Across the American West, winter is no longer what it used to be. In 2026, scientists warned of a historic “snow drought”—a phenomenon where snowpack fails to accumulate even when precipitation occurs, often because temperatures are too warm for snow to form.

In Sicily, where citrus groves glow under the shadow of Mount Etna and prickly pear cacti dot the landscape, agricultural waste has long been part of the scenery. Each year, more than a million tons of orange peels, pulp, and cactus by-products are left behind—too often discarded, overlooked, or treated as a burden.

Mick McEvoy, manager of the Upper Hamlet Happy Farm in Plum Village in France, is telling The Earth & I about the connection between mindfulness and farming when he uses this somewhat enigmatic expression. It was coined by the Buddhist monk who helped establish Plum Village, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.