As Earth Day approached this year I found myself reflecting on the current Covid-19 situation the world finds itself in and the impact this is having on the environment. There are many stories of decreased emissions, increases in air and water quality, animals appearing where they haven’t been seen for years and humans interacting with each other as human beings, albeit at a social distance.
I know very little about the facts and figures behind these claims, so I am not going to pretend to know what the future will hold or try to predict what the world will look like in 2 months, 12 months or 2 years from now. I am not going to tell you what you should do after lockdown or how you should continue some of the actions we have taken during lockdown. There are plenty of people writing about that already.
Instead, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, I have chosen to pair my images with some of the elegant words of John Muir, the Scottish-American naturalist, to convey an impression of the beauty that can be found in the landscapes we have on this little blue and green planet we call Earth, our home.
To top it all off I have added the video clip that gave me goosebumps when I first watched it, and to be honest, still does. It speaks of our current times but also what we have to look forward to in our future as Papatuanuku (our earth mother) breathes.
Enjoy the words, images and video and take some time today to revel in the beauty of your local neighbourhood.
“The whole landscape showed design, like man’s noblest sculptures. How wonderful the power of its beauty! … Beauty beyond thought everywhere, beneath, above, made and being made forever.” ~ John Muir
“When we emerged into the bright landscapes of the sun everything looked brighter, and we felt our faith in nature’s beauty strengthened, and saw more clearly that beauty is universal and immortal, above, beneath, on land, in heat and cold, light and darkness.” ~ John Muir
“The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is forever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” ~ John Muir
“Nature is ever at work building and pulling down, creating and destroying, keeping everything whirling and flowing, allowing no rest but in rhythmical motion, chasing everything in endless song out of one beautiful form into another.” ~ John Muir
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” ~ John Muir
