Madelyn's Story

I’ve always known important water is, but Earth Camp has really opened my eyes to how much water we really have left, and how much everyone and everything relies on it. We learned a lot about how much water we waste with a single flush or just during short shower. It matters so much because, we aren’t the only things on our planet that need the water we are using so obliviously.

If we have less, we use less, this was proven so well when we went out to the Saguaro Harvest Campground with only one gallon of water. If our desert counterparts can cope without so much water, then so can we. The kangaroo rat never needs to drink freestanding water, it gets it from the seeds that it eats, and even the moisture in its breath is trapped by its air tight den. We don’t need to be quiet so extreme but we can be more conscious about how we use our water.

It is one thing to preach to the choir and a complete other thing to actually go out and act. To go and set an example in your community, like Brad Lancaster who takes almost everything he uses from nature, will invoke people to actually act when they see you doing it.

To set a good example for our neighbors and people around us my family and I are going to replace our grass with fake grass or native vegetation. Since we live in a hot, dry desert it takes a lot of water to keep our large grassy area green through winter and summer. Also if we decide to add native vegetation it will become far more environmentally friendly and create a habitat for the animals in the wash and desert area behind us. Rainwater that we are in the process of collecting with recycled gutters will be used to water the plants we already have in our yard. Over the next few months I will work with my family to design a landscape and research the plants that are best suited for our area.


Truth of the Stars

The glittering orbs litter the sky

in their moonlight,

spiraling

descent.

Singing a beautiful,

sparkling harmony of stories untold.

They shine,

With intense

Driving beauty,

Giving Place and order

To the life Below

They open Your mind,

To truth

In its purest Form.

An unrenounced

Illusion of insignificance

Rising to The call of

The moon

Shining with Pure

untainted Brilliance,

Not marred by the

Garish lights below.

Answering the call of

the silver lights of night

regaining,

our dreams,

our fantasies

to ascend to the level

of purity

of the heavens above.

those which,

we have turned our backs on

but still,

unduly yearn for

the sanctity,

unity,

and harmony

with the

ageless stars

above.


In This Barren Land

In this barren land,

the twisted trees

claw their way to the sky

reaching for

the rain that won’t come.

Greens in dusty

dead hues,

days of heat

and strife,

paradoxed by darkness

and cool,

cold night.

In this barren land,

the sun beats down mercilessly

upon the strange

spinney plants

imbedded in the hard,

packed,

pale earth

on which the strange animals

slither, crawl, or land upon.

In this barren land,

the mountains ring,

acres of dusty

blue sky.

But

if you happen to look

beyond the mirage of emptiness,

you see the hawk

circling in the sky,

the cactus wren

and wood pecker

at the cactus.

The snakes,

lizards,

and insects

crawl upon the earth

while rodents

beneath it.

In this barren land,

so full of life,

is where I reside.


Word of the Trees

The souls of the

trees

whisper their

stories.

The Mother Pine,

of the children

at her feet.

Her brethren,

of the water

at their roots

and the succulent moss

dangling from their

delicate,

white fingers.

The Old Ones

speak in their

deep,

melodic voices

of the cleansing fire,

licking at their

brittle crowns

high above,

of scars

from the beginning of time

and the healing.