Hello Earth
Here I am, watching a documentary about the water world on the east coast of Australia. I am looking at fish, I am hearing a man talk about his lifelong infatuation with the ocean, and I am travelling back in my mind to my Tasmanian childhood, some of it spent on boats — small boats, close to the water. I am remembering my stepfather and my little brother, and Mum under a big, floppy sun hat.
Earth, the narrator of the program is making a point about how, if we care about our marine life, we need to stop using fossil fuels and change to renewables. Now I am watching a turtle. Before that, whales. Now sea birds dance on Lord Howe Island. Now a wave soars in a rush of fine white spray.
Leaning in, I share a sunrise with the photographer. But then the beauty is replaced by sad evidence of how we are killing the wild things — pieces of plastic in dead birds’ stomachs, filling the baby birds’ bellies so full that they are malnourished. An aerial view shows huge garbage conglomerations in every ocean — so we know the plastic is also affecting the whales, the turtles, the fish.
Listing gratitudes, I give first place to the work being done to restore Lord Howe to its environmental purity — one place on earth that is actually improving; the only one.
Offering my gratitude, I think I should also be offering prayers.
Sharing (8 Nov 2020) with Writers' Pantry #45 at Poets and Storytellers United
Humankind sadly has no thought of the Earth's demise all the while money can be made by destroying wildlife, extracting oil, minerals and just about everything else from the Earth while other creatures die or are banished from their homes. One day perhaps we will wake up but will our children and grandchildren suffer waiting for this to happen? How necessary it is to keep shouting this out!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is a very short-sighted view, that of greed and selfishness. If enough of us keep shouting loud enough and long enough....
DeleteI love that kind of nature programme and envy your memories, Rosemary – we didn’t get to the seaside much when we were kids, and certainly wouldn’t have seen anything so spectacular as turtles and whales. I hope we can save them for future generations.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see them in Tasmanian waters, but have done so from other parts of Australia since; in fact whales are not uncommon off the beaches near where I now live. Dreadful to think of such beautiful and wonderful creatures harmed by our selfishness and stupidity.
DeleteI believe with all my heart that gratitude IS a prayer. I love your gratitude. I'm sure the Holy One does also.
ReplyDeleteThat's very encouraging, MMT!
DeleteI hadn't scrolled down enough to see the "O" line, so I thought it was "HELL," which would have made sense too, but certainly less optimistic. And, I'm more optimistic what with the President-Elect, and his renewable energy plans!
ReplyDeleteThat is indeed cause for optimism!
DeletePlastic is a horrifying killer of marine wildlife. Floating garbage is a stark everyday sight among seaside squatters in third world urban areas. Here's hoping efforts to save our oceans improve.
ReplyDeleteWe have to keep trying!
DeleteWe should be offering all sorts of things, if doing so might mean that we'll take back some of the horrors we are responsible for. Today, I am extremely grateful for the change in US leadership. One of the first things President-elect Joe Biden said he will do when he starts his term is reenter the US in the Paris Agreement. I remember how hurt (and ashamed) I was was the Orange Infection took us out. The earth has suffered too much, and we should be doing all we can to heal her.
ReplyDeleteYes it was very heartening to hear Biden say that! I hope he will be able to persuade the present, very backward-thinking Australian government to a matching responsibility.
DeleteA lovely read, Rosemary. I'd like to hear more of your Tasmanian childhood, by the way.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bev! I'll see what I can do.
DeleteMy heart breaks a bit more each time I read of atrocities like those you wrote about ..... like you my days of activism are basically behind me but I can still pen letters, make phone calls, etc. CHEERS.
ReplyDeleteWe must think of past evils which have been overturned when enough people insisted on it, and continue to raise our small voices, knowing we swell the collective outcry.
DeletePlease add my home owners association to your prayers... so that they change their minds and allow us to put up solar panels. My husband and I have wanted to do that for years, but the board remains stubbornly, irritatingly, opposed.
ReplyDeleteCertainly! And after all your hard work preceding the election, you now know you can sway other people to see your point of view and take action with you!
DeleteThe plastic bothers me the most. I have a feeling that most of that is easily avoidable. Plastics in the animals' stomachs or floating in the water...
ReplyDeleteHopefully it is avoidable from now on. But how do we fix the overwhelming results of decades of careless ignorance? What is happening at Lord Howe Island gives us some hope.
DeleteAlways enjoy your hello earth acrostics, in this one the juxtaposition of beauty and destruction is vividly spoken
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by my blog
Much💗love
Young people have more free time for demonstrations, but older people have more purchasing power. Purchasing power can be more effective. For small, feasible, meaningful changes, sometimes one postcard may do the job. Glyphosate Awareness *has* seen companies adjust their policies after a half-dozen tweets.
ReplyDeleteThank you for pointing out the positive possibilities! I know you are very much in a position to know, through your own personal dedication to making a difference.
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