It's hard to believe that this is the 50th anniversary of that first Earth Day.  As we all know and many of us say, really every day should be a day to love, respect, and care for this planet we all call home.  Right now as we practice social distancing, isolation, and quarantine due to the coronavirus, the Earth seems to be healing a bit, with less traffic, less pollution, less heaviness of the human footprint, but at the same time we all are clamoring for more outside time.  Hopefully, this appreciation we have for Nature and the outdoors now will carry over into the future as we address issues such as climate change and all the other things that interact with that such as poverty, social justice, the rights of indigenous peoples, food and water supplies, our interaction with wildlife, etc.  It's all connected.  As John Muir said, 

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."

For more ideas on how you can help our planet and all its inhabitants, sharing with others all the ways to keep Earth Day alive throughout the year, check out the Earth Day website here.  

(photo from Charter of Compassion Facebook page)

Celebrating the birthday of John Muir, born April 21, 1838, in Scotland (moved to the U.S. at age 11), conservationist, naturalist, writer, and a favorite of pantheists everywhere.  Learn much more about his life from the Sierra Club by clicking here.

Novelist/environmentalist Wallace Stegner said, "National parks are the best idea we ever had.  Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."  

One thing most of us can agree on, we love our national parks and national forests...we humans sometimes just need to get away into the wilderness and back to Nature, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  These parks are accessible to so many people and give us a chance to reconnect with the natural world, to relax, to heal, to recharge, be it through hiking, camping, or just enjoying the beautiful views, trees, and flowers...not to mention an opportunity to get a glimpse of some of the wildlife that make the parks their home.

April 18-26 is National Park Week here in the US.  Right now, trails and roads have limited accessibility due to the coronavirus, but there are still ways to enjoy and celebrate our parks.  For some ideas from the National Park Service, click here.  

(Great Smoky Mountains National Park)

In this weird time right now when we are more limited to walks in our own yards and neighborhoods, here's a quote that seems appropriate:


"The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is 'look under foot.' You are always nearer the divine and the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars. Every place is the centre of the world."

​(John Burroughs)

Happy Birthday, William Wordsworth!  Born on this day in 1770 (died April 23, 1850), England's poet laureate near the end of his life, he helped usher in the Romantic period of poetry with his friend Samuel Coleridge.  Perhaps a pantheist, perhaps not, but clearly he loved Nature and the joys, sweet memories, and healing it brings.


​I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (also known simply as Daffodils)

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not be but gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

We may largely be confined to our homes and yards right now because of COVID-19, but most of us can still step outside for a minute or two (or more) and look up.  Click here to see what's happening in the April night skies.  Even though we're social distancing, Nature still connects us all. Take care!