Photograph by Cynthia Fain. Taken from The Blue Garden in the Peace Park – Poolesville, MD

The jewel of Montgomery County Maryland is it’s 90,000 acre Agricultural Reserve. This masterpiece of nature is heralded by many conservationists, hikers, nature lovers, bird watchers and cyclists. A lot of work goes into keeping this vast expanse of forest and farmland out of the hands of home builders. Preservation organizations keep vigilant watch over our planning agencies, because legislators need to be held accountable for keeping zoning regulations in tact, and focus their priority on protecting the Agricultural Reserve.

In the early 1990’s I read a newspaper article about a Buddhist Temple called Kunzang Payul Choling that was in the Poolesville, MD area in the Agricultural Reserve. I had never ventured into the Agricultural Reserve on foot, so this would be my first exploration beyond a drive through the country roads.

I was given a tour of the temple and shown the Prayer Room – including a beautiful array of crystals. After being shown around the temple I was delighted, to find out they had purchased 60 acres of land across the street, and were integrating magical gardens and trails into the woodland. What a treasure it was to have this park, with all it’s gifts right outside the incredilby hectic suburbs of Montgomery County Maryland.

One of my greatest joys was wandering off the trails and exploring hidden places in the forest. The park has five gardens: The Blue Garden, Red Garden, White Garden, Yellow Garden and Green Garden. Each garden has it’s own special charm, and the trails wind through forest, meadows, hills, valleys, and meandering streams.

After my mother passed away in the late night of November 2nd, 1999, the first place I ventured was the Peace Park early the next morning. Fresh from a night of crying, I headed out to the trail that leads to the Yellow Garden. After crossing over a stream, I navigated a hill with an obstacle course of large tree roots. At the top of the hill I came to the Yellow Garden. The chill of November air and barren trees made a stark contrast to the springtime , when the Yellow Garden transforms into a golden glow with forsythia and other yellow blooming flowers.

After my walk along the trail, I stopped at one of my favorite places in the park where a little earthen mound over looks the covergence of two streams. Getting to the streams was an adventure of grasping trees, while climbing down the mound and to the muddy shore. By the edge of the stream, I sat llistening to the water rippling over the rocks.

Six months after my mother passed away, my sister and I arranged to place a memorial bench in the Blue Garden at the Peace Park. Perched at the top of the hill, her bench, overlooked pink blossoming trees and a stream flowed through the forest below. The songs of woodthrush, cardinals and carolina wrens echoed through the trees and I knew we have found the perfect place for her bench.

We need to look at land conservation as a permanent committment and not sacrifice our natural heritage. Whereever you see a park, forest or farmland, always remember these places won’t be there without our committment to preservation. Connecting with nature and the healing of earth and streams needs to be a regular part of our lives. Take some time to unplug from all the electronic media and find your cherished place among nature.

In Montgomery County Maryland we are so fortunate to have our Agricultural Reserve and cherished spaces like the Peace Park.

For more information about the park, here is the link https://www.tara.org/stupa-peace-park-maryland/

JOURNEY TO THE PEACE PARK

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One of the greatest experiences of my life was volunteering with the Maryland Environmental Trust. I began volunteering with this Maryland State Government Agency in 1996-1998 and eagerly went back in 2006-2008. MET places voluntary land conservation easements on farms, woodlands, and historic properties. A 15-year state and local property tax exemption on the unimproved land comes with the MET easement agreement. The easements on the property are permanent, making this an excellent and effective land preservation tool.

To ensure the easements are properly maintained – landowners must agree to be monitored by MET for compliance with the stipulations of the conservation agreement. My monitoring adventures took me to huge farms in the Agricultural Reserve of Montgomery County Maryland and in Frederick Maryland. I visited forests, historic civil war easements, and emerald green meadows.

Development pressures in our suburbs have created a major loss of forest and farm habitat. The loss of quality of life for humans and wildlife is staggering. As humans, we have to think of the long – term, not just a rush to capitalize financially.

In Montgomery County Maryland, we are fortunate to have the Agricultural Reserve! This land is protected by agricultural zoning. But there are always risks being posed to the Agricultural Reserve. Many organizations including the Montgomery Countryside Alliance fight very hard to keep intrusions out of the reserve. I have testified many times at local legislative hearings regarding proposed developments that are not in alignment with the goals of the agricultural reserve. I encourage citizens to get out and take a firm stand against any type of development that poses serious environmental damage.

Land preservation needs to be a priority when areas are targeted for development. The tactics that developers and government agencies use to promote development – have fallen way out of alignment with what is sustainable for the future. Wildlife and birds have taken a brutal beating in areas where there is clear-cutting and massive pavement replacing what was once their sacred land. Imagine waking up one day and finding your home is gone or a highway is paved through your habitat.

To protect the future of our farms, forests, and green space please join a land trust or other land preservation organization. Exercise your civic rights to testify at legislative hearings; volunteer for an environmental organization and put your vision to work. A world without trees, clean air and water, green space, and abundant wildlife habitat is not a happy or sustainable outcome.

