Tricycle | Awake in the World

The Tricycle Book Club is discussing Lin Jensen's Deep Down Things: The Earth in Celebration and Dismay! Look for daily excerpts from the book on the Tricycle Blog to inspire the conversation, which is happening here.

From Deep Down Things:

"

When we’ve lost our place we’re like transplanted trees whose roots long for native soil. A bond has been broken that can’t be put together again. The once-living soil of Orange County now lies buried beneath sidewalks, streets, parking lots, and the foundations of endless buildings strung side by side from the mountains to the sea. For those of us who’ve known the county’s farms and fields, a return to the county is like a visit to a vast graveyard where earth itself has been entombed. “Out of sight, out of mind,” an old saying goes. And so for Orange County’s current residents, the land that lies beneath their very feet is out of mind. When something is out of mind, it’s not likely to be valued, and if what happens to be out of mind is the earth upon which our own continued existence depends, we’re in trouble. “Orange Counties” of whatever name they happen to be called have sprung up across the whole expanse of our nation, and generations of youngsters are growing up with no more intimate exchange with the earth than is accorded by an annual pilgrimage to a National Park. For these young ones the ancient dialogue with the land has been effectively broken."

Have something to say? Visit the Tricycle Community Book Club to discuss Deep Down Things!

Image: "2 Flatirons from the Chautauqua" from the Flickr photostream of joiceyshowaa