Humic is moist and earthy. Soil. Dirt. Decomposition. It is rich and fertile, the adjective form of humus, which is a favorite word of mine. It’s in my lexicon.
Humic is forest floors, especially when they are damp. Humic is the way the air smelled in New Orleans in the Garden District: resurrection ferns, cemeteries, life and decay, moisture just below the surface of the earth.
Humic. Humus. Human. I wonder what the roots of these words are. Earth? Humans from the earth? From Genesis, yes, we were made from earth. I’m going to have to look up the origins of the word human. When and where, what its root is. It seems coincidental for it to be so similar to humic and humus.
In evolutionary terms, it would make more sense for the name of life to come from the sea. For the name of us to come from the sea. Except I guess that would be the origin of all life, not just humans. We walk on land, so there’s the earth part, but lots of animals walk the earth. Am I’m even getting my evolutionary biology right? Surely the first life was in water, the first single-celled organisms?
My brain has lost so much.
Back to humic. I can’t wait to move to our new house and dig in the dirt again. I want a butterfly garden. Our garden in Florida was my daily delight after cultivating it for three or four or however many years. Searching for caterpillars and chrysalises, watching butterflies emerge. The way they perch on a leaf and dry their sticky wings before flying away. I know Florida butterflies but not Virginia ones. I’ve no idea the native host plants, the nectar plants. I can’t wait to start learning.
————
From Online Etymology Dictionary, Human (emphasis is mine):
(12c.), from Latin humanus “of man, human,” also “humane, philanthropic, kind, gentle, polite; learned, refined, civilized,” probably related to homo (genitive hominis) “man” (see homunculus ) and to humus “earth,” on notion of “earthly beings,” as opposed to the gods (cf. Hebrew adam “man,” from adamah “ground”).
For the month of April, I will be publishing a 10-minute free write each day, initiated by a prompt from my prompt box. Minimal editing. No story. Just thoughts spilling onto the page. Trying to get back into the writing habit.
Butterfly Mind 
Good luck with your move and the new garden.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t wait to get digging either, I am waiting for the warmer weather though. Good luck in Virginia. Like us here, your best host plants might be milkweed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Starting a new garden in a new place is hard and fun. I’m doing the same here. If it ever dries out enough to go out and work. 🙂 The nursery will tell you what will draw butterflies to your area.
LikeLike
Lots to do in the garden here also, but all cannot be done in one day, hence time to read some blogs. 🙂
LikeLike
Andrea,
I didn’t know where to put this “Prompt”…My neighbor and I had a brief and friendly conversation yesterday about his blowing of leaves onto my property and the cutting of hardwoods. I threatened a fence. Both our houses are oriented to give a view of Kennesaw Mtn. The property line, naturally, runs down the middle of a wild space/buffer which partially blocks his view, but enhances my privacy. His house is higher than mine, his view sufficient, IMO.
After reading your post, I wondered at the word Orient, regarding the situating of a house on a plot of land. Why Orient? Is it a totally different word from the Orient of the Far East?
You decide.
LikeLike
Now I can smell the woods after rain, a silage barn on a hot summer’s day, and that peculiar smell water seems to take on only when one is fishing. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person