Friday, April 22, 2011

Earth Day 2011



Teddy, the neighbor's dog (in the photo above), joined us on our two hour walk this afternoon. Down the canyon----thinking about Earth Day.


The Earth was alive with life today: vultures overhead, wild turkey in the brush (Abbey tried to follow them, but panicked and trotted back), deer print everywhere, new flowers in bloom. "Learn the flowers", I hear John Muir say. Wish I could. Every year I look at the new blossoms, take a photo of them and head back home where Joni tells me what they are. She rolls her eyes at me, not believing that I could forget the same flower she taught me the year before. I'm terrible learning languages and even more terrible at learning the flowers.


Earth Day is a day worth celebrating. A good day to take stock of the Earth, write a check to your favorite environmental organisation and dig out that new guide book.


So how to honor the Earth for the next year? Give more money away, live more simply, take a daily walk outside, learn a new flower, drive less, buy less. Live more.

2 comments:

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Happy Earth Day, Alan! Here's a suggestion for remembering the flowers: do the analysis yourself, rather than ask Joni. If you look really closely at all of its parts, and pour through the guide books trying to find a match, it will more likely stick in your mind. But I sympathize. I always have to ask others to ID the birds.

Allan Stellar said...

Thanks for the tip Woods...I'll give that a try and see if it helps my memory.. :)