We have all been spending a lot more time at home lately. And it has given us an opportunity to become more familiar with our local spaces. Whether that be our own gardens, if we have them, our verges, our local parks and, if we’re lucky, our local wild places. We’ve had more time experiencing them, exploring them, getting to know them and potentially feeling a deeper connection to them.
These are our local spaces, our bit of land that we are a part of. You may have started to notice things about your local place. You might have noticed particular animals that reside in these areas, or plants when they blossom, fruit or drop their leaves. You might notice the extreme beauty of that place, or the degradation and damage that is there. This is all part of creating a connection to the land. And it is this connection that helps us care for the land.
In this issue, Trish Ellis, a local Indigenous elder shares with us her practice of Dadirri (see page 78). How we can connect to Country, taking the time to stop in a place and really connect with it and observe all that is there on a deeper level than just looking. This is a great way to help us deepen our level of connection.