12 members of the Earth Listening Circles of the Deep Adaptation Forum visited places local to them and did an Earth Exchange, as part of a global collaboration to listen to wounded places.

I went to a surviving oak savannah outside of Silverton, Oregon, that has some of the oldest white oaks left in Oregon (100+ years old).  At one time these oak savannah covered Oregon’s Willamette Valley, but most were cut down to clear land for agriculture and building.  Since I was last there, a severe ice storm had struck the area, resulting in many broken branches and toppled trees, which caused a lot of grief.  But then, I also noticed one tree that had been broken off about 40’ up from the ground—no limbs were remaining.  But I noticed small leaves beginning to spout along the remaining trunk and broken limbs of the tree.  I was reminded of the changing, as well as the resilience, of nature.