There's a small grey eastern screech owl that lives on my street, sometimes he sits in my tree in the backyard and stares silently at me. He quietly indicates that he is doing his part to manage the mice, and kindly asks me to protect his home so that he doesn't have to move anytime soon. He likes it here, I like it here, and I enjoy having him here.
I'm currently one person, maybe I'll be joined by others in time. This journey began with my disdain for mowing grass and my appreciation for the neighborhood tree canopy. COVID changed me somehow, I seem to enjoy working in nature more than large social gatherings now. In spring, I notice when I pass a yard that is alive with butterflies and birds. In summer, I feel the drop in temperature when walking the sidewalk along three or more lots in a row dotted with mature trees. I've done a lot of work in the yard and now as cold wet winter slows me down, I find myself noticing a lot of invasive ivy slowly strangling the trees I love as there are no leaves to block this view of slow death. I also feel lonely when I see a tree stump marking a large hole in our canopy.
It's early winter 2022, and at this point I'm wandering... growing my knowledge, seeking tribe members, and looking for any enemy of the nature around me that might need to be uprooted before it embeds and spreads.
For decades prior to my arrival, community members understood the importance of stewardship... it's what attracted me to these streets and encouraged our family to nest here. Nature Stewardship is what we should pursue to maintain (or expand) this community and culture in the coming decades.
Current Missions include:
