We still have a long way to go for us to co-exist with our fellow meat and plant eaters

My friend Frank Digraci sent this to me this afternoon and the ironic humor of the text did cause me to chuckle.............and then to contemplate the large educational task we continue to have in front of us as it relates to us human animals coming to grips with "natures design" and not feeling that we have to "manage or improve upon it". The suite of native animal and plant species that we found here upon sailing across the Atlantic always has known how to co-exist and perpetuate itself without our help. As stated and questioned in a previous Post published several weeks back, even the "First Americans" likely altered their living environment in such as a way as to induce local animal and plant shortages and extirpations. Their population was a minute fraction of the 300 million of us who currently occupy the USA and yet many of their civilizations fell apart due to adverse exploitation and manipulation of their fellow creatures and plant species.

Regardless of your religion or spirituality, Frank's "God and Lawn Care" spoof below depicts just how off-base so many of us are as it relates to how we see and react to the natural world that we occupy. In my neighborhood in Los Angeles, folks generally feel that their lawn(there should not be lawns here but that is for another Post) should resemble their living room carpet...................cut very short like a gold course ...............Of course this precipitates watering frequently(we have no natural water supply in this Los Angeles and the snow pack has been below normal and the Colorado River is being tapped to the bone) so as to have a green "carpet".

All the "woe is me" aside as it relates to the steep mountain of education needed to get all of us living in harmony with nature, I think we can one day get there................Stay the course everyone................One tree planted at a time, one more wolf pack formed in a vacant territory......................Baby steps lead to Giant steps!............Enjoy Frank's scribe below:

Sent: Sun Apr 18 16:27:54 2010
Subject: Fwd: Fw: God and Lawn Care

GOD:
     Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets,  milkweeds  and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type
of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles.
     St. FRANCIS:
     It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers 'weeds' and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.
     GOD:
     Grass? But, it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?
     ST. FRANCIS:
     Apparently
so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.
     GOD:
     The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.
     ST. FRANCIS:
     Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week.
     GOD:
     They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?
     ST. FRANCIS:
     Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.
     GOD:
     They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?
     ST. FRANCIS:
     No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.
     GOD:
     Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?
     ST. FRANCIS:
     Yes, Sir.
     GOD:
     These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.
     ST. FRANCIS:
     You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it, so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.
     GOD:
     What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a
natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It's a natural cycle of life.
     ST. FRANCIS:
     You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.
     GOD:
     No!? What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?
     ST. FRANCIS:
     After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.
     GOD:
     And where do they get this mulch?
     ST. FRANCIS:
     They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.
     GOD:
     Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?
     ST. CATHERINE:
     'Dumb and Dumber', Lord. It's a story about....
     GOD:
     Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.