There are times when wild ones arrive to the herbal apiary garden as if out of nowhere. It moves something in me ~ readjusting my place as a five fingered one amongst the wider web of wilder things.
The appearance of this turkey tail whispers something to me of the vibrancy of the land and offers a glimpse into the unseen wild-cycling land patterns pulsing and thrumming away in the timeless background.
What wisdom brings these wild ones here? The answer lies somewhere in the decomposition of willow and somewhere in wild mystery. A reminder that this garden is always feeding itself ~ living and dying in each moment. A reminder of the invisible network of nutrient composters and recyclers fuelling the regenerative power of any untempered patch of land.
In my infinite wonder of such things, I resist the instant harvest my herbal ego wants to claim and I am called yet again towards a slow exchange of gratitude, observation, understanding and respect. I am listening for insight and permission ‘to work with’ rather than ‘take to use’. The arrival of this new (old) wild one gifting me a fresh taste of some wild be-longing among them.
Their arrival reminds me of the feeling in the garden just after a wild swarm landed here. A stillness, a beauty and a sense of reverence fell upon the place ~ transforming it into a wild birth church (and of course a swarm is the birth of a colony of honeybees). Tending to all of this, as and when it comes, is as much my work here at the herb garden as anything else.