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“Not by bread alone, but by the splendor of the firmament at night, the glory of the heavens at dawn, the blending of colors at sunset, the loveliness of magnolia trees, the magnificence of mountains.” An excerpt from a writing called Not By Bread Alone from The University Presbyterian many years ago.

It’s Earth Day today. When I logged on to our website today, I was pleased to see our Earth in all its glory. It’s the day we set aside some time to contemplate the changes to the environment and the natural world around us. A wise saying from the great Native North American Winnebago Nation states: “Holy Mother Earth, the trees and all nature are witnesses of your thoughts and deeds.” Mother Earth is also witness to our thoughts and deeds on this day..

My daughter told me that her high school geography class was spent outdoors today. She and her classmates spent the time cleaning up a portion of the school yard, making a small but vital contribution to the environment. In one of her later classes, they saw a huge column of black smoke outside the classroom windows. They were later