Ecosystems do not stop at civilization’s doorstep. Ecosystems inform everything that is good about mankind. Ecosystems do not judge us even though we have lost our way. Ecosystems will keep on giving gifts to us right to our dying breath, and beyond.
Ecosystems are like music. Music never stops giving, and, even though we are often quick to judge it, music does not judge us. Music informs every culture, and every generation, just as ecosystems inform landscapes: uniquely and fitly.
I can’t resist walking through the woods, and when I do I am just like some white kid, circa 1950, under the spell of the blues and gospel music they were hearing late at night on the radio. Black music struck a deep, spell-binding chord in the white kids, drawing them into to black neighborhoods where they could at the very least, hear the soulful music coming out of windows and doorways.
Sometimes, when I walk through the woods, I feel as if all of the trees are welcoming me, just the way black people welcomed white kids into their rhythmic world. When I walk through the woods I feel as if the plants and animals are openly happy to see my sincere enthusiasm, but guardedly waiting to cheer me on.
Elvis Presley was one of those kids who explored the “dangerous” black music, and, cultural appropriated though it was, his music changed a whole lot of racists into listeners.
Someday soon, I believe, some Elvis Presley of the ecosystem is going to come along and spread the gospel of ecosystems. All creatures great and small will be screaming with joy for the new star, who not only gets the rhythm of it all, but who channels the harmony of it all, too, healing the trauma of the human landscape. Like crazed fans, sunlight, leaves, flowers, breezes, birds, and brooks, and all the insects and animals too, will show off their finest outfits, scintillating in their favorite perfumes sharing their gifts with the new, hip and enlightened humans.
This eco-elvis-kid will show us the way to save our planet. They will make is listen to ecosystems. They will reveal that the power of ecosystems is ready to flow through all of us, just as rock and roll once flowed through Elvis and everybody else.
Save the Planet! Be Qualiadelic!