Messages From Mother Earth

I love our mama earth, and I'm happy to do whatever I can to keep her fresh and clean. Lucky me, I live here in Seattle, a city that is devoted to reducing, reusing and recycling in the extreme. We have curbside green bins for our yard waste and kitchen scraps, restaurants that provide compostable spoons and forks, and local bans on plastic grocery bags. At this point in my life, I would rather carry my recyclable trash home in my purse than throw it in the regular garbage, and given a choice, I will always opt to purchase the item with the least wasteful packaging.

In my little corner of the world, going green comes naturally, all year round.

So as I contemplated Earth Day, and wondered what I might do differently today to celebrate our planet, the answer came with deceptive clarity. Maybe, after devoting myself all year long to natural cleansers, toxin-free paints, and reusable shopping bags, I should stop worrying about doing harm to the earth and simply enjoy her gorgeous bounty.

And while I would have loved to ski the Alps, hike the Grand Canyon, or ride a zip line through the Costa Rican rain forest, my adventures in nature today - as most days - were found much closer to home. While on my daily walk with Ranger, I gathered up a small bag full of pine cones, sticks, leaves, and wild flower blossoms that I found along the way. Back home, I shook them out on a spot of fresh green grass, and sat down to play with them, not sure exactly what I might create. After a few moments of playful experimentation, this message appeared before me.

In those few moments, I was lost in the fragile beauty of the fading yellow forsythia blossoms, the interesting variation of shape, color, and texture among the Douglas fir cones, and the delicately curving stems of the tiny daisies. The headache-inducing busy-ness of my day slipped away, my senses were delighted and my spirit was renewed.

Maybe the true power of Earth Day is about more than just what we do to our global home, but also about the miracles of nurture, growth and beauty that our Mother Earth brings to us..