pods of students , middle and highschoolers started at opposite ends of West Willard Road near the town of Poolesville , aiming to beat the clock before the buses departed from the high school . Dan Savino , PHS teacher and their green club coordinator , shares that each group worked
If you are concerned about the proliferation of trash , then by all means start an organization in your community to do something about it . But before , and while you organize , pick up some cans and bottles yourself . That way , at least , you will assure yourself and others that you mean what you say .
~ from think little essay by wendell berry plenty I summer growing 2022 5