“Let Nature Take Its Course” – L.Von Borowsky

As stated by Charles Lee, of Audubon Florida – “The 97 years of life that blessed Lisa von Borowsky saw great changes in Florida.  But, remarkably the 300-acre Ahhochee Hill Sanctuary and much of the surrounding land now in the Withlacoochee State Forest look largely the same as they did when Lisa came here.  Perhaps that is so because she was here.” 

At the age of 19, Lisa immigrated to the United States from Germany to work in the home of Colonel Raymond Robins and Margaret Drier Robins on their estate at Chinsegut Hill, six miles north of Brooksville, Florida.  Lisa became the personal secretary of Margaret Robins who was a formidable figure in the women’s suffrage movement. The estate includes over 6,000 acres of land– much of which was deeded to the federal government by the Robins in 1931 and became part of the Withlacoochee State Forest. Robins retained a life estate on the lands he had gifted, plus several hundred acres of land he would later give to Lisa as the Ahhochee Hill Sanctuary.  Following a strict code of conservation ethics, Lisa became the caretaker of the lands and wildlife on Robins’ behalf.  On Lisa’s passing, she directed that Audubon manage the Ahhochee Hill Sanctuary according to her wishes – as a true sanctuary for wildlife, its purposes reserved towards providing an island of refuge and respect for the ecosystem in the midst of our rapidly changing state.

Ahhochee Hill Sanctuary
So many hands have owned thee, used and left thee,
And none did build thee up or give thee strength;
From hand to hand, the record shows a long, sad story of delay,
Settlers and debts.
Mortgaged, and drilled for oil, and always left
Without encouragement except thy own great will to thrive.
I should think you would have grown old and weary
And yet to me, who own thee now at last,
Thou’rt young as dawn and clean and ready
For a life of growth and use and beauty.
This is then to be OUR start:
Thou art the hill, the land and I thy guardian.
I will secure thy slopes and dress thee in green pastures
And give the water and care.
We’ll live together, my land and I,
And maybe take in some friends: A horse,
Some cows, chickens and ducks and geese,
And fruit trees, Flowers and a garden-
And who so calls to see us – him we greet,
GROWING ! – and glad and free !

My beloved sand is Clearwater Beach – although I was represented by my family on the Jersey Shore, as well ….. Wildwood Crest – the beach of my birth.

When I arrived at my designated meeting place – in front of Frenchy’s Rockaway and The Palm Pavilion, I was greeted by two young women with a petition heading up to Washington DC.

After signing ….. I proceeded to the check-in tent for instructions. We were told to assemble our line in the sand just at the water’s edge ten minutes before noon – when lines were forming all over the world – www.handsacrossthesand.com – because a Sierra Club helicopter would be flying overhead to take our picture. We would be joining – not holding – hands for 15 minutes.

Speaking of hands, I was also asked to trace my hand on a piece of paper – create whatever message I wanted – which would also head to DC to be made into a banner that would wrap around the White House. After creating what was in my heart and prayers … I received a refreshing comlimentary iced smoothie from Java Joe’s and found shade under the pier with other peaceful activists.

Then our leader called to us from her megaphone that it was time to line up …. and off we all ran. Scrambling to get organized – giving those not participating but enjoying the beach and gulf access to either — spreading our line – looking for the helicopter – and finally settling into our mission. We even experienced a heckler …. who was not for big oil, but was so angry at BP that he felt our “hand holding” was a waste of energy against such a violation by a corporate giant.  

We joined hands holding them high every few minutes with a cheer …. wondering if we were long enough to join the southern group at Pier 60. Watching children abandon their sand castles – asking their parents, if they could join the line. I contemplated if possibly, one good thing from this disaster, could be the development of toddler activists. The woman next to my companion was in tears. She could not bear, the thought of the oil still gushing and the untold deaths of birds and marine life. There were cardboard signs of protest, voices, song, and many more tears. Then with a one minute countdown shouted to the heavens, we released hands and went on our way.

