love what you know

Share your Thoughts
Posted on August 24, 2006
Filed Under Deep ecology, Ecological hope, Consumer culture, Population growth, Fossil fuel dependency, Environmental disasters, Earth spirituality, Inspiration and reflection

Fostering Ecological Hope

After thunderstorms, magnificent lightning, drenching rains that washed and renewed the earth — this night from Margaret Swedish:

I am hanging out in old haunts and at the mercy of dial-up.  I will be a bit sporadic with posts for awhile.  Hope you will continue to stop by.

This is what I was thinking about today.  I grew up near a river, had great adventures along the footpaths and in the woods.  Nature was just a part of my childhood, just… there… you know?  Now my old home is surrounded by suburban sprawl that spreads seemingly endlessly westward, spoiling some of the most beautiful places in southeastern Wisconsin.

Recently, I included in one of my posts some comments about my beloved Great Lakes, Lake Michigan in particular.  The other day as I drove along Lake Drive in Milwaukee, I noticed folks on the beach trying to rake some of the stinking cladophora algae into plastic bags.  Had to admire them.

After growing up here, I moved to Boulder, Colorado, back in the 70s.  There the Rocky Mountains attached themselves to my soul.  Already then the air pollution was getting so bad that sometimes from a distance, you could see only the tops of buildings in Denver sticking up out of the orange-brown haze.  That smog had moved into Boulder pretty permanently by the time I left.  Now it has crept into some of the most beautiful canyons and valleys, all the way to Estes Park.  Stories like the one at this link are heartbreaking.  Rocky Mountain National Park is one of my favorite places in the world.

At some point, you begin to realize how personal all this is.  I have been to so many beautiful places.  I know what we are losing.

There’s that old saying that you can’t love what you don’t know.  So take a walk, grab family and friends, just look, just SEE, just listen. 

KNOW! 

Comments

Leave a Reply