Can the Earth Love Us Back?

Augustina Flores
3 min readApr 14, 2022

Some conversations don’t have to be spoken. What about a plant? Can’t they speak with us too?

What a lot of us think of as mere plants are recognized by many traditions as non-sentient beings. They aren’t just passive things. They are grandparents, cousins, aunties. Practicing walking meditation in the forest, I contemplated a question from Robin Kimmerer’s book “Braiding Sweetgrass”. Does the Earth love us back? I think they do. They are watching us all the time, waiting for us to notice their smiling faces.

Rubenesque Tree. The shadow of this tree creates a curvy female figure bringing out the anatomical quality of the tree itself. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Feelin’ Vine. Knots in this wooden post resemble eyes, the bolt looks like a nose, & a vine reaching across completes the face with a smile. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Duet for Bindweed & Escallonia. An inquisitive coupling of bindweed & escallonia display a shadowy cacophony in the spotlight of the sun. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Smiling Salal. Salal berries were food for NW Coast Indigenous peoples. The berries have a texture like blueberries but a sweeter taste. Here a bird dropping & a shadow create a mask-like face that reminds me of a frog. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Face in the Moss. Moss grows so thick in NW Coast forests that other plants can grow out of it. The moss on this stump sprouts two leaves that resemble eyes & an indentation that reminds me of a mouth. To me, the fern in the background gives the portrait an 80’s mall “headshots” quality. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Halo. A gilded hydrangea drapes its entourage of timid asters with a chiaroscuro cape. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Water Pulcinella. Negative space & a bit of moss create the shape of a face with a water lily blossom as a pom-pom nose. The shape of the nose reminds me of the Commedia Dell’arte character Pulcinella. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Hello, Buttercup. A surprised buttercup is caught lurking among a tangle of discrete roses. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Crocosmian Tongue. Crocosmia grow like weeds around the park where I live. They remind me a lot of Bird of Paradise, but a bit more humble & silly (kind of like Macaroni Penguins). As I passed by these two troublemakers blowing in the wind, I felt like I was being mocked. The one on the left looks like he’s sticking out his tongue! cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Hydrangea Eyes. A hydrangea blossom’s color depends on the acidity of the soil. On the Oregon Coast the soil varies so much that the flowers take on vibrant mixed hues not found anywhere else in the world. Everyone I’ve shown this image to sees something different. Some see a smiling face, others only see a single eye. What do you see staring back at you? cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Puckering Thistle. When I made this photo, I was actually studying the light falling on the pair of thistle buds in front. It wasn’t until I was reviewing the images in my camera that I noticed the face with its puffed cheeks and puckered mouth just up to the left of the frame. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Calla Lily Astounded. A-ha! cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Iris Queen. Don’t worry dear Iris, even though you are wearing a frown, I know you’re smiling on the inside. You look fabulous, darling. That ruffled hat suits you perfectly. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art
Blooming Chorus. cc-by-sa 4.0 Feral Zen.art

The magic of photography is that with a simple shift in perspective, we can animate a mere flower making it appear as big & significant as the most profound landmark. Most people pass by weeds, (or even photos of them) & think they aren’t worth looking at. I invite you to shift your own perspective next time you go for a walk & seek for something special in what you habitually ignore.

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Augustina Flores

🌱 Grass-seed Zen Practitioner ☸️ Traditional Knowledge Advocate 🪶