I Talk to the Trees

There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm.

One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery,  and the other that heat comes from the furnace.

To avoid the first danger, one should plant a garden, preferably where there is no grocer to confuse the issue. To avoid the second, he should lay a split of good oak on the andirons, preferably where there is no furnace, and let it warm his shins while a February blizzard tosses the trees outside.

 If one has cut, split, hauled, and piled his own good oak, and let his mind work the while, he will remember much about where the heat comes from, and with a wealth of detail denied to those who spend the weekend in town astride a radiator.

                                                            From The Good Oak 

                                                           A Sand County Almanac, 

                                                           Aldo Leopold, 1949

Good Vibratioins: http://bit.ly/1Vh7v3F

You Stepped Out of a Dream

The Sleeping Gypsy, 1897 (oil on canvas)

Museum of Modern Art, New York

'There are some who can live without wild things and some who can't.'
                                                  Aldo Leopold, American nature conservationist

Henri Julien Rousseau, a Post-Impressionist painter, was largely self-taught and did not paint full time until he was 49 years of age.  The jungle is featured in many of his works, however he never actually set foot in one, taking his inspiration from the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and illustrations he found in books. Often described as poetic, The Sleeping Gypsy is one of his most recognizable works and conveys a remarkable sense of serenity.