Recently I was talking to an old friend that now lives in another state. She asked me if I had lots of leaves to rake last fall since I live on country acreage now. This gave me pause for a moment followed by a laugh.
Laughing because I no longer rake as living on a windswept hill Mother Earth takes care of the leaves. The few that are left in corners of the yard turn to humus in the spring. If I want leaves for my garden I gather them early in the fall before the early winter winds gear up. Granted I have lots of trees but somehow the leaves do their ballet dance all the way round and then back into the folds of the woods.
It got me to thinking. Why do people rake? Can you answer that? Give it some thought. I turn to Josephine Johnson many times when I am contemplating how I might live peacefully with the wildness of my naturehill homestead.
Her book, Inland Island, is such a pleasure to experience if one wants to live symbiotically with mother nature. Her philosophy of whatever works with Mother Earth is alright with her--just get out of her way and let things rip. No need to stir things up by putting in a perfect lawn, exotic plants or other unnatural objects into nature (nature -- read -- includes what exists on a home property).
I heartily recommend this book if you live this philosophy or are considering it. I looked up the book on Amazon and it is reasonable used. It's apparently out of print. Then there is always the local library -- the inter-library loans process can get you just about any book you want if the local doesn't have it.
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