I dedicated the entire weekend to enjoying the beach where I live, play, meditate and heal. With a dear friend, I walked to Caladesi – kayaked around Moonshine Island and spent hours swimming and floating in the Gulf. We watched the sunset on the spectacular gulf and the moonrise on the intercoastal. All the while, knowing that the future of this blessing is so uncertain.

www.unspoiledbook.com

I do not have many clear memories of my childhood. But the one that is most vivid is of a day in September when my friend and I hauled oil-soaked ducks in our wagons from the beach in southern New Jersey to her mother’s laundry room. I had not heard my parents talk of an oil spill nor was there any environmental organization instructing citizens on what to do to save these poor creatures. It was just my friend and I trying to figure out why we could not get this oil off the feathers with laundry detergent.  As the day drew on and we grew more and more sticky with this dark coating of death, we were tasked with towing the birds back to the beach for their sad burial in the sand.

For most of the year, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico embrace the western shoreline of Florida with a calm hand. We are cupped in her protective palm until the inevitable hurricane passes into the Gulf, reminding us of the power this body of water has over the borrowed land we call home. The hurricane by whatever its name—Charlie, Wilma, Katrina—is a reminder that we cannot control or dominate nature, that we must listen, for nature always has something to say. We cannot manipulate or destroy in the name of dollars. The Gulf has a spirit that is linked to our own. Science cannot shout down justice. Policy will not replace health. Economics is not  spirituality.

I have not read any concrete evidence that drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for oil will improve our lives. With such a large number of hard-working individuals searching to better their quality of life, the probing and drilling of such an incredible body of water will only add to the helplessness of despair. We know that drilling for oil off the coast of Florida will put our sea turtles, whales, fisheries, shorebirds, and local economies at serious risk. Just as importantly, drilling would impact our sense of place. At a time when humanity is searching for hope, we need the magnificence of our natural wonders. Looking out at the sea—the Gulf of Mexico— with only clouds, a sunset, or the silhouette of a sailboat to interrupt the horizon, we see endless possibilities. With thousands of visitors sharing this experience with residents, the Gulf touches so many every day.

We calculate risks and benefits with statistics from research. But can we analyze the human spirit and how our constant quest to probe nature for economic wealth affects our mental and spiritual health?

Each time we scar nature, we scar our own souls. With every violation of an eco-system, we see the impact heading towards our own well being. Our health is directly linked to the health  of this earth and the waters that balance the elements. We cannot probe, drill, or dig without consequences. If the oil companies try to harness the energy in the Gulf of Mexico, we will see a negative impact on the energy surrounding these waters.

My body and spirit were born from the sea. Through osmosis my cells contain salt water. I am able to feel the ocean’s turbulence when it is roiling and its peace when it is still. I know that  I must live close to this life-giving element of my being. I also must speak for what gives me life,  for the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are vibrating with the terror of the possibility of this violent penetration—she would much prefer to float platforms of wind turbines.

The time has come to consider spirituality alongside science, and to consider that healthy economics means a healthy natural world and that the actions of the community are linked to our spirit. Do not drill into our soul.

-Linda Taylor

As I celebrate the 14^th year of ION on this 40^th anniversary of Earth Day, I must reflect on the people and experiences that have helped me travel this path for so long.  So many encourage me each day as I journey this life calling that I have named It’s Our Nature.  This year has been the most difficult economically and physically, but at the same time it is filled with an awareness of how we are re-evaluating our lives.  We must live our personal and professional lives in a more sustainable fashion.  I know that as much as I thought I was …. there are creative and fun ways to be even friendlier to our dear Mother Earth.

