Dirt or soil. No matter what you call it, it’s the one thing that in many ways is the beginning and ending of life for all of us. It’s beautiful, rich, and generous. It moves and breathes, gives us untold wealth, and is the place we look to keep us fed and alive. Usually. Unless it loses its balance.
One of our favorite childhood books starts out with a only mild inconvenience, due to rain. Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat” stared with two kids who wanted a little less boredom and a little more excitement: “The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.”
At the end of Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat,” everything goes back to normal after Thing One and Thing Two destroy the universe, with the “excitement” part having been granted in a way that the kids never expected. But in real life, sometimes the metaphorical Thing One and Two are still running amok for months or even years afterwards.
In today's podcast, Heather, Marie and Jeri are speaking with us about dirt, soil, rain, and the long-term consequences you don’t really think about that can occur under our feet in that mysterious universe below. And they're not as easily fixable when Mom comes home (one more reference for all you Seussians out there).
Whether you hope, wish or pray for rain, this lesson is a great one for all of us in California who sometimes look at the sky and long for something wet to appear. Like we learned in “The Cat in the Hat”…wishing for something to alleviate the boredom, or the drought, can be a dangerous thing indeed when that wish is granted.