Four years ago this week, my sisters, their families, and I scattered the co-mingled ashes of my mom and dad over the farm where they had lived for over 50 years. It was a windy day as I opened the wooden box and lifted the plastic bag of ashes into the air to float over the cornfields. I was pleased to return my parents to the land that they loved.
Farmers are folks that appreciate the land. My father embodied a land ethic. When he retired and sold the farm, the county conservation agent said 1 ½ inches more topsoil was on the land than when he had begun farming decades earlier. He practiced conservation practices such as crop rotation, contour farming, and using natural and artificial fertilizers. Large-scale farming today uses quite different methods for food production.
My dad and mom were land stewards. They cared for their land by considering all that it had to offer. Wendell Berry, one of the foremost spokespeople for stewardship, contends that few people are directly connected to land today as they once were when we were an agrarian society. Therefore, it is heartening when people feel a connection to land. Loving the land occurs when people get to know an area intimately by living and/or recreating on it.
I volunteer with a land conservancy in my community. Our organization has protected over 10,000 acres of land in the Estes Valley. The provisions of these land easements limit development and help to preserve the landscapes and wildlife habitats here. Recently a landowner donated his property to the land trust. One of our board members described how much he loved his land and wanted to guarantee its conservation for future generations of humans and non-humans.
I do not own any land but feel a deep stewardship regarding the 265,807 acres that comprise Rocky Mountain National Park. This park is my park, just as it is the national park of all US residents. My heart hurts when I see damage done in the park. I am a guardian of this resource and do everything in my power to assure that the land and animals are not harmed. I hope that some day my ashes will be scattered across this landscape that I love.
And they will… 🙂