11 Comments

"I’ve been obsessed with water since I was a child." ... me too... a consistent action in each of the several places my family lived: look for the water.

Expand full comment
author

It's an adaptive trait, I'm sure, well bred into our genes and passed down as a gift through generations.

Expand full comment

Max, you've got it. Water is key. Underground waters do want to connect with the waters from above, even when there's concrete or a monoculture farm in between them. And even though it still rains, instead of flowing inwards it just erodes. That cement covered creek of the picture is another clear example of how *not* to fix erosion

this article also reminded me of the phrase "if you want to know the state of mind of a group of people, you look at the state of their waters" I hope somebody can remind me the name of the person who said that

thank you

Expand full comment
author

Well said, Javier. Water is definitely key.

I don't know the source of that quote, but I've heard variations of it before. I've found the health of urban streams and rivers is reflective of the societies around them. Most are not doing very well. We should be able to drink directly from our rivers and streams.

Expand full comment
Jul 26, 2023Liked by Max Wilbert

I'm probably posting in the wrong place; the squares and squiggles aren't familiar to me. I do know Max's piece here is a wise and simple description of what everyone, not just "biocentrics" can do to encourage our water to slow down and stay with us awhile longer. Beautifully written, I feel it' pull to talk to the water and do whatever I can - and do - whether I'm sitting on a porch or kne-high in mud, shovel in hand. The "----ocraacies" are made up of us, so as Pogo said, "we have met the enemy and he is us.' I feel the beautiful things that are so worth fighting for and the breezes from the beautiful trees. Working at "small" things" is a big thing, and is the road to keeping hope and work alive. Thank you for this, Max.

Expand full comment
author

Thank you.

Expand full comment

Is there anyway to buy your book without using PayPal?

Expand full comment
author

Hi Marg, definitely. If you want to pay with cash, check, Venmo, Zelle, or other method, or for international orders, please contact me via this contact form to arrange. Thank you!

https://www.maxwilbert.org/contact/

Expand full comment

I would like to be sitting on the front porch of a cabin, surrounded by the natural world. I lived most of my adult life on the edges of the nature, with mountains, trails and quiet cycling close at hand. Sadly, most people don't understand our connection to nature, our direct dependence on it, or the calm it can bring us. I truly think some of the psychosis we see in society is from living in urban, concrete landscapes.

Expand full comment
author

"The mind can forget what the body, defined by each breath, subject to the heart beating, does not."

- Susan Griffin

Expand full comment
deletedJul 26, 2023Liked by Max Wilbert
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

The question that keeps me up at night is, how much life will be gone by the time that process is complete? I don't know the answer to that. What I do know is that I am a small, small part of the "natural powers" you mention.

Expand full comment