From the depth of my heart and soul, I thank each one of you who is reading this and the scores who have had the briefest encounter with me as I work in my mobile marketplace.  You make my life richer by allowing me to grow and learn.  Happy Earth Day to you all and may we celebrate Earth Day each day sustaining ourselves in a life of simplicity and beauty.   Linda

Great Old Broads For Wilderness (www.greatoldbroads.org) boasts twenty years of ageless advocacy. Based in Durango, Colorado, Great Old Broads for Wilderness is a non-profit public lands organization that uses the voices and activism of elders to preserve and protect wilderness and wild lands.

On Monday, March 8, I was asked to guide a “Broadwalk” for the Florida chapter who was hosting the organization’s president, Veronica Egan and her daughter.

We chose the incredible three mile nature trail on Caladesi Island with an extra side mile to the homestead of Myrtle Scharrer Betz and her father Henry.  We chose March 8 to honor International Women’s Day which commemorates the women’s march in NYC for suffrage and against child labor in 1908.  In this turbulent el Niño season, seventeen of us – including two men or “bros” as the group calls its male supporters – had a most incredible day.

“Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force. Dorothy L. Sayers

Great Old Broads was founded in 1989 in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Today ranks have grown to include men and younger women (Broads-in-training), though the majority of their membership continues to be older women committed to protecting wilderness areas. As explained by their president, roads were being planned in many wilderness areas so that “grandma” could drive her car in and enjoy it.  Broads was formed to show that older women can trek on their own and would not be the excuse for more and more roads into wilderness.

Great Old Broads, with lifetimes of adventures and experiences to draw from, bring a broader perspective and valuable insights to wilderness discussions than other environmental organizations with more youthful memberships. Great Old Broads are uniquely qualified to speak up for the lands and to protect what they have learned is valuable and important. There website states –

“We are prepared to alleviate the destruction to wilderness, and we are optimistic that we will make a difference. Our forte is raising public awareness for the importance of wilderness, and using press coverage to alert the public to inappropriate development and management decisions affecting wilderness.

There are particular advantages to being old and gray (besides the senior citizen discount). We’re an anomaly in the environmental activist area and the press and others are curious as to what we have to say. Our approach in this endeavor is the use of a sense of humor and our well-aged grace. Our message on behalf of wilderness may be similar to that of other organizations, but Great Old Broads has the ability to attract the public’s interest and attention in ways that other groups cannot. Correspondingly, because we are both older and (presumably) wiser, people give greater deference to our message than to younger environmentalists.”

Issues that Broads feel require special vigilance:

Off – Road Vehicles – ORV’s have become the most destructive force on our public lands.  These vehicles cause serious damage to soils, air quality, plants, wildlife, water courses and cultural resources, not to mention the disruption of the experiences of others who us the land.

Oil, Gas, and Mineral Development – Oil and gas drilling has exploded over the past several years.  Broads know that conserving scarce petroleum resources while developing alternative energy sources is preferable to drilling in our fragile and dwindling wild places.

Mineral mining seriously threatens wild public lands on many levels – from poisoning waterways to disrupting migration routes.  Broads are vigilant in monitoring of these industries and advocate for the land that they abuse.

Public Lands Grazing - Improperly managed livestock grazing practices lead to erosion, lost wildlife habitat, degraded water quality and a compromised wilderness experience.  Broads hold land management agencies accountable for the health of our public lands.

The Broads Healthy Lands Project (BHLP) is an innovative program that documents ever increasing wild lands abuse.  By training individuals to use a simple, standardized, photographic and GPS-based system, BHLP allows ordinary citizens to record damage caused by irresponsible land use.  The resulting database is accessible through the internet and can be used by land managers, the media and partner organizations to view photos and descriptions of land conditions via online topographic maps.  The BHLP shows what is really happening on the ground.

To contact the organizer of Florida’s Broadband – as chapters are called –

Dr. JoAnne M. Valenti at valentijm@yahoo.com

“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between the desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”

Perhaps a quote by, Alice Walker will help us “plan the day”:

“Activism is my rent for living on this planet.”

So I have decided to get back to my blogging by suggesting each week how we can “pay our rent”.

