That is how this all started, as a young girl walking the island barefoot. Exploring the earth underneath, like a grand mansion housing every bug I could ever imagine. Flipping over rocks just to see what would scramble out. I remember feeling so comfortable in my unapologetic curiosity, so at ease with wondering, no fear of feeling like I had asked a stupid question or of being called out for not listening. School was different than the summer cedar woods on Manitoulin Island. Here, on the island, she was like a great teacher gently and patiently encouraging me to ask another question, and another. Never annoyed by the time it took to let me wonder, as if time and space had found another, much slower dimension. I named her, Alex, a name I had always wished I had been given. She lulled me to sleep with the waves on the lake and woke me in the morning with the birds singing these beautiful songs, like a concert with different harmonies.
At 39 years old, I have continued to return every year to put my feet in her soil, to feel her sun warm my skin, to fall asleep to the waves, to wake up to the chorus of birds, to continue my lessons about the natural world. As life has become engulfed with the stress of adulthood, bills, and expectations I return here to remember that curious little girl, to walk barefoot and lead my children through her lessons.
This blog is my journey to honor what I have learned about the earth. Her lessons have inspired my work in life to share how we are all connected each and every day through natural resource use. I write this blog to share, to question, and with hope that we can begin to think differently, to cast light on the indifference, to play a part in creating the world that want to see through a greater awareness of the impact of what may seem mundane. This work is an experiment to see what possibilities exist with a better understanding of our connection to the earth’s natural resources and the hidden consequences of everything we do and buy.
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