My Earth from here

To celebrate Earth Day, I'm posting photos of my new natural surroundings in Washington. This place is so beautiful I think the pictures speak for themselves and remind me what I'm grateful for. Happy nature to all!

River running from Wallace Falls.

An urban park. Yeah, really.

Cutest little mushroom.

This hunk of driftwood is a prehistoric creature, right?

Crystal clear.

The trees are watching!

I love this planet Earth. 

This day. Every day.

We live here

We live here.

Well, not exactly, here in this awe-inspiring supernova (photo courtesy of NASA), but our little, lovely planet Earth exists in the midst of space, in the dark wonder.

We are the luckiest of organisms to live, breathe, run, sing, imagine and create--all because our planet evolved to allow sentient life.

And then we make bombs and poisons. We level forests and slaughter animals to extinction. We throw trash on the ground, dump chemicals in the precious water, like Earth is something we can buy another one of whenever we use it up.

I've been thinking of going on hiatus, because my posts are sparse these days. But it's Earth Day and this blog is my little soapbox in the universe. I'm, no doubt, preaching to the choir, with the folks who read my blog. Still, I have to shout out: Do what you can to save this planet. It is the only one we've got.

I love Earth. That is all.

(credit: NASA)

Weekend of loves

I've been waiting two months for this weekend when I'm going to SCBWI Writers Day in L.A. This was the treat I bought myself during the difficult days of my mother's trauma. It seemed so far away then and so much has happened in between.

Now, I'm shoulder-to-the-wheel to complete a synopsis for a mini-workshop Sunday with editor Stacey Barney, and I'm looking forward to Saturday's speakers who include agent Michael Bourret. Should be fun and interesting.

This weekend is packed with other events I hope get great turnouts, too.

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Heads up if you're in L.A. for the L.A. Times Festival of Books.

If y0u're in England, there's a celebration in Bristol of the life and writings of the extraordinary, wonderful Diana Wynne Jones.

Maggie Stiefvater alerted readers to this on her blog with her heartfelt appreciation to Jones.

I've written about my love of her books several times. She captures the wonder and imagination of children while grounding her fantastical stories in clever, wise ways.

One of my bookshelves is lined with her books. If you haven't discovered her, you've got lots of great reading ahead!

Publishers Weekly put this up. And GreenWillow Books.

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And last but way far from least is Earth Day. My beloved planet needs us to love her all the time, but, if you can, do something special this weekend. Plant a tree? Clean a park? Make a donation to organizations that preserve wildlife habitat?

Tip: Here's a picture of my handy clean-up pincers that I've used in lakes and along beaches that get trashed. You can find this tool in dollar stores. It's cheap and works great at grabbing stuff without you having to bend over or soil your hands.

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Wishing you a happy, productive weekend whatever you do. Even if it's relaxing in a deck chair!

Earth Day: This, Not That

THIS.

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For a better Earth.

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NOT THAT.

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THIS.

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NOT THAT.

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April 22, Earth Day, 2011. We can all do something. Clean up a park or beach. Plant a tree. Join an ecological organization.

The Canopy Project.

Tree People.

Sierra Club.

Audubon Society.

Ocean Conservancy.

Natural Resources Defense Council.

The green season

Wearing of the green--California has been doing that a wonderfully long time this year.


There is a lot to celebrate in this. Relief from years of drought. The color itself, which is refreshing and lifts spirits. Blossoming of rare plant life. And such a fine raiment to be wearing for Earth Day tomorrow.




I have fun finding belly flowers--the little ones you have to get down near the earth to see properly, and which sing of joy and wonder if you listen just right.





And I absolutely adore trees for their majesty, mystery and longevity. If I was reincarnated as plant life I would want to be an evergreen tree--to stand for centuries on the edge of the tundra or a wind-whipped sea cliff and watch the shift of seasons and terrain--to sink my roots deep into the earth, finding support and nourishment.


This photo, by the way, I have posted before, but do again because it is so extraordinary the way the tree grows on a little patch of earth in the midst of a lake. Have you ever noticed how plants can find the tiniest sliver of soil and flourish there sometimes? They are efficient survivors.


I am excited to add my blog to the Carbon Neutral initiative, which means a fir, cedar or pine will be planted in Plumas National Forest in Northern California this spring to offset the carbon dioxide emissions created by running my computer.

Plumas suffered a devastating wildfire three years ago. A German organization, Make it Green, created Carbon Neutral as a way to neutralize our blogging emissions by contributing to reforestation programs. One project is the non-profit Arbor Day Foundation working in concert with the U.S. Forest Service to plant more than 790,000 trees in Plumas. Make it Green also contributes to a tree planting effort in the Harz region of Germany. By the way, since I am a former news reporter and wouldn't post without verification, I called the Arbor foundation and confirmed the project.



How does planting a tree make a difference? Trees absorb carbon dioxide emissions which have been adversely affecting our atmosphere and oceans. So while it is necessary to reduce the emissions we make, we can also offset those we do create by planting trees.

Are you doing anything to replenish Mother Earth? I humbly suggest checking out the many environmental groups to find one that has a project that is a match for your belief system and resources. This isn't a one-size-fits-all world, but it is our planet and it needs help.

P.S. Here's a link to Nicole Ducleroir's excellent list of things we can do. Check it out!

Another day on earth

Volcanoes. Earthquakes. Blizzards. Floods. Drought. The earth has a way of getting our attention--even if it doesn't always get our respect.

The 40th anniversary of Earth Day--the granddaddy of Green-- is Thursday, and many communities have celebrations and clean-up campaigns all week. I like to think of Earth Day as every day. This is, after all, the planet that provides our sustenance and shelter within the universe.

It doesn't matter whether or not you "believe" in global warming. What does matter is we are responsible for what you see in these pictures, which come from the Ocean Conservancy and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program.

Not only is this garbage not pretty, it kills.

This photo of an injured pinniped entangled in fishing net is the least disturbing photo I found. There are tons of pictures of birds with beaks tied shut or innards clogged with plastic objects, of dead sea turtles and dolphins caught in debris that starves or drowns them. I couldn't bring myself to post the dead animals here. Did you know that a drifting plastic grocery bag looks a lot like a jelly fish to some hungry sea creatures?

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the tides wash ashore

strange bounty--oil cans, plastic

bottles, strands of ghost nets

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Hawaii is paradise, right? Who doesn't dream of soaking up sunshine and snorkeling there? But there are more than 700 sites in the archipelago where ocean currents deposit marine debris that comes from thousands of miles away. Since 1996, more than 600 metric tons of derelict or "ghost" fishing nets have been removed from the remote northwestern islands of the archipelago.

NOAA, being all scientific and stuff, doesn't verify many of the figures floating around online about the amount of debris that might be in the oceans or number of deaths attributed to it, but the numbers are not really the issue. If one animal or bird dies because of our throw-away culture, that's one too many.

So what can we do? Three words: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. I purchased reusable shopping bags that crunch up small enough to fit in a pocket or purse so I always have them with me.

Another thing anyone can do is help clean up our global house.
You don't have to join a group effort if it's not your thing. Just carry a small trash bag sometimes when you walk. Clean up your own neighborhood and parks so that the garbage that less-enlightened people drop doesn't wash down the drains, into the rivers and then the ocean.

My friend and I did that while walking around a lake. We got curious stares from some people and gratitude from others. Hey, maybe they'll do it some time, too.

I sure hope this didn't come across as a lecture or rant. I just really think we may be running out of time if we don't get serious--each and every one of us. Is there anything you do to make things better for Mother Earth?