One way to classify lichens is by what substrate they like—what they grow on. Here is an incomplete list: corticolous lichens grow on the bark of living plants; saxicolous on rocks; terricolous on soil; foliicolous on leaves; lichenicolous on other lichens; zooicolous on (slow) animals. As my sassy lichen guide says: “lichens grow on anything that sits still long enough, including you, when your time expires.”
So here is a sweet one:
This is a tractor headlight; maybe we can have a contest to name what kind of -icolous that makes the lichen. The tractor belongs to Aunt Amy, a Cherokee elder whose garden (pics here, history here) I get to be in and with as part of a lush, longterm gardening apprenticeship. This apprenticeship, and the Anne Braden program, and beginning a justice-focused MSW* on May 24 are some big changes in what I am growing (on). I really didn’t know I was going to do this all in one year, but it’s what’s happened, and all of it feels like the same thing just with different outfits on. And, this Friday is my last day of full time work with EL, a nine-year substrate. It’s a lot!
So in this fecund time, I’ll share with you the work of someone I learned about in autumn, when things were more like compost: Mia Birdsong. Her work has helped me come back again and again to a centeredness in what matters to me. I love her book, How We Show Up. And this beautiful episode of Finding Our Way (start with that, it’ll make you want the book). And her instagram. Listening to that episode this fall, I realized I sometimes reject things about “community” because those things are often de-politicized in a way that’s both gross and inaccurate. But her work about community is gorgeously, queerly, abolitionistly politicized and I’m so grateful for that path back to something I actually do love reading about and being in and growing on.
How about you? First I’d like to say afresh that it is a blessing to get to write this to you. It is not abstract. I look at the list of your names; I think about you and give thanks. As always, you can hit reply to send me an email, or leave a comment via substack, or text your friends… about what you are practicing, or what you are growing, or growing on.
*I have more to say about this MSW! One thing is that the history of social work is oppressive as hell but there is also radical critical social work and that’s where I’m heading. Short version of current plan: become an LCSW, to be able to take teachers’ insurance, so I can contribute to the educator-healing part of transforming k12 education. More coming over the next three years of school…also I love chatting about it so let’s have a phone date!
Yay yay yay - so excited for you!!!