Earth thought 122 of 365: A person comes into the world. Plants unfurl, push, pod their way through the soil down and up. Wasps cycle out from winter into the open. Cats cry in heat. Small birds appear on branches next to big ones.
Earth thought 123 of 365: Like life, I am taking a break from thinking today.
Earth thought 124 of 365: There must be ecosystem know-how similar to handyman know-how. I'm not saying that ecosystems can simply be fixed by going to Ace Hardware and knowing how to "change them out". I mean that people who know lands must have a sense of how they fit together and of how to bring them back. This eco-handyman knowledge is the cool, practicalness of the 21st century. "Let's help the watershed in our neighborhood by building a rain-water catch."-?
Earth thought 125 of 365: George Vaillant summarizes the wisdom of the Harvard happiness study in his book, Aging Well. The Harvard happiness study is among the longest longitundinal studies of a single cohort in the world. Emotional and social maturity are the surprise keys to happiness in old age, not physical health, money, career success or social status in your community. Ecological connection is completely absent from the book, except in the case of one subject whose environmentalism is discussed under the rubric of his spirituality. One wonders about this -how can we count ourselves happy without feeling a part of our home, the Earth?
Earth thought 126 of 365: I sat on the floor with students last night, revising their semester-long work. Harried and laughing, once near tears, they tumbled out of the system with no time to lose. And we are like that, we post-students, with our home improvements and loan improvements, our tasks, competition, and dinners. We tumble out of life with barely time to lose. The Earth's lost in all this. So it is really on us, really our thing, to build in time to think about the Earth. If we don't put the Earth into our school systems, students will cascade beyond it. And so, too, with the big people, we so-called adults, who are supposed to be responsible for our generation.
Earth thought 127 of 365: Goodbyes are important, and we don't do them enough, even to the seasons, and certainly to species. Leopold made a famous goodbye to the passenger pigeon. I wonder if it would help, or be good, to have a goodbye center for lost species?
Earth thought 128 of 365: Some environmentalists used to say that we -Westerners- are being aggressive with the Earth. But that's too easy. It would assume we *recognize* a personal relationship with the Earth. And that has often been missing in modern life. So, no, not aggressive -oblivious.
Earth thought 129 of 365: The view from the top of my house is different than the view from the sidewalk. Things flatten out and expand at once. New details emerge - the patchwork of roofs, and the shuffle of trees in stretches of seamless canopy. Now imagine you go up, up, to migratory height. Cold air all about you. Swoosh!
Earth thought 130 of 365: I worked outdoors all day yesterday, which was good for my vitamin D. Because many moderns don't spend time outside, many of us are vitamin D deficient. This is one of those cases where the evolved body suggests a healthier way of life -outdoors, some, each day. The post-modern world should have space for life outside each day.
Earth thought 131 of 365: Last summer, I saw the strata that were once alive where I live now. Here was once under water -an ocean with strange, shelled life. These overlays are compelling in a way advertisements are not, for they do not seduce desire; they are coolish fact, simple in their objectivity; they say, "the world doesn't spin around you". They say, "you are becoming, and many of your desires are mistakes". They say, "settle down, settle down now, and be awash".
