Earth Day

This is a public service message from the management of Rooting For Gargamel.

Yes, some will tell me that the "real" Earth Day is actually the Vernal Equinox, and it has been for thousands of years. But I'm talking about the "political" Earth Day, celebrated on April 22, the original intent of which, in 1970, was to raise awareness of the fragility of our ecosphere and what we all could do to stop pollution. Which is great. I am old enough to remember the first Earth Day, and I am a child of the late 60s and early 70s, who grew up recycling and not littering and loving the flowers and the trees.

But I think this simple message, the beautiful intent of Earth Day’s founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson, has gotten lost – in cynicism, in fear, and has become a giant political football.

So please, for one day, can we please stop the Global Whining and the finger-pointing and the talk of carbon footprints and drowning polar bears and just enjoy what’s still out there?

We have all year to recycle and repurpose and conserve, and I’m in agreement that these are wonderful habits that if all would agree to pursue, would make a great difference to our environment. We have all year to write fomenting letters to newspapers and our congresspeople, all year to complain about what the current administration is or isn’t doing, all year to debate the longevity of compact fluorescent bulbs versus the mercury they contain. And these are good things to talk about, too.

But for today, just go outside. Go for a walk. Take a deep breath (if circumstances allow) and note the difference between outside air and inside air. Feel the sun on your face, the breeze on your skin. Stand quietly and listen, beyond the hum of automobiles, for the smaller sounds - bird songs and insects humming and (if you’re fortunate enough to live deep enough into the country to hear this) the peep of tree frogs calling for mates. If you live in a city, go to a park and smell the dark aroma of earth, feel beneath your feet the energy of a world about to burst into bloom. Look beyond the graffiti and the crudeness of trash discarded into the weeds. (Where do people think those empty beer cans are going, huh? Surely not back into the earth. Not while we’re still on it, nor our children.) Take a few minutes to appreciate the budding trees, and the energy it takes them to grow new leaves each spring. Watch the ripples on the surface of a pond, the rush of streams and creeks swollen (as ours are) with the heavy spring rains.

Appreciate what’s still here.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. You are now free to resume calling Bush an idiot and counting the days until he leaves office.

And tomorrow, when you write your fomenting letters, try to do so electronically, and preferably from a laptop computer. This saves paper and energy.

I’m going outside now.