April Showers and More

Who doesn't like April? Crocuses and daffodils cheerfully nod their pretty heads to balmy breezes. Foals and calves frolic in fields so green it hurts the eyes.



Two special days happen in April and help remind us how much one person can do to make a difference. In this case, to keep the Earth the beautiful place it is.

Earth Day 2018 is celebrated this Sunday, April 22. The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970. At the time smog was prevalent in major cities like New York and Los Angeles. The Clean Air Act, passed by Congress in 1970, helped to lesson the problem. This year's initiative is to end plastic. You can find out more here: https://www.earthday.org/

How will you celebrate Earth Day? We can conserve water and use reusable water bottles. I have a hard time buying water when all my life water has been free. I worry about the future as communities fight over water rights.

Arbor Day is celebrated April 27. In 1972 the Arbor Day Foundation was founded on the centennial of the original first observance of Arbor Day. If you become a member you get ten free trees. https://www.arborday.org/

The seventies was a good decade if I do say so myself. Despite the leisure suits and shiny shirts, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act were both passed. Thanks to the first the Chesapeake Bay, although not perfect, is cleaner today.




When I was a Girl Scout leader, I took my troop to a landfill. I'm sure my twelve year olds were thrilled. But I remember being appalled at the waste laid out on black plastic tarps and then covered with dirt. It would never decompose. So I try to compost as much as possible to avoid having waste go to a landfill.

If you compost your kitchen scraps you can use the end product to mulch the trees you got from the Arbor Day Foundation.

Do you have any plans to celebrate either day?


Enjoy your spring!
As always, enjoy the read!
T.R. McClure www.trmcclure.com



Comments

  1. As I look out onto my snow-covered backyard this morning, T.R., I can’t help but think how important Earth Day and Arbor Day are for us - reminders to take care of what we have, right? These erratic weather patterns will only continue, reminding us that every day should be Earth Day. And I will most certainly enjoy our spring when it comes to stay! The lovely cover of your book was a nice lift to my day.

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  2. Weather is to be weathered, and my deep gratitude to everyone who works to make the world a better place. All the best, T. R.!

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  3. I'm concerned about all of the set-backs to our environmental protections in the last year or so. I have a friend who is sure the next war we fight will be over water and will result in major shifts in population. All each of us can do is our one little part to lessen our carbon footprint. Love your book cover.

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  4. Over thirty years ago, when we lived in Wyoming, we planted some tiny trees, some of which I believe I got from an Arbor day booth. Recently, we looked on Google Earth, and the trees survived and are full grown now. It's nice to know what we started is being enjoyed by someone else, just as someone else planted the trees at the home where we live now.

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  5. When I was much younger I was a timber cruiser and loved being in the woods. We never clear cut any tracks of forest, but thinned the forest out. There are two dogwoods near me that my late husband planted over seventy years ago and it thrills me every time I pass by and see them.

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  6. Enjoyed your post, T.J. April is one of my favorite months, too. Last year we did plant a tree in the back yard, and it's doing beautifully. A Dutch elm we named Elmer. Yes, it's true :)

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  7. Thanks for your thoughts, ladies.

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  8. Hi--thanks for the reminder--I feel the same way about the '70s. I remember the first Earth Day, and you're right about many places being cleaned up and more toxic dumping prevented. I recall the advocacy for the Chesapeake Bay during the time I lived in Annapolis. Right now, the two trees my neighbor and I planted behind our condo units are completely buried in the huge snowstorm we had up here in Green Bay. I was stranded out of town for a couple of days, and just got back to town. We're hoping our trees survive! We'll see when the big melt takes place.

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