The healthy forager

I intended to upload a video of myself picking apples on a very wet Saturday morning, showing the beauty and bounty of the fruit, and all that our little orchard is providing for us. But I decided not to. Because I saw the news of the fresh Hamas-Israel conflict.

There was one story in particular that jumped out at me. A woman, fleeing from gunfire, seeking refuge in an orchard. She lay still under the branches of an orange tree for several hours, until she heard soldiers speaking her language and she knew she was safe.

Those trees know nothing of the war. They grow their leaves in response to the changing seasons. The bees pollinate the flowers, regardless of the human atrocities. They have done so throughout all the wars in history.

I wish humans were more like trees. Growing, producing, in perfect peace.