In the How to Build a Community poster by the Syracuse Cultural Workers – one line speaks so loudly to me “Know that No One is Silent Though Many are Not Heard”

As The Lorax proclaimed: “I speak for the trees.”  But Why?

1. Trees Provide Oxygen (and Reduce Climate Change)
The equation is fundamental: During photosynthesis, a tree “inhales” CO2 from the air and then separates the carbon from the oxygen molecules. The carbon is absorbed by the tree, which then “exhales” pure oxygen back into the air for us to breathe. In the process just described, trees also serve as carbon sinks. Such carbon sinks offset carbon dioxide emissions and reduce climate change.

2. Trees Provide Food
Trees offer food like nuts and fruits for humans and other creatures. The folks at SavaTree add: “Many animals, including elephants, koalas, and giraffes eat leaves for nourishment. Flowers are eaten by monkeys, and nectar is a favorite of birds, bats, and many insects. Animals also eat much of the same fruit that we enjoy. This process helps disperse seeds over great distances.”

3. Trees Provide Homes
From nearly microscopic insects to camouflaged reptiles to feathered friends to wily primates and beyond, each tree is a vast, thriving eco-system in and of itself. The destruction of even a single small tree not only disrupts natural cycles, it also sentences countless creatures to death.

4. Trees Provide Medicine
For 5.1 billion people–85% of the world’s population. Even in a modern society like the U.S, plants are the original herbs and the primary source materials for as many as 40% of the pharmaceuticals in use.

5. Trees Provide Shade and Protection
Due to ozone depletion, we now have to endure increased amounts of potentially dangerous ultraviolet radiation. Thanks to our tree friends, we get some shade and protection.

6. Trees Provide Energy Savings
“All the farmhouses are surrounded by trees,” writes Josh Peterson. “You see, the farmers know that planting trees in the right places is good for their houses and it’s good for the land. The trees act as windbreaks and keep the snow from drifting up against the house. It also keeps that valuable topsoil in place. And in the summer time, there is no better place to beat that ridiculous Midwestern heat than in the shade of a tree. You can use the same principals to make your house more energy efficient with proper tree placement.”

7. Trees Provide Pollution Reduction
Trees absorb pollutants like sulfur dioxide, ozone, and nitrogen oxides through the stomates in the surface of their leaves. Up to a 60% reduction in street level particulates has been found on tree-lined streets and roadways. Trees also muffle urban noise pollution.

8. Trees Provide Erosion and Flood Prevention
Deforestation negatively impacts the amount of water in the soil and groundwater and the moisture in the atmosphere. Without tree roots to hold soil in place and fight erosion, we are seeing more runoff and less sediment deposit after storms. This result in higher levels of chemicals in our water and far more flooding. On a related note, mangrove trees protect coastal areas from ocean waves and work in smooth symbiosis with coral reefs.

9. Trees Provide Soil Enrichment
Fallen leaves make excellent compost that enriches soil. Here’s how the USDA Forest Service explains it: “Needles and leaves that fall are not wasted. They decompose and restock the soil with nutrients and make up part of the spongy humus layer of the forest floor that absorbs and holds rainfall. Fallen leaves also become food for numerous soil organisms vital to the forest ecosystem.”

10. Trees Provide Beauty and Natural Wealth
Some people look at trees and see only lumber and profits.  Sane people look at trees and see kindred spirits, fellow travelers, and eons of wisdom from which we have so much more to learn.

How to “Hug” Trees and pay your rent this week …

• Planting trees
• Simple lifestyle changes like using tree-free paper
• Switching to a diet that doesn’t require deforestation and livestock grazing
• Tree-sitting and other forms of direct action

What’s Linda Taylor reading?

Piper Castillo, Times Staff Writer

In Print: Sunday, May 17, 2009

Linda Taylor is the author of Great Women Exploring Nature: How Wild Florida Influenced Their Lives, a women’s history book of sorts including icons Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Rachel Carson, as well as lesser-known women like Myrtle Scharrer Betz, who lived on Caladesi Island in the 1800s.

