El Bosque de Itzpapalotl
A forest inspired me to write this blog.
Some context: Mariposas Rebeldes is a collective I started in 2020 after inviting friends over to do some gardening my backyard. We found so much joy in creating a space where we could grow food and cook for each other, and it quickly took off with the rest of our community. So much so, we were able to crowdfund enough money to buy land.
And so, after months of searching, I came across something very interesting: a driveway. It's an easy driveway to miss if you're driving down the road it's connected to. The actual lot it sits on is 1/3 of an acre, and used to be a tire shop that got demolished decades ago. I climbed up the driveway. The first thing I noticed was the wisteria, in full pink bloom, runners shooting every which way. I noted the thick mat of blackberry brambles, the ripest fruits far from reach. English ivy, privet, honeysuckle, all "invasive", overgrown, and at a state where they would be hard to manage. Not the best first impression.
After climbing for a bit, I walked into the shade of the canopy and felt a shift.
I was looking out into a narrow corridor, surrounded by trees on all sides. It was clearly the work of the electrical companies, who had clearcut a path to make way for overhead wires. But ecosystems adapt. Already, there were tiny sweetgum saplings waiting to reach as high into the canopy as their mothers. Young dewberry brambles poked through the grass where the local fauna had recently spread their seed. Ivy covered the old, discarded tires that littered the corridor and sheltered so many mosquitos.
Places like these are sacred. They illustrate beautifully how ecosystems change and are changed by their surroundings. They demonstrate the triviality of borders and property lines. Even though the actual lot is only 1/3 of an acre, this corridor opened up into at least 5 acres of un-managed forest, right in the middle of the city.
I guess I kinda fell in love. Which brings me back to why I started this blog. I want a record of what happens here. We signed the deed in April, and I've just been spending time out there camping and clearing trails since. This blog will be a place to post projects, observations, and art related to this forest.
Already, the forest has taught me so much. It took me a while to come up with a name for it. Sacred spaces should have names. "Bosquitzpapalotl" is what I settled on. "Bosquitz" for short. It honors the patron diety of our collective, Itzpapalotl.
Stay tuned for more content. I'll try to do a photo tour soon, as words can only tell so much. In the meantime, an essay that's been on my mind a lot lately:
According to biological theory all properly drained lands left to themselves will eventually become forested as the final phase of ecologic
