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Saturday, September 21, 2013

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately....."

Reading Walden with 12th grade students and a talented co-teacher this past week, I started thinking about why I love composting so much. Today at the garden, as we chopped newly dropped-off food scraps and sifted finished compost, I noted the sensory overload all of this activity provides. Emptying the chopped up fruit and vegetable peels into the tumbler I am stunned by the array of colors - pinks, purples, greens, oranges, reds - pure art! Pouring the finished compost onto the sifter, I can hear the smaller pieces fall into the garbage can, raining down. Then poring over the bigger pieces, feeling the mango and avocado pits as I try to break them apart, seeing the random banana peel sticker or rubberband, it heightens my awareness of all that is living. This process, this cycle of renewal, all of our banana peels broken down and now rising up as black gold, brings such joy.