I hope to soon move back to Montgomery County and hike in the Agricultural Reserve! I miss it there. Long live our green heritage!

Image by Kessa from Pixabay

Tonight I ask people to PLEASE help all the cats that have been left to fend for themselves. Stray and feral cats originated from someone who failed to take proper responsibility for spaying and neutering their cats. I have been involved in the humane trapping of cats and working with groups like Rapp Cats. It is so important to get these neglected animals to spay-neuter clinics and provide food, water, and some shelter. And when possible work with groups to responsibly adopt out the cats that are able to be tamed. I thank Rapp Cats for all their hard work in providing the cats of Rappahannock County with humane trapping, sheltering and responsibly adopting cats to interested families. Please feel free to share your story about cats that you have rescued. I have seen many success storiES IN MY MANY YEARS OF WORKING WITH STRAY CATS. IN FUTURE POSTS I WILL SHARE SOME OF MY STORIES OF WORKING TO RESCUE AND FOSTER STRAY CATS.

Image by ArtTower from Pixabay

Here it is Christmas Eve, and I came across an extremely upsetting video on You Tube. This evening after, dark I thought I heard a wild animal hurting a cat. I wondered if it was a bear vocalization that I heard before the cat cried.

I ran out and got my flashlight and yelled out into the woods to try and find the cat. After the cat cried, everything went silent. I went inside and searched You Tube for the cries of a black bear.

I found a You Tube video of a bear cry and it turned out to be a video that a bow hunter took of a bear that he shot with an arrow. The video is tragic beyond words….the person who reposted this video is apparently an animal activist who was intent on showing the world what we humans do not want to hear. All those bullets and arrows randomly shot into wild animals for supposed sport – is no sport at all. It is barbaric and totally unacceptable that any form of violence to animals is viewed as a sport. Arrow wounds can lead to a prolonged death from bleeding, and the sounds of terror coming from this black bear would cause anyone but a sociopath to know that this is not what humans should be doing to our wildlife.

I encourage people to ask questions and not just think that hunting is solving wildife over population issues, etc. We need to look at the suffering of the animals and how we as humans have over taken their habitat and normal trail ways.

Make it a regular intention to go out and do something compassionate for the deer, bear and other wildlife – honor their pathways and learn from them.

I know this is a serious post on Christmas Eve, but isn’t Christmas supposed to reflect brining in the light and compassion to the planet for people, animals and nature?

For decades I have seen the agony of the animals left hit and killed on our roads. I have never understood why humans became so often immune to this issue. As anyone can see from my blog entries, I am passionate about bringing awareness to this issue.

Recently we have seen exciting news stories about wildlife over passes that are built over huge highways. Many species of animals have been seen safely using these amazing over passes. When we created our modern world the wild creatures were left out of the plan. The idea of hitting wild animals, and too often domestic animals like cats and dogs, became a horrifying norm the world over.

We need to see what a huge difference it would make in our world if we were to make it a priority to drive with safety and compassion for other motorists and animals. We need to devleop an entirely different attitude towards the animals that we share the planet with. I hope that we see a major global movement towards building many more of these highway over passes that give our sacred wild animals safe passage.

I am sorry that I have not written a post in so long. My journey of writing my first book Mystical Animals of Ancient Oak is really the story of my life. It is a story of finding healing with a mother who recovered from years of alcoholism, and the great awakening into nature that soon blossomed. How thosetwilight walks around South Valley Park brought great joy and inspiration to my soul. Why was that flightless duck I came to name Mr. Drake so important? He symbolized the essence of what people so often tread over in their daily lives. I had not visited South Valley Park in years and recently had an emotional visit there. No matter how old I get those days will always be the most important times of transition. Everyone needs to stop and re-connect with a special place in nature. Take time to unplug from all the fear around the Covid Virus. Find somewhere to honor and protect so that it will be there for future generations.

This evening I have a happy animal story to share. My friend Beth Kaufman (comedienne and book author), was at a shopping center when she saw cars stopped in the parking lot. She got out to see if there was an accident. It turned out that there was a pond in the parking lot and a mother duck was parading her ducklings across the parking lot. Fortunately, no one honked! And the ducks made there way safely! This is a great example of the importance of slowing down and stopping for wildlife. Thanks to the drivers who all care enough to stop.

Last week we had another cat abandonment on our property. One of the tenants here saw a small white pick up truck stop and drop off a grey cat and two white kittens at the base of our driveway. The tenant who lives here ran to get the license tag and hopefully report this to the police but the car sped off too fast. I am keeping my eyes out for the cats. They ran towards our neighbor’s house right on Route 522 at the corner of the highway. This is a criminal and sadistic act. People need to STOP acting like cats are exependalbe and can be thrown out on the road. I hope the cat and her kittens don’t get hit on the highway. I am praying I see the cats and can get some food and water to them before they perish. And I would like to thank the cat rescue organization Rapp Cats! They are one of the cat rescue groups that contributes major humane support to Rappahannock County’s lost and abandoned cats. Panda the cat that was abandoned here last fall was on the list for Rapp Cats and he is now in their shelter awaiting an adoption family!