Earth Day – April 22, 2013

Tags

Earth Day, Flooding, Global Warming, Habitat Destruction, Rising Oceans, Sand Mining

“The Face Of Climate Change”

The more educated our species becomes, the more we seem to distance ourselves from Mother Nature. We poke and prod her as we extract oil and gases from her bowels, and we grind away mountains in search of precious metals or coal or even rocks and boulders. We harvest her majestic timbers and desecrate vast acreages for crops and pastures.   Pesticides taint the air that we breathe, the food that we eat and trickle into the ecosystem. Plastics pollute our waters and are belched back onto the no-longer pristine shoreline.   Sand Mining destroys marine life and accelerates beach erosion.

Sculptor Rycardo Alcivar salvages the scraps from the carcass of a saman tree.

Most of us are aware of the problems, but how many of us are speaking up or trying to find a way to make a positive difference?   Living near the Pacific Ocean, I witness the destructive forces of the high tides, which seem to be gobbling more and more shoreline.  I’ve witnessed illegal shrimp trawling and correctly predicted that dead sea turtles would soon wash ashore.   I don’t blame Madre Tierra for trying to buck us off her back!

Take time out to stop and really look at our beautiful Earth.  Savor the delicate beauty of a short-lived flower; admire the silhouette of a towering tree against the sky;  inspect the precision of a brigade of ants or marvel at the aerial ballet of bird in flight.

Catch me if you can!

The following images and quotes represent my love for this planet and my concern for its future as we approach Earth Day 2013.      Z

K for Kuna

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fr, Frizztext story challenge k, Global Warming, i can do this painting workshops, Kuna Indians, kuna mola, Lisa Brunetti art, san blas islands

Late Afternoon Break-

Lo siento, (I’m sorry!)  I apologize in advance for veering a bit off course for this week’s story alphabet via Spanish words.  How can I not include Panama’s unique Kuna Indians in this challenge?

Mola Textiles made by the Kuna Indians of Panama

When I  lived in Costa Rica, I often visited my friend Barbara, who lives in the “Amador” area  of Panama where the Panama Canal merges into the Pacific Ocean.    The Kuna Indians’ unique ‘mola textiles’ colored the artisan markets in that area, and I always paused to admire the rich colors and finely-crafted works of art.

My interest at the time was on stained-glass windows, and I was preparing to capture the beauty of stained glass in watercolors.   The first ‘Mola” concept was a collective project to nudge Barbara out of a painting block.   I sketched the design, and she and her daughter Bobbe and I floated the colors with a relaxed ease.

Global Warming and Daily Prompt

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Chimborazo, Ecuador, Ecuadors Melting Snow Caps, Global Warming, Melting Glaciers, Volcano Cayambe, Volcano Chimborazo, World Wetland Day, WP Daily Prompt Think Global Act Local

The WordPress Daily Prompt states this:  “Think global, act local.”  Write a post connecting a global issue to a personal one.”

Words failed us. We were no longer comfortably numb!

“At 6,268 metres (20,564 ft) ”Chimbo,” the highest peak in Ecuador and the farthest point from the center of the earth on the planet, will forever be branded in our hearts!”

(Above photo and quote from: Mystical Andes, published here on November 16, 2012.)

Several pages on my screen reflected an environmental issue as I pondered today’s WordPress Daily Prompt.  This post grants me an easy way to share those global concerns with you.