good trouble

thinking about willows that will bud soon and good trouble!!

in spring willow sprouts out, offering food for beavers, branches for weavers and pain relief medicine nestled within the inner bark.

i've been watching a particular stand of willows dwindle as nearby beavers gradually added it to their underwater winter snack stash. they eat the bark but also use this wood to build.

as the beavers arrange branches, rocks and plants into piles that slow the flow of water near their lodge, they're gradually restoring marshland and bringing more biodiversity to the south shore of lake hiawatha.

the water that flows out from the lake is minnehaha creek - which the minneapolis park service tried to straighten out a hundred years ago when resculpting the vast marsh here into a golf course. the same park service that was trapping and killing beavers here up until 2015.

much to learn from the willows about generosity, much to learn from the beavers about building what we need to support more life with or without permission 💫

thanks to those who joined last week's walk despite big winds :) we'll do another one here sometime this summer