Is it no magic this neibourhood, no leaves tae rake or blaw, nae grass tae mow.
Nae beasties in the hoose, nae burds crappin oan the car, nae neibours revin up their hedge trimmers, total peace mon.
Ye dinni even get insects slairiein the windie o the car when ye go fur yer messages either.
Translate:
neibourhood: neighbourhood
Is it not wonderful this neighbourhood, no leaves to rake or blow, no grass to mow.
Nae insects in the house, nae birds pooping on the car, no neighbours reving up their hedge trimmers, total peace man.
One does not even get insects smearing the window of one’s car when one goes for ones shopping either.
′nibərhud
The Scottish Word: neibourhood with its definition and its meaning illustrated and captioned with the word used in context in the Scots language and in English.
Soil.
About 25% of all living things actually live in the soil – 25% – so tread carefully. It’s as alive as you are! There are more microorganisms in a handful of soil than the total amount of human beings.
Earthworms.
“It may be doubted if there are any other animals which have played such an important part in the history of the world as these lowly organized creatures.” Darwin.
Darwin also estimated that arable land contains up to 130,000/ha of worms, but modern data shows that it can be 4,300,000/ha in well looked after soil.
Which means that the weight of earthworms beneath a farmer’s soil can be greater than the weight of livestock upon its surface.
Death.
If you destroy or bury soil you now know that you are killing vast quantities of life.
And all soil is classed as non-renewable because the time taken to regenerate soil is longer than a human’s lifespan.
Links:
Links if you want some more information.
A link to New York Public Library’s summary of Darwin’s last book “The Importance of Earthworms” also named The Formation of Mould.
A link to 15 Facts Unearthed About Soil from FactCity, a quick and easy read with follow ups available.
A link to 10 Facts About Soil and How it Helps the Environment – for World Soil Day from WorldX web site.
Influencing or Action?
The We Don’t Have Time organisation is as good a place to start as any if you want to try and do something. Either to dispel ignorance or as part of a move towards more creative doing.