Welcome to June of 2024 and the HerbWalks & OjaiHerbal newsletter. When we left off this discussion in the May newsletter I had shared reader Eric T.’s comments on our human relationship with the natural world and, specifically, with plants that we’ve categorized as weeds. Many of us find ourselves wanting to do the right things to mitigate and repair the damage we and our ancestors have done to the rest of Earth’s species and, most likely, to the planet’s climate as well. Eric and I seem to agree that this work begins with repairing our relationship with Mother Nature herself.

Shortly after that, my L. A. Times subscription synchronistically showed me an opinion piece by writer and journalist Ambreen Ali entitled “‘My Octopus Teacher' director takes a cold plunge to reconnect with nature in 'Amphibious Soul.’” The piece is her review of a memoir, “Amphibious Soul,” by Craig Foster, known for his Oscar-winning documentary My Octopus Teacher. (If you’ve not seen this amazing film I strongly urge you to do so.) In her op-ed, Ali agrees with Foster that developing a relationship with the natural surroundings wherever we live is important to feeling balanced. And she quotes him as writing, “If humans just went extinct, this whole planet would be revived. Big Mother is running the show, not us.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/my-octopus-teacher-director-takes-a-cold-plunge-to-reconnect-with-nature-in-amphibious-soul/ar-BB1mcOsR

Since then, I received a supportive and on-target response to this column from Nessa Meshkaty, MD, a local Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics trained Physician. For a while now, I’ve been one of 300 subscribers to her insightful blog, “What’s Growing on?” at https://substack.com/@nessameshkaty. Nessa (I hope Dr. Meshkaty is okay with that) shared a quote in her May 19 blog from the late British neurologist and naturalist Oliver Sacks, author of many books including Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. She quoted him as writing, “Clearly, nature calls to something very deep in us. Biophilia, the love of nature and living things, is an essential part of the human condition. Hortophilia, the desire to interact with, manage and tend nature, is also deeply instilled in us.”

The full quote from Sacks’ posthumous 2019 New York Times opinion piece on “The Healing Power of Gardens” continues, “The role that nature plays in health and healing becomes even more critical for people working long days in windowless offices, for those living in city neighborhoods without access to green spaces, for children in city schools or for those in institutional settings such as nursing homes. The effects of nature’s qualities on health are not only spiritual and emotional but physical and neurological. I have no doubt that they reflect deep changes in the brain’s physiology, and perhaps even its structure.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/opinion/sunday/oliver-sacks-gardens.html

The term “biophilia” has a rich history of use since first appearing in the 1960s but “hortophilia” is a new one, not yet in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.  As a confirmed logophile (lover of words), biophile, and hortophile, I love and embrace all three of those words. They reaffirm the work I have been doing for almost 50 years, sharing my love of nature and plants with others outside on the preserves and trails. I’m thankful that Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve has embraced those concepts by inviting me to lead Nature Education Walks there and also by hosting the vital work of ANFT-Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide Elena Rios.

On June 22, Taft Gardens is presenting ethnobotanist, writer, and gatherer Kat Anderson, author of Tending the Wild, for an informative and timely talk: "Connecting to Ancestral Ways of Relating to the Earth: What Native California Elders Share about Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Stewardship Practices.” See the link to Taft Gardens calendar in the Other Local Events of Interest column below. Register soon because this one is certain to sell out.

Who or what has inspired your nature connection lately? Please share with me (with your name or anonymously) to continue this conversation.

Thanks for reading,

Lanny