This is totally beautiful writing, and such a deepening, enchanting meditation on the the memory of the earth, of which we are already always a part, I think I hear you saying, as much as the monarchs and the milkweed. Gorgeous! Thank you Matt.
Beautifully descriptive Matthew, you describe a scene this Englander would love to see. It is one of the most baffling marvels of the natural world the migration of the Monarch, and looking at it through the lens of memory adds to the wonder.
Over in the UK, we have what are called Ancient Woodland Indicators - species of plant (mostly of wildflowers like Bluebell and Wood anemone) that often only grow in woodlands that have been in continual existence pre-1600. I Iike to think (based on your piece) that these plants survive on the accumulated memory (locked in the ecological synapses of the woodland floor).
L.M. Sacasas pointed me in your direction and I am very glad he did.
The Arnold arboretum (or “the Arb,” as my friends and I affectionately called it) was essentially my backyard from 2019 until just a few months ago when I moved away. It holds so many memories for me in every season, and it is beautiful to see it described with some attention and affection. Thank you for sharing!
This is totally beautiful writing, and such a deepening, enchanting meditation on the the memory of the earth, of which we are already always a part, I think I hear you saying, as much as the monarchs and the milkweed. Gorgeous! Thank you Matt.
Thank you, Angie!
Delighted by this direction
back at you re Oakland Garden Club!
Gorgeous. My own neurological sun-compass is going to start sending out panic signals c. 9/23...
Memory banks and tangled banks to be erased that day at 2:50am EDT!
I wish!
Beautifully descriptive Matthew, you describe a scene this Englander would love to see. It is one of the most baffling marvels of the natural world the migration of the Monarch, and looking at it through the lens of memory adds to the wonder.
Over in the UK, we have what are called Ancient Woodland Indicators - species of plant (mostly of wildflowers like Bluebell and Wood anemone) that often only grow in woodlands that have been in continual existence pre-1600. I Iike to think (based on your piece) that these plants survive on the accumulated memory (locked in the ecological synapses of the woodland floor).
L.M. Sacasas pointed me in your direction and I am very glad he did.
The Arnold arboretum (or “the Arb,” as my friends and I affectionately called it) was essentially my backyard from 2019 until just a few months ago when I moved away. It holds so many memories for me in every season, and it is beautiful to see it described with some attention and affection. Thank you for sharing!