Earth Day: Unintended consequence of Clovid-19 virus? Ready for Earth Month 2024?

The 50th anniversary of Earth Day is today: April 22, 2020.

One amazing photo of the Earth taken from above the moon in 1969 struck a nerve and got many of us thinking about what became suddenly obvious. We, as a species, realized that WE are all WE have.

Earth Day is the by-product of that epiphany, the year after Nell Armstrong took “one small step for man,” April 22, 1970. It’s there to remind us that not only are we defined by human-made political boundaries, but by the boundaries of space and time. Sometimes we forget where we live.

A good friend’s Facebook post showing the beautiful blue skies over Paris and a recent story about dolphins returning to Venice (though later debunked as fake by The National Geographic) reminded me of several environmental research reports that appeared shortly after 9/11. Their conclusion: the Earth seemed to be trying to repair itself while we curtailed our air travel.

More recently, NASA reported seeing cleaner air over China, though not all is as it seems. Check out NASA’s report here. Don’t believe the hoax about more sulfur in the air.

It appears air pollution over Paris and Los Angeles has dropped dramatically, too.

I am not advocating hunkering down till we die of old age, just pointing out that whatever we’re doing now to protect ourselves from Clovid-19 is inadvertently giving the Earth’s air, water, and other creatures a chance to take a vacation from human activity.

Quite possible, it may prove to some climate-change deniers that in a large part, our actions on this planet affect everything.

And, to those working to convince the world that the changing climate is due in large part to human activity, it’s going to be further confirmation that they’re on the right track.

And, to those who think there’s nothing we can do to halt global warming and other human-caused calamities, I think this proves there is.

Imagine if Earth Day became Earth Month every leap year. One month of hunkering down, where all human industrial activity stops for a month while we reacquaint ourselves with our families, friends, and neighbors. When it’s over, we can celebrate (without fireworks).

I think we can get used to that.

We can even plan for it. Make it a celebration, not a prison sentence. Many religions on Earth do something like it every year, but for their reasons.

I don’t think it’s too much of a leap.

We’ve got four years to plan that party.

Fresno County Library flattens the curve. Try out Kanopy.

Are you social distancing at home without a paid subscription to any of the popular streaming services? Even though The Fresno County Library is closed, it can hook you up with a free streaming service called Kanopy. It’s been available in Fresno since September 2019.

Kanopy offers hours of films and documentaries you can watch on your “pad” as well as Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Android TV and some Samsung smart TVs. All you need is a library card or a university login and internet access. You can sign up here.

AARP would classify most of the films as adult-friendly: “Lady Bird,” “Moonlight,” “The Book Shop,” for example. Kanopy describes itself as presenting “Thoughtful Entertainment.” If you are a true film and documentary fan, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you’ll find. I found the 1902 film “Trip to the Moon.”

Of course, this being a site that is library-approved, you’ll find scores of educational films. You can brush up on your Greek with the “Basic Rules of Greek Accentuation.” An oldie, but a goodie. Imagine how thrilled your housebound partners will be when they learn Greek by your side on the only TV in the house.

Or, there’s the ever-popular “Let’s Make Stuffed Baked Potatoes” with Link, who will tell you how to keep your baked potato from exploding. It’s in the kids’ section.

Is there a downside? Kind of. Unlike Netflix, which is a subscription service you pay for, your library is charged an educational licensing fee for films you watch. In many cases, the fee kicks in after 10 seconds of viewing. According to FilmQuartery.org, your library could be charged a $150/year educational licensing fee for the film you are watching. So, if you can find a film on Netflix or Amazon Prime, watch it there. Save your library some money so it can buy other things, such as books. It’s also why the library only lets you watch 10 films a month.

Have fun.

Flatten the curve.

Moments of magic

Today is my mother's birthday. I have her baby picture.

As I continue to sort through and catalog my family photos it has become obvious to me that having a searchable database of all the images can lead to some interesting pairings. Take these two photos, for instance.

 Taken roughly 50 years apart from each other, they show a constant in my life: my mother and father were inseparable. Not glued at the hip like some couples, but inseparable in the sense that whatever happened in their lives the gravitational forces that bound their souls would pull them together again. They were not perfect. They didn’t always agree with each other. They certainly didn’t always agree with me. 

 But somehow they were able to keep their disagreements separate from their egos. Being “wrong” about anything didn’t mean they thought the other was wrong in the head. And if you took it that way when they thought your ideas were not quite right, that became your problem, not theirs. 

 As for the searchable database, I am using an application called PhotoMechanic. We used it at work. I bought a copy when I retired. It lets me add metadata quickly to all my photos (keywords, dates, places).  If you’re consistent, then these moments of magic just kind of appear right before your eyes.

My mother

She was 18 months old.