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August, 1983
I placed that rock in a a slickrock crack in 1982. The rock slowed the flow of runoff, allowing eroding sand to be trapped upstream of the rock. Notice that nothing was flowing "up". Water and sand were still flowing down but their flows slowed down in the presence of this strategically placed rock. The following year, a pinyon pine had sprouted in this accumulation of sand.
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June, 1994
I returned to find the tree has grown. Now sunlight that used to reflect back to space is absorbed by the tree. This energy enters the biosphere to alter flows in ways that create more possibilities. At some point in time, that tree will absorb more energy into the biosphere than I used to place that rock. "Seven years earlier...I had thought the Second Law of Thermodynamics prevented this possibility. I had assumed that the Second Law meant that any action I did could only decrease possibilities and that my life was limited to consuming the possibilities of this world. That assumption had burdened my spirit. But this work of erosion control has released me from that burden by making me aware of the two levels of energy flow....My life can be more than a consumption of possibilities."
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"But my work has done more than just reduce the outflow of rainwater and soil from these fields. My work has increased the inflow of energy. As balances shift and erosion gives way to healing, plants colonize bare patches of dirt. Previously, those bright lifeless surfaces had reflected sunlight....But as plants cover the reflective dirt with absorbent green, more of the Sun's gift of energy enters the cycles of life.
"This energy helps more leaves grow which will absorb even more energy. This energy allows the plants to mix more of the earth and air together so that more rain will be absorbed and more soil will form. Once begun, this upward spiral can maintain itself by absorbing more of the sunlight and rainwater. No additional work is needed from me. A downward spiral has become an upward spiral.
"Year after year my divergences alter the flows of energy. The longer my works remain in place, the more effects they will accumulate. (This means that the sooner I start my work, the more powerful it will be.) The difference between what is happening and what would have happened grows greater with every sunny day and every passing storm. At some point this difference will grow greater than the energy I used in building my divergences.... Seven years earlier...I had thought the Second Law of Thermodynamics prevented this possibility. I had assumed that the Second Law meant that any action I did could only decrease possibilities and that my life was limited to consuming the possibilities of this world. That assumption had burdened my spirit. But this work of erosion control has released me from that burden by making me aware of the two levels of energy flow....My life can be more than a consumption of possibilities."