The weather was a bit uncertain when we started out early in
the morning; it was overcast with a sprinkling of rain. But we are a determined lot, we walkers, and we
headed out for our walk anyway. I don’t
mind a bit of rain, (just not torrents of it!) especially in the summer heat
when the rain that falls is very refreshing and cool to the skin.
When I was a
child, I loved going out in the rain and rescuing earthworms that had stranded
themselves on pavements. I was
fascinated by their wriggly paleness and would gently pick them up and place
them back in the earth to slither away safely.
I was reminded of my interest in earthworms by Ursula
Franklin, the remarkable scientist, who died very recently. She was a proponent of “the earthworm theory
of civic engagement”. (Who knew that earthworms
could be so profound? I must have known it as a child). She said: “From earthworms we learn that
before anything grows there has to be prepared soil. When we talk about the endless process of
bringing briefs and information to government, the only thing that can keep us
going is the notion that it prepares the soil.
It may not change minds, but it will provide the arguments for a time
when minds are changed. Unless there is
that prepared soil, no new thoughts and no new ways of dealing with problems
will ever arise.”
So think about that the next time you step around a worm in
the rain!
