On Planning & Planting
Since mid-January, after our first snowstorm, we have experienced true Winter weather. For many of us, this means ceasing outdoor activities and dealing with dangerous mobility challenges, returning or worsening health issues (mental and physical), a sense or reality of isolation, and a pining for the sun and warmth. If you’re struggling this time of year for any reason, I see you.
On Sunday, March 20, the Vernal Equinox will begin Spring. For those practicing Earth-centered traditions, it may be celebrated with ritual. For those practicing gardening, it affirms the lengthening of daytime and inevitable warm and green growing season and the fact that it is time to start seeds indoors; for example, I will start my sage in the middle of March and transplant it in the middle of May.
The planning and planting are a series of rituals unto themselves, but celebrating the Equinox adds an extra depth to those acts. After all, we should celebrate ourselves and our interconnectedness with one another and the Earth whenever we have even the slightest reason, whatever the tradition. I look forward to recognizing the Equinox with you this month.
March is also the month the congregation will start its lease on property near the intersection of Illinois and Wick Avenues thanks to partnerships with Common Wealth and the Mahoning County Land Bank. And thanks to generous support from our members, a contractor will perform the heavy lifting, allowing us us to focus on the planning and planting: Native wildflowers? A bench? Space for memorial trees? A sign directing neighbors to our building? What sort of ministry to the neighborhood and the site’s neighbors can we create together?
To plug into this project, or help plan celebration of the Spring Equinox, contact me at gdavenport@uuyo.org or call the office for my phone number.
Gary Davenport has been a member of UUYO since 2011 and a Commissioned Lay Minister since 2021. His email is <gdavenport@uuyo.org>.