The Importance of Migrants

Hilary--friendly and curious

In our state, 3 men with Hispanic names have been arrested by ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement). These 3 men were working for the organization Migrant Justice.

The farmers in our state rely on migrant labor. At Town Meeting two weeks ago, one farmer stood up to remind us of the importance of migrants to his livelihood and to our state economy.  Since this farmer had a pig named Hilary a few years ago, i had assumed that told me something about his politics. (Hilary herself was so friendly and curious that i fell in love with her immediately.)

Regardless of politics, migrants are important in order for certain local foods to appear my table.

The Buddha himself was a wanderer, a homeless person, a migrant of a sort (though he did no physical labor nor did he earn any money).

Now is the time to practice right speech and speak up--kindly and gently. I have written postcards to ICE asking for the release of these 3 men.

During meditation, i express gratitude for the migrants who pick my neighbor's apples, the migrants who harvest oh-so-many fruits and vegetables. We need our migrant workers.

Surprise Visitor

A surprise visitor came to my garden yesterday: the neighbor's pig and 2 of her little piggies. She was a sizable brown sow with a snout darkened by rooting in the earth.

My sweetie had already complained about her previous 4 visits. She has plowed substantial sections of our lawn and meadow, looking for grubs, i assume, and leaving an uneven mess behind.

Fortunately, she doesn't seem as interested in the flower beds as she is in my wood chip paths.

Impermanence: What was smooth is now rough.

Dissatisfaction: What was smooth is now rough.

Emptiness: The lawn is composed of not-lawn elements (e.g., grubs, dirt, grass). Lawn is just an idea i have, a concept that proves to be empty of meaning.

Maybe i should dub this porcine teacher of the Dharma "Buddha."