Feb 22 Diversity Density carine roth
One step at a time, skimming the South African bush,
sometimes like a dizzy spell...
Walk there.
On the back of Gondwana.
Tell me about the 3 families of Fynbos plants,
Restios, Ericas and Proteas.
The ancient forest, the cave through the mountain, the voices of the ancestors and the Sangomas.
The Cape Fynbos, one of the richest and most diverse plant communities on the planet.
The first homs, the Khoikhoi and the Sans, hunter-gatherers and shepherds.
How Proteas are prehistoric plants, how the Cape bush is regenerated by flames, the seeds of Proteas only opening under the bite of fire to reproduce.
Drumming in the belly of the mountain, there in the bat cave, in absolute darkness, between two passes of headlamps...
Listen to Saartjie Baartman's story,
mammoths and elephants,
paper flowers that never fade,
stolen land, from men and women alike, also from others than humans.
The People, plants people, human people, stone people, water people, cloud people, everything that is there, sublime and unbearable, walking here, on Gondwana's back.
Burn sage, send prayers, listen.
The earth seen from the sky, a love story, a story of creation, a human story, what kind of humanity could emerge today?
Writing new stories?
Sometimes it's like being dizzy trying to make sense of things when they seem so simple.
Life