Soils.
In my day-to-day life,
I often forget that you are the cradle of all life.
I want to take a moment to remember you,
Not just as dirt underfoot,
But as the foundation of all human nourishment,
The silent keeper of water and nutrients,
And the essential partner of every plant and harvest.
Day-to-day,
We look at profits,
Productivity,
And outcomes,
Yet seldom pause to consider how you quietly support everything that we do,
From the smallest seed that we eat and plant,
For being the literal and metaphorical ground of entire civilizations.
Let this be a recognition of your hidden contributions,
A tribute to the many forms you take,
And to the life you sustain.
Thank you,
Sandy soils.
You pour through our fingers like grains of thyme,
Light and gritty,
Forged from weathered rocks.
You drain water swiftly,
Teaching us how to hold on to what's precious and adapt to what slips away.
Though some might see you as barren,
You generously recharge aquifers and provide a foothold for hearty plants.
Your silica even births glass and silicon.
Thank you for showing us how life can thrive in simplicity,
And for forming the shores where land greets the sea.
Thank you,
Clay soils,
Red clay.
Your dense iron-tinged body remembers ancient seas,
And you hold water and nutrients with a tenacious embrace.
From the red clays of North Carolina to the terra rasa born of dissolved limestone,
You reveal how transformation arises from patience and time.
When shaped by skilled hands,
You become pottery,
Vessels of art and function.
You remind us that fruitful abundance often demands devotion and care.
Thank you for providing both sturdy ground beneath our feet and the malleable material that fuels our creativity.
Thank you,
Silt and loess.
You drift gently from river and wind,
Settling in fertile floodplains and deltas that have cradled civilizations.
Like silk in the fingers,
You hold moisture and minerals in a subtle treasure.
Because of you,
The Nile became Egypt's breadbasket and the Mississippi nourished America's heartland.
Thank you for renewing our fields with each flood,
For giving rise to loess hills that sustain abundant grains,
And for reminding us to protect your richness from erosion.
Thank you,
Black soils.
Dark,
Fragrant,
And alive with humus,
You are the cradle of agricultural plenty.
Rich with the memories of ancient grasslands,
You hold water,
Carbon,
And nutrients so well that harvests overflow from your depths.
Thank you for the centuries of roots,
Leaves,
And creatures woven into your substance.
For the sweet smell of life renewed,
You are the embodiment of fertility.
A testament to how decay and growth dance together across time.
Thank you,
Chalky and limestone soils.
Pale and sometimes stubborn,
You emerge from marine sediments long since lifted into hills and cliffs.
While you can be challenging for certain crops,
You lend your minerals to vines and herbs that root deeply.
You shape distinctive flavors in grapes,
The champagne region for example,
And remind us that even rough terrains can yield bounty when cared for.
Thank you for showing how dissolution and creation are linked,
And for carrying a quiet resilience in your stony composition.
Thank you,
Peat soils.
In waterlogged bogs and fens,
Your dark,
Spongy layers hold the treasure of carbon,
Far more than many forests combined.
You teach us that the slow decay of mosses,
Sedges,
And wood can become a living archive of centuries.
Thank you for preserving traces of bygone eras,
For warming homes with peat turf,
And for flavoring our drinks.
You embody patience,
Capturing stories of wetlands past and reminding us how crucial it is to protect the Earth's precious carbon stores.
In acknowledging just a few of your many various forms,
From light sands to iron-rich clays,
From fertile black earth to chalky terrains,
May we remember that each type of soil is like a personality.
It preserves a record of the landscape and offers its own unique gifts,
As it participates in being part of this Earth.
May we remain mindful of the ground beneath us,
Recognizing the painstaking processes that shape each inch of soil.
Let us offer our gratitude in concrete ways,
Through careful stewardship,
Thoughtful land use,
And a commitment to sustain the environments that have fed us for countless generations.
By remembering you,
Hopefully we can continue to learn how to be better stewards and honor the life that they foster.
May we ensure that all future hands will feel that same depth,
Richness,
And promise that you do in every inch of your being.
