Earth Day – Snippets of a Traveling Mind

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the Earth.” (Henry David Thoreau)

How much do you already know about Earth Day? Click on the quiz links below to find out.

https://www.conservation.org/quizzes/earth-day-quiz

https://worldhistoryproject.org/quizzes/earth_day

The 50th anniversary of Earth Day happens this week. Yet I sense there lies a greater challenge in my life this year to feel the natural blessings of our land, air, and water on this global wide holiday. For I remain physically confined in our condominium, feeling sensory starved “cabin fever” now as a result of the Corona pandemic. Clearly, it seems sensible for me as this crisis lingers on to reconsider how Earth Day might assist me to stay healthy. It also seems to be an opportune time for honestly assessing the extent to which my current routines at home truly support Earth Day’s life-sustaining values. For I strive to act mindfully EVERY day now to be in sync with protecting our earth’s living environment.

So in observance of my “Inner Earth Day”, this year, I’ve decided to undertake a “walking archive” of each room in our South Florida condominium to determine how much I commit to the Earth Day initiative. The following question in this effort should immediately arise. To what extent do I “buy in” to the idea of reusing and/or recycling what I consume? What objects in my home motivate me to honor our earth’s livability for the future? Do I understand how to make efficient use of light, water, and power energy? Am I fully aware of how much I waste in what I buy? What changes should I make to our our annual “Spring Cleaning” rituals to make “Earth Day” more meaningful this year?

In the remaining sections of this blog, I thus present ten self -observations compiled from my Earth Day Walking Archive. Hopefully you will find this information useful for dealing with your present Corona pandemic challenges.

MY INNER EARTH DAY RESULTS

1. I’m riding my bicycle more around my neighborhood to simply get out of the house and stay safely distant from others. I observe that by doing so, I am saving energy in energy consumption and becoming more more passionate about preserving the natural beauty that surrounds me.

2. Buying bottled water these day means exposing myself to potential virus concerns in supermarkets. So I’ve started to use a refillable water bottle with filters instead for safety reasons. I also realize that I might remind myself to drink water more efficiently by filling up a measured quantity in my filtered bottle.

3. A “white noise” machine and “plug in” waterfall sculpture not only help me sleep sounder in this time of Corona stress but they also reawaken my outdoor sensory perceptions each night to the relaxing effect of free flowing water.

4. Similarly, I am utilizing my “New Age” nature music collection more as a tranquil background setting when I conduct my yoga practice each day for meditative concentration.

5. We may have to live in a condo cocoon all day now, but at least we are comfortably cool. Yet we normally set our air conditioning thermostat to save energy by not running the system continuously all the time. Similarly, we make ample use of our ceiling fans atop each room to recirculate the blowing air.

6. A few years ago, my wife and I decided to replace our shaggy carpet look around our unit with wood-resembling , laminated floors. I realize this design comes in handy now since we do not wish to drag into our house unhealthy dust, bacteria, and viral material now that typically clings to a carpet laden floor.

7. Eating earth friendly, sustainable products makes life healthier as we transition to more of a vegetarian based diet these days. By going organic, we also seem to be doing our part to help conserve vital meat based products for those Corona victims of need.

8. Our economy is in free fall decline with so many store closures now. Thus, this is not the time to indulge in energy sucking devices like digital TVs, music boxes, and the latest laptop computers we don’t really need now. So I am noticing simpler ways to pass the time now like snuggling up in a homemade blanket with a soothing cuppa coffee while indulging in a favored electronic book now for hours at a time.

9. I surely can appreciate the free oxygen emitted from our indoor plants as I combat the virus hazards of those breathing around me. Nurturing plant life in our home also becomes a pleasant mind diversion in these confusing times now.

10. I would be remiss if I did not mention the Earth Day benefits of wearing my face mask throughout the day in this scary time of Corona. For this is not the time for selfishness , as the risk of airborne spread illness critically threatens the survival of our human species in the future. Stay well.

“In nature, nothing exists alone.”(Rachel Carson, 1962)

It’s Earth Day again for Ruth and I on our third, extended road trip stay in close proximity to the Central California coastline. Unsurprisingly, our attendance at a Sunday Earth Day Festival on a blue sky filled, sunny afternoon at Cambria would offer strong evidence of how this region strongly respects Earth Day initiatives of enhanced environmental awareness, endangered animal protection, and the sustainable resource use on earth. Thus gathering my thoughts from this event and our most recent excursions throughout Central Coast California, the following self made video and photographic display in the ensuing paragraphs thus attempt to reveal to my readers the critical need to support such Earth Day initiatives.

At Limekiln State Park along the Pacific Coast Highway, we hiked amidst primarily second growth Redwood trees to the remnants of large kilns. The entire Redwood forest here was once cut and burned in the late 1800s in these stone ovens to make way for lime and wood exporting operations. More recently downed trees that we observed on our walk had been ravaged by climate change and uncontrolled fire.

Thousands of elephant seals migrate to the Beach rookery near San Simeon, California. Walking along the boardwalk to gawk at these amusing creatures, we learned how humans once hunted their blubber for their oil to the brink of extinction. Now protected as a species, these endangered marine animals today face recent threats from invasive human contact and ocean affected, climate change.

The Thursday night Farmers Market in downtown San Luis Obispo tantalized our taste buds with a large display of locally grown, fresh fruit and vegetables. With great interest, we also learned that such California produce sold here would most likely be grown pesticide free. In fact, the state of California has recently moved strongly to ban consumer sales of food products exposed to poisonous pesticide spraying. Where does your state stand here?

Who would have thought that a local shop, “Beads By The Bay” in Morro Bay would house a sunlit, outdoor cove in the back of the store filled with succulent organic plants, rare rock collections, and an herb shrouded fountain? Sitting quietly amidst this treasured garden as my wife shopped for beads, I felt warmly spiritual here admiring these uplifting natural surroundings.

Our morning outing to the Earth Day Festival at Greenspace Creekside Reserve In downtown Cambria would provide vivid evidence that Earth Day’s importance is alive and well in this environmentally activist community. As outsiders from South Florida, we enjoyed gaining a Central California perspective through informal expert discussions and acoustic guitar music about how to get involved in environmental education, advocacy, and action.

On a personal level, I learned from this festival to become more cognizant of some simple reminders to make Earth Day an every day occurrence in my life.

Plant something to feel the healing power of nature

Let my voice be heard for environmental preservation

Volunteer/contribute donations for endangered animal protection

Buy reusable items to avoid wasteful action.

Get produce organically from a local farmer’s market

Conserve fossil fuel energy use and go solar.

Tag: Earth Day

Inner Earthbound Gratitude

Strong Touch Of Earth Day Spirit