It’s early in the morning and I’m cleaning the onions I just pulled out of the ground for today’s Bow Little Market. How do onions do it? How do they make all those thin layers without them sticking together? How do they make that last thin skin? With what fine brush do they paint the thin green lines on their white flesh? And they do it all without any hands. You need to be a gardner, a farmer with their hands in the dirt, to be full of joy and wonder at what a special place we live in this infinite universe.

We’ve sent Voyager more than 20 billion kilometers from earth. We’ve peered far into distant galaxies, and we’ve yet to find another home where onions grow. Our precious earth is a treasure beyond compare. Making sure that for generations to come, people can wonder how an onion grows is something we owe our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren, and on and on and on. Nothing is more important than pure air, clean water, soil free of poisons and teaming with life. It’s what keeps us alive and happy.