Katrina Martich

I gave in and bought berries. I'd been working on the spiritual practice of eating in season. It helps me remember my connection to and dependence on the well-being of creation. The practice encourages me to be mindful of the people my food dollars support and the environmental impacts of my food choices. It also means my morning cereal had been devoid of berries for many months. I was ready for berries. Climate change had another plan. Weather extremes are exacerbated by ove

I’m a lazy gardener. “Gardener” is not even the correct term for what I do, which is mostly puttering. I check on plants to see how they’re doing and tend to the ones that need a little care. I find a bare spot and add a plant or two. I look for signs of new creatures and wonder what I can change in the yard to meet their needs. Mostly, it’s all an excuse to be outside and reconnect with nature. My laissez faire yard care results in plants getting a bit unruly before I weed,

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about names. It started when I was walking along a creek and noticed the difference in my perspective when I wondered “who” was in the creek, instead of “what” was in the creek. The perspective of “who” caused me to be aware of the living nature of the plants, animals, even the flowing creek itself, and my relationship with them. Around the same time that I was having these thoughts, I read an essay about the Spokane River called “What Is the N

My blog posts on the first of each month are dedicated to the practice of Living Connected. The focus of our connection for May 2021 is water. Notice Go outside and find some water in your yard or neighborhood. It may be a puddle, pond, creek, or water from a faucet. Splash in the water and watch it move through your hands. Notice its feel on your skin, the way it flows and changes shape, and the play of light in it. Look for creatures and plants who rely on the water for lif

A study by the Pew Research Center indicates about three-quarters of adults in the U.S. are concerned about protecting the environment; however, only one-in-five act on this concern in their daily lives. These results are consistent with my observations working as an environmental engineer and in eco-justice ministry. As a people, we care about the environment in a general sense. At the same time, environmental crises don’t seem as urgent as the other daily issues we face. I’

Why aren’t you talking about climate change? More than any other question I’m asked, people want to know why I don’t keep climate change front and center in all I do. If you look at my work, climate change is mentioned or included somewhere in almost everything. However, people are right to say it’s not the primary focus. That’s intentional. Both NOAA and NASA state there is scientific consensus that climate change is happening and is “extremely likely due to human activities

Every morning, many of us put water in the coffee maker, take a shower, flush the toilet, or turn on the faucet, without ever thinking about the water being there. Modern plumbing makes it easy to forget how precious water is. We rely on water to drink and to grow our food, and yet we also play in it. We wash the dog and car with water, and we bathe ourselves in it. We water lawns, golf courses, and playing fields. Water also is used to manufacture our clothing and household

The pandemic is prompting many conversations about the common good versus individual rights. The tension between these two is ages old. In the ancient Greek text, Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle considers the two perspectives, as he reflects on the virtue of individual flourishing versus the flourishing of a nation or city-state (Book I, Part 2). Later, in Book IX, Part 6, he comments on what happens to community when people focus too little on the common endeavor: “they aim a

I recently started hanging laundry outside to dry. My intent was to reduce my home’s energy use and carbon footprint. It’s too soon to know if I’ve done so; however, its already affected my life. I now must adjust my activities to do laundry early on days with good weather. I also must take the clothes down and fold them in a timely manner. There’s no more leaving them in the dryer until I feel like folding them and running the dryer (again!) to fluff out the wrinkles. I’m em

Tyson Foods recently warned, “the food supply chain is breaking.” I agree, but probably not for the same reasons. Anyone who has read Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, knows the meat packing industry has a problematic history in the US. The book played a role in passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Food safety was not Sinclair’s goal. In an interview for Cosmopolitan Magazine, published under the title What Life Means to Me, Sinclair states that he failed in his g

I live in a state where the lieutenant governor suggested grandparents should be willing to expose themselves to, and if necessary, die from coronavirus, so their grandchildren will not suffer economic hardship. Like me, you may have heard friends echo the lieutenant governor’s sentiment or considered it yourself. His statement is almost a month old, and yet, I think the statement is still relevant, as we approach the 50th celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd. The first Ear

Gene Stratton-Porter was an amazing woman. I recently read about her in a Smithsonian magazine article. She lived in northeast Indiana from her birth in 1863 until she moved to California in 1919. Stratton-Porter was what we now call a naturalist. She spent time outside, observing and developing a understanding of the ways physical geography, plants, and animals interact. The Limberlost swamp was she where spent her days, and she was dismayed to see it drained for agriculture

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. One reason is their all or nothing nature. They seem to be a set-up for failure. Being human, it’s inevitable that I’ll break my resolution at some point. New Year’s resolutions also seem to discount the new start I get each and every day of my life. A bad day doesn’t mean a failed resolution for the year; rather, it’s the opportunity to repent and start over with the grace of a new day. This perspective is rooted in my Lutheran th