Green Snake

written by

Drausin Wulsin

posted on

June 8, 2018

unnamed-(1).jpg

This rare Kirtland's Snake was identified this past week in our wetlands. 

It is an exciting discovery because this snake is highly reclusive and known in only one other location in the county. A local herpatologist has been patrolling our wetland in search of this species, and several days ago discovered it. This is big news for local herpatologists and for us. It indicates our wetland is rich with biodiversity and is protecting threatened species.  

Our wetlands has become the heartbeat of our farm, and its pulse emanates widely into adjoining pastures. In like manner, the biodiversity we are building in soil and among plants from grazing enhances wildlife in the wetlands. And your purchase of our grassfed foods supports the pastures which supports the wetlands which cycles back to support the pastures. As you are part of this rich feedback loop, you can feel good about investing your money in the food we produce. 

This is the second time in two weeks that a secretive snake has presented itself to us. We are not sure what to make of this. But it would seem prudent to accept its healing powers heralded in medicine and its portend of transformation offered in mythology.  And we do, humbled and intrigued by our new relationship with these guardians of the quiet. 

Below, rising sun highlights noble draft horses. And age-old lattice-work rendered by making hay graces a nearby field. 

This is the optimum time of year for livestock, as grass is abundant and temperatures are not yet overbearing. The past week of 80 degree weather has been a gift to bovines and humans. Cows have shed their winter coats and are beginning to shine with oil secreted by the thymus gland. We have been moving cows and calves rapidly across the landscape, but will begin slowing down given slower growth of pasture ahead, allowing for 45 - 60 day rest periods. Fast growth, fast movement; slow growth, slow movement.
 


.

Pork chops, corn bread, Cannellini beans, and sauteed green peppers gave us another taste of heaven.

May we be wise enough to recognize the power of reptiles in our lives!



More from the blog

Sacred Place

It is a privilege to know a sacred place, as I feel I do. In some ways, it seems sacred places are supposed to be scarce and remote, like Stonehenge, Chartres Cathedral, the Taj Mahal, or abandoned Pueblo dwellings. Large landscapes, like the desert, ocean, or mountain ranges feel imbued with the divine. Alaska, the Amazon, and the Serengeti invite a sense of awe. One travels to such places, in pilgrimage. And sometimes such places reorganize the pilgrim's sense of order, inviting disorder or change, that can be both painful and uplifting.

Big Muddy

Here is the Lower Mississippi River, 45 feet below normal pool. Over Thanksgiving, Susan and I shoehorned ourselves onto a cruise ship to learn about the lower Mississippi and its bayou. We started in Memphis and ended up in New Orleans, with stops along the way to explore river towns. This river is the third longest on the planet, providing drainage to 40% of North America. It has historically deposited silt yearly in its floodplains, producing topsoil 120 feet deep, making these soils some of the richest in the world. Vast wetland forests grew beside its banks, of cypress, oaks, and sycamores, populated by a rich array of black bears, deer, bobcats, alligators, and aquatic life. This was the legendary bayou.

Streams & Souls

Streams and souls seem to share character. They are life-giving, they are coveted, they can be impeded, they can be channelized, they can be overwhelmed, they flood, they dry up, they flow downhill, they are a force of both change and constancy, they lie at the center of a community, they will not be denied, and because of this great complexity, they attract periodic resistance. So, it seems that streams may serve as a metaphor for the journey of the soul.