The words terra firma bring music to the ears of a person who has experienced a rough flight then learns the plane has landed safely.
We Earth creatures are attached to the ground by a wonderful power called gravity. Even the deepest oceans have a bed of earth that has provided a home to species of marine life that would spark the minds of any science fiction writer.
And just like areas of the world above the seas, there are mountains below it with all kinds of plants rooted in their slopes.
We say when a person is grounded he or she is a down to earth sort of fellow that can be trusted. When we tell a teenager he or she is grounded it means they are being punished for a misdemeanour.
When someone appears to be false and continues to lie his or her way out of it people say he is standing on shaky ground.
The ground can mean different things to different people but it confirms an identity for me – a self of belonging to the land of my birth and a place I will always hold in my heart no matter where on Earth I might find myself in.
(c) 2024 Pat Barnett
