Tanya Writes About Earth Day

Ditsy Tanya's Almanac #11

After reading Thoreau, I felt how much I have lost by leaving Nature out of my life. --F. Scott Fitzgerald to his daughter, March 11, 1939



The earth is our mother. The native Americans called it so, and for the Greeks, it was Father Time (Kronus) and Mother Earth (Rhea) who started it all. In myth, Antaeus came back to Mother Earth the way real-life Henry David Thoreau kept coming back to Concord. How could he not? Look at that picture of Waldon Pond in early fall!

So why are we so mean to our mother? Grrrrrrrrrrr. I'm a mom myself, and I wouldn't like it.

Well, today we celebrate her. Earth Day is actually two separate holidays observed each year, during spring here in the Northern Hemisphere and during the fall in the Southern Hemisphere.

Earth Day observances are meant to inspire appreciation of our environment and earth's resources. The United Nations celebrates Earth Day each year on the March Equinox. The celebration originated with John McConnell in 1969.

The world-wide observance was originated by Gaylord Nelson in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries, including the United States, on this date, April 22.

It was at an Earth Day rally some years ago that our daughter got the idea for her Science Project on polluted water. Pollution by Dilution. She understood from a display how just a small amount of pollutant can harm a water supply. To demonstrate, she took a cup of food-colored blue water, then slowly diluted it in six more cups until the water was clear.

Well, it looked clear. But if the blue food color had been a poison, the water would still have been harmful to people, plants, and animals.

Hopefully you respect and honor our mother, Nature, each day of the year through recycling, bicycling, taking along reusable shopping bags, walking more and driving less, rescuing abandoned or abused creatures.

I try to do all of the above. Happy Earth Day, Mom.