What is on your nightstand?

33 Things Every Girl Should Know About Women’s History, edited by Tonya Bolden. And I finished up Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

That combination shows your endeavor to link women closer to the earth. What would you recommend for a man’s nightstand?

I would suggest A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson for a guy’s connection to nature.

Why do you think Bryson appeals to men?

I found men accompanying us on my women-friendly nature trips longed for detail and information and were not quite satisfied with what comes from just taking it all in with our senses. Bryson’s writing provides that addition — detail, information, humor and a connection to the natural world.

(your hemp pants will last forever ) – to food products (the Wall Street Journal had an article in January stating that hemp is the fastest growing new food category in North America).  Add in construction and automotive materials and you have a very sustainable green economy start-up.

But as most of you know, growing hemp in the United States is still illegal.  The Drug Enforcement Administration has grouped this low-THC plant with its relative, marijuana.

We are the only industrialized country on earth to prohibit hemp production.  Canada legalized growing hemp in 1997.

An exception to cultivating industrial hemp came during World War II, when the armed forces experienced a fiber shortage and the government encouraged all farmers to grow hemp.  But after the war and with the introduction of nylon, hemp production disappeared.  The history of hemp is fueled with propaganda and corporate greed. If a farmer in North Dakota chose to grow this incredible crop, they would be guilty of trafficking and would face a fine of up to 4 million dollars and a prison sentence of 5 – 40 years.

Hemp has enormous benefits as a crop.  It is environmentally friendly, requiring no pesticides or herbicides, it is the perfect rotation or rest crop because it detoxifies and regenerates the soil and it grows quickly.

More and more health advocates are realizing that as a food hemp is rich in essential omega-3 fatty acids.  The hemp plant’s cellulose level is about three times that of wood and is the ideal raw material for plant-based plastics. Henry Ford himself manufactured a car from hemp-based plastic in 1941 and ran it on clean-burning hemp-based ethanol fuel.

28 states have introduced hemp legislation.  Isn’t it time that we seriously look at something that will solve so many of today’s problems?

Linda M. Taylor founded It’s Our Nature®, Inc. in March of 1996 after 18 years in the commercial fitness industry. The company’s focus blends the enrichment of one’s mind with the wellness of one’s body and the spirit of our earth. Another aspect of her company is “Healthy-Wear for People Who Care®” which reflects a wide selection of organic cotton and hemp clothing. All items are screened for environmental responsibility and fair trade.  She’s also the author of Great Women Exploring Nature …. How Wild Florida Influenced Their Lives

e-mail: linda@itsournature.com

Start some planet friendly holiday traditions

November 25, 2009 at 9:00 am by lindataylor

Here are some wonderful ways to green your festivities by starting a few planet friendly holiday traditions this year.

Here are five ideas to get you started:

1. Wrap it up. Think outside the wrapping paper aisle! Reuse old paper or make your own keepsake pieces with stamps and other art supplies. Borrow from Japanese culture and create a furoshiki, or traditional Japanese wrapping cloth – a beautiful scarf or embroidered towel can make a stunning and reusable gift wrap.

2. Season’s greetings. Send tree-free holiday cards, such as those made from hemp, elephant poop paper, or e-cards.

3. Hold a zero-waste holiday party. It’s easy – put the word out via an online invitation site: use washable table linens, cutlery and plates; decorate with found nature items; dim the lights and get the party started.

4. Travel green. No, you don’t have to go over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s house in a horse-drawn sleigh. But do pack lightly; less weight equals less fuel, whether it’s a plane or a car. If flying, coordinate flight times with other relatives to save trips to the airport. And remember the train where possible.

5. Buy greener gifts. Shop for gifts that make you feel good about giving and please your loved ones. Look for organic fiber, little or no packaging, safe dyes and fair trade items.