Yesterday I took our dog for a short walk around the neighborhood. She hadn’t gotten one the day before due to commitments we had, and she had had to endure being outside for the day. Even though it was raining, I know she looks forward to her daily walk, so we went.
While walking, and I have noticed this before, there were earthworms crawling all over the sidewalks. When we have hard rains or extended rains, they are all over. Unfortunately, many of them get stuck on the concrete to their demise.
As I looked at all the earthworms, I started to think about the book I’ve been listening to, Sand Talk, which I’ve written about before. The author’s, Tyson Yunkaporta, whole premise, but really stressed towards the end of the book, is the intra-connectedness of us all.
Although most would never think we are intra-connected to an earthworm, we are.
The earthworms were on the sidewalk to try and find a place in which they could survive. Too much rain and they come to the surface, not to die as I’ve been told throughout my life, but to migrate as I learned tonight. However, as they go across the concrete, many do die.
Be that as it may, even with faulty thinking that evening, we are still intra-connected with the earthworms. They are great aerators and fertilizers of the soil. The soil survives in part because of the earthworms.
Because we depend on the soil to produce much of our food, we need the lowly worm to do its duty. It helps crops to grow. If we leave them to their own devices, we might need less artificial fertilizers.
They also serve as food for many animals, such as moles and birds. Although moles are definitely burdensome in our yards, they are also natural aerators, causing the soil to fall in on itself and regenerate with detritus decomposing.
Birds help to fertilize too, but we don’t really think about that part of the life cycle of a plant. Birds also carry seeds from place to place, helping to keep species alive that may otherwise become overcrowded.
Some may be wondering how this all relates to politics, since it is politics Saturday.
It is the intra-connectedness that is political. As a society we seem to be straying farther from realizing we all do need one another in ways we can’t imagine. When we are fractious, the enemies within and enemies abroad can act like a weed.
A weed can find just about anyplace to survive, even the tiniest of cracks. However, as the plant matures, it can take up more room that it did as a seed, causing afinite expansion of that crack. Thus creating a larger place for a larger seed, and so on.
That is happening to us right now. It was small stuff in the beginning, and lead to an insurrection, an act of tyranny, this past January.
If we can get back to a realizing our actions negatively or positively affect each person, or thing, in which we have contact, maybe we can get back to wanting a healthy thriving country where everyone has a voice and all are treated equally—the ideals on which our country was founded.
The next time you take a walk, or encounter anyone, think about all the ways we are intra-connected with other people and with nature. Then act for the good of us all.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 