An ever-increasing collection of words and pictures about life here on this good earth…

So here we are, on this little planet whizzing around our sun, one of many stars in the unimaginably huge universe...and on this earth the conditions have been right for life, in myriad forms, to flourish.

And here I am, from a small corner of this earth where I live, explore, observe, delight and learn about the living world that we are part of...and this is my way of sharing my experiences with you.

Haere mai, welcome, from the suburb of Island Bay (which was named for the island Taputeranga) on the south coast of the city of Te Whanganui a Tara/Wellington, capital of Aotearoa, also known as New Zealand, a name coined by the colonists from Europe.

In the usual shameful pattern of colonisers, starting from 1839 this land was taken dishonestly, dispossessing and displacing the local Maori - the tangata whenua (people of the land). About 170 years later a Treaty of Waitangi claim settlement with Taranaki Whanui ki te Upoko o Te Ika resulted in what I consider a totally inadequate compensation of some land and some money. And problematic land use, plants planted, beasts introduced, are all testament to the disruption and damage that an unjust process can cause.

The Maori call the earth Papatuanuku - and while the full richness of meaning can be lost in translation from one language and culture to another, this name refers to the idea of earth as a powerful but complicated mother. 

Earth mother is an idea familiar to most cultures.  Ambivalence about mothers is another pretty general phenomenon, and seems to apply to how we humans treat this earth. 

We have such a big impact on the world around us, but we often seem oblivious to it.  It seems so easy to be distracted and miss out on enjoying the rich experience of being in tune with our natural environment.  Instead, our attention is so often consumed by the demands and stress of the lives and structures we have created, and concerns about having enough - time, resources, certainty, things, peace...

It is pretty obvious that what we focus on is what we experience - I hope that by paying attention to the world around us and becoming more aware of how we connect with it we might live in ways which sustain and foster life here on the good earth.  

Because, this is it - this earth is where we live and how and why we can live.  If we can't live well here I don't fancy our chances anywhere else in the universe. 

And it has been said before but it bears repeating and celebrating - it's a wonderful world!