It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I love being outside.
Despite the fact that most of the trees and grass are trying to kill me (thanks, allergies!), there’s nowhere I’d rather be than out in the woods on a sunny day. Except maybe the lake. As a kid, my sister and I spent hours in the woods across the street, and more outside at home, staging lightsaber battles and turning the yard into our own imaginary country. Most of our family vacations were either hiking in the Smoky Mountains, camping or weekends at the lake. My dream vacation is going to see the Redwood forest in California, and not just because it’s basically visiting Endor (We also used to pretend the swings were speeder bikes. Didn’t everyone?)
Sadly, I’ve never been successful at gardening, but that’s neither here nor there.
I’ve written all that to say this: the natural earth is the most precious resource we have.
Our forests, our oceans, the rivers and soil–these are things we cannot do without. The incredible, diverse and wonderful species that populate are planet are irreplaceable. Life is so amazing and rare that we haven’t yet found it anywhere else.
April 22 is Earth Day. Most people don’t really “celebrate” it as such, or if they do, it’s a brief, “Yay, Earth!” or “I guess I’ll recycle something today.” But our Earth is our home. I mean, we also have a whole day for the ratio of a circle’s circumference to diameter (I’m not bashing Pi day, guys. Any excuse to eat pie, amirite?). I kinda feel like the planet deserves more than a “cheers” and a hashtag.
This year, I’m going to do something new. Every day this month (except the ones I already missed, oops), I’m going to share something in honor of our Earth. I’ll also have something special to share on Earth Day.
Today I’m sharing this colored pencil sketch I did this morning. I wanted to start with something optimistic.
Errant Ink 