2010: The First Half

The earth is our mother, we must take care of her.
The earth is our mother, we must take care or her.

Her sacred ground we walk upon with every step we take.
Her sacred ground we walk upon with every step we take.
~Earth based chant

An earthquake devastates Haiti. A few weeks later another quake rocks Chile. Volcanic ash spews above Iceland grounding European air traffic for days. A coalmine fire traps and kills more than two dozen West Virginia miners. An enormous oil well in the Gulf of Mexico explodes, kills eleven men and pumps thousands and thousands of gallons of oil into the water for fifty days with no end in sight.

I have to force myself to watch the news. The strong images of broken cities, wounded orphans, grieving widows, out of work fisherman and oil-drenched brown pelicans cut deep. I sit in my air condined home or new car wondering, "What can I do to help this situation?" I know I use and want the energy of the oil. I turn off lights, go the speed limit, combine trips, keep my car at home two days a week, and yet I stlil want to be able to drive to the mountains on a whim. I want to be able to travel at my convenience to see my new grandchildren.
The current Gulf oil disaster requires us all to pay attention. I look at the well pumping continuos oil and think, "If the earth is our mother, our nurturer, giver of resources for our survival, then this oil comes from a wound at her core."

The shift in our earth's crust and inside the volcanoes gives me pause. Why are all these things happening in just a few month's time? So far this year the earth has been wounded and broken in too many big ways. Of course, it is not just this year. . . it is our cumulative effet of decades of humans using the earth's resources with little or not regard for the results of our actions. What we humans have damaged, we must correct. We cannot afford to believe that the resources are available to us forever. We must take care of her.

All I know to do is to pay attention to my own choices. I must remember that the earth is our mother. When it is a pain to wash out the peanut butter jar for recycling, I must chose to do it. I buy fewer paper products and am mindful of how I waste water. For ten years we have had a bucket in the shower. I compost. We recycle more than fits in our two red bins weekly. I chose products with less packaging. I am hooked on the new pump laundry detergent in small battles which require fewer resources to make and transport.

Last night I saw video of a crab struggling in the surface oil. The commentator explained that the crabs mistake the oil globs shape for the seaweed they usually eat. The crabs swim up and into the oil seeking food. They are covered, stuck and unable to free themselves. I don't want this to happen to us!