Earth Day

April 22

ONE BLUE DOT, CALLED HOME 

[The prelude to Earth Day appeared in the cloud mornings Easter morning . . . ]

[And Earth Day begins . . . ]

[I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use.  ~ Mother Teresa]

[The Earth is what we all have in common.  ~  Wendell Berry]

[Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.  ~  George Bernard Shaw]

[Time spent among trees is never time wasted.  ~  Anonymous]

[Away, away, from men and towns, To the wild wood and the downs, To the silent wilderness, Where the soul need not repress its music.  ~  Percy Bysshe Shelley]

[He that plants trees loves others besides himself.  ~  Thomas Fuller]

[Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.  ~  Margaret Mead]

[One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken.  ~  Leo Tolstoy]

[The environment is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.  ~  Lady Bird Johnson]

[The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.  ~ John Paul II]

[Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty.  ~  John Ruskin]

[Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.  ~  Jimmy Carter]

[Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise.  ~  George Washington Carver]

[Only dictatorships use templates for their banners.  ~  Heinz Valk (Estonian artist who coined the terms “Singing Revolution” and “One day, no matter what, we will win.”)]

[You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.  ~  Jane Goodall]

[You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares, So go downtown, things’ll be great when you’re, Downtown, no finer place for sure, Downtown everything’s waiting for you  ~  Petula Clark “Downtown”]

[They say the neon lights are bright on [B]roadway  ~  George Benson]

[A shout out to Roers Family Bakery for greeting the marchers . . . ]

[With a tray full of pastries (why, yes, I did enjoy a chocolate covered doughnut) . . . ]

[Our first sighting of our destination – Big Ole . . . ]

[The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.  ~  Gaylord Nelson]

[Media coverage (other than from the cub reporter) . . . ]

[In 2015 the town raised $26,000 for Big Ole’s repair after an inspection uncovered numerous cracks in his body.  Alexandria then decided to go all-out and gave their big he-man a total makeover, which was completed in August 2016.  Big Ole should now be invincible into the mid-21st century (www.roadsideamerica.com).]

[If we saved Big Ole, we can save Earth . . . ]

[So, we posed for destination photos with Ole . . . ]

[And after I finished . . . ]

[The local media took some more (published on Voice of Alexandria) . . .

[Rousing cheers for the record . . . ]

[And now, back to the library . . . ]

[What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on.  ~  Henry David Thoreau]

[We do have a men’s shop!  Who knew?]

[We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.  ~  Barbara Ward]

[The proper use of science is not to conquer nature but to live in it.  ~  Barry Commoner]

[The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.  ~  Ernest Hemingway]

[A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.  ~  Franklin D. Roosevelt]

[To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.  ~  Helen Keller]

[Environmentally friendly cars will soon cease to be an option … they will become a necessity.  ~  Fujio Cho, Honorary Chairman of Toyota Motors]

[Local DNR representative Al Schmidt gave a presentation on . . . ]

[The effect of climate change on fish and other critters . . . ]

[Emeritus biology professor Van Gooch gave a presentation on the effects of climate change on life in general . . . ]

[The huddled masses assembled to dissect owl pellets . . . ]

[The idea was to find out what owls could not digest and would thus throw up . . . ]

[This was led by Paul Meyers, Professor of Biology at UMM, who also talked about the effect of climate change on insects.  Seated on the far left in the photo is Professor Gooch, appropriately attired in a U sweatshirt . . . ]

[The skeletal remains of small rodents . . . ]

[The following were gifts from Kirby and Chris Karpan.  The bags also included seeds: Pink Swamp Milkweed, Purple Coneflowers, Dill, Black-eyed Susan.]

[For whatever reason, it seemed appropriate to end Earth Day with a pizza at The Depot?]

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

Up Next:  Cardinal sports?