New Members of the Tribe

Here 'tis July, which will bring the birth of two great-grandchildren. Gives me pause to think. What kind of world have I made for them?

Yes, you and I have made this world. Some are calling this geological epoch the Anthropocene - the age of man. What have we done?

We've tried to shield ourselves from nature. Our homes are heated and cooled, using energy stolen from streams and from fossilized plant remains. We've streamlined agriculture. Our food comes to us pre-packaged at the supermarket, or delivered pre-cooked in drive-ins. We travel rapidly now. Instead of trains or buses, we trek by air, fast and furious, in herds. Or use our own automobiles on crowded concrete arteries. We've built giant cities that further protect us from the nature our grandparents endured.

We've taken an important step in significant-problem solving. Namely, we've created significant problems.

We're heating up the planet, a fact that many of us refuse to recognize. We've tried to control our flora and fauna by poisoning the earth, and the consequences are becoming obvious. And we've assaulted our forests and meadows, the lungs of the earth.

In my neighborhood there seems to be a goal -- convert your front yard into a putting green. Neatly trimmed grasses, bring green without blight, comes at a very high cost in pesticide and fertilizers washing into our streams.

So there, new babies. Your ancestors have been selfish. They've betrayed you.

What are you gonna do about it?

Dac Crossley
July 5, 2019

"Recognition of plants, animals and environments is basic to human survival." -- Charles H. Wharton.

Comments

[Lesley A. Diehl]

I am so distressed that we have left such problems to the future generations.We can only hope they will be wiser than we were.

[Shirley white]]

Grands and great grands are amazing.