Earth Day 2021

I wish I had something profound and inspirational to write on this Earth Day.  Eco-grief and eco-guilt have frozen me into immobility.  Perhaps Pres. Biden's climate change summit and his pledge to get the U.S. to 50% of emissions by 2030 will lift my spirits.  

Yesterday Caro & I worked with Baldo around the yard:  potting plants, cutting and placing bamboo panels, staining and painting, positioning flagstones, descaling a Buddha statue, trimming the desert willow.  Hard work and I'm feeling it in my old bones, but very satisfying to look at.  The view through the east window now has the feeling of a garden that has been there for years, not weeks.  

It's a reminder that we are stewards of this Earth.  I can virtue signal all I can by drinking with a reusable metal straw and driving a Prius, but there's so far to go to change others' behavior.  NM can't seem to get  over its addiction to oil and gas.  Our cities are so unwalkable and barely bikeable.  At least as long as we have old kitties who need twice daily medications, we won't be flying anywhere--that'll cut down some of our carbon emissions.  

Tuesday afternoon the BioPark focus group had a good discussion about where we thought the BioPark could be heading.  I'm encouraged that my fellow Biological Park Board members were keen on education.  Jeremy later shared his Masters Thesis on Didactism in Public Spaces.  The idea that our work at the Botanic Garden can be transformative if only we can capture the attention of our visitors.  There's work to be done.