RadJoy Bird made of ferns and plants found by telecommunications tower. Photo by Ann Dillon

Sometimes when you go to a wounded place with the intention of making beauty there, you find that the place itself has a gotten a head start.

For their Global Earth Exchange site Fiona Murphy of Dublin, Ireland and her friend, Ann Dillon, hiked up to an area in the Dublin Mountains that had long been home to a patch of wild orchids. Recently, however, a telecommunications aerial had been installed there, and the two women were afraid that the orchids must have been destroyed.

Their hearts sank as they neared the area and saw that it had been cleared and graveled for maintenance and the patch of soil where the orchids had grown had been bulldozed into a pile. However, to their delight, the wild orchids were struggling to survive in the pile of dirt. Part of every Earth Exchange is to make a simple gift of beauty for the place. Fiona and Ann cleared the ground for the orchids and added some compost to provide nourishment for their continued survival. They also made a RadJoy bird out of plants and sticks they found nearby.

To learn more about the 2015Global Earth Exchange and making beauty out of a damaged or ugly place, see our website or contact us.