Earth Day

I have not met a person who is more of the earth than Ed. Who feels subservient to its flourishing ecosystems. Who presumes nothing is his for the taking. It's not that he preaches restraint and respect for the environment to others. Not at all: Ed doesn't lecture or judge. Most likely, he assumes that the human species is flawed and hasn't the capacity to restrain its destructive ways. So long as there will be people, there will be environmental degradation. I'm guessing that this would be his view. [He once said, jokingly though not entirely, that he wonders if a sapient planet Earth invented humans merely for self protection: if we dont destroy the Earth first, we will figure out a way to keep it safe from being hit by an asteroid. At the rate we're going, I'd say that Earth did a gross miscalculation: we are too smart and too dumb -- all at the same time. This is our failing.]

On Earth Day, Ed does nothing different. He just goes on, setting an example to me (maybe to others, though probably not) on how to care about living things.

Me, I of course bring out the bells and whistles. Earth Day! No plastic use or discard on this day! Do the small stuff! Pick up the garbage! Don't acquire! Buying plants? By ones that are indigenous to your region. At least on this one day! 

None of this will make much difference, and yet, I subscribe to the idea of Earth Day, because it does raise awareness, especially in impressionable minds that haven't been totally warped yet by our profligate ways. I know that Snowdrop is out with her troop picking up plastics today, for example.

And so I love Earth Day, for the same reason that I loved my birthday -- it provides a focus and it makes us feel grateful for being here, today, on what is still a salvageable if a bit leaky ship -- the parched, overheated, overextended, dirtied yet still so very beautiful Earth.

Happy Earth Day. Stay focused. I dont agree with Ed that we are inherently out of control in our lifestyle choices. We can still plug up those holes....

*     *     *

I begin the day as usual.

And we have breakfast as usual. With the cat.

And then I go to Kopke's Greenhouses. It's trip number two this year and it wont be the last one. (I'm hoping the third will seal the deal.) I cant plant the tubs yet, but I can bring home trays of annuals and stick them in the mudroom until Thursday -- my bet for our frost free clearance this year!

I have no kids today -- they have a day off from school and a sitter to be with them. It's great timing for me because, guess what, the lilies have arrived!

Yep, the rest of the day is spent planting. Not so easy today. The bare root plant needs a deeper hole and the new extension of the Big Bed has a layer of good dirt, but it isn't thick. And underneath? Gravel. Worse than clay! I work the shovel with such vigor that my smart watch wants to call 911 for me because it is convinced I've flipped. Or something. 

And one of the older Bresse chickens is on my back, poking in her nose to get a worm, or two, or ten! 

And the tree roots weave their way underneath the soil.

And I see that the groundhog has been visiting: at least two of my plantings from yesterday have been dug up. I've been there before: once these guys hit a favorite spot, they keep coming back. I put the plants in, they dig them up. I put them in, they dig them up... and so on.

These are the challenges of spring gardening. I'm used to them. Again, I drink a cup of milky coffee, eat a Kind snack bar and get back to work. Until all 20 lilies are in the ground and some transplants are in their spot and the extension of the Big Bed is officially filled. Of course, it doesn't look filled. With perennials, you really cant revel in their magnificence until year two. Still, there will be growth and it will (eventually) look good!

Now comes the meditative part: the watering. 

And just like that, the perennial planting for this year is mostly done! Oh, there'll be the occasional transplants, and I'm sure to pick up a flower at the market every now and then. Too, I hadn't the strength to plant the strawberries today, and the blueberry bushes haven't arrived yet. But bringing in several trays of new baby perennials, and an armload of bare root lilies -- that's done. 

And I am one tired 71 year old! 

And dinner is late.

But it was such a good day once again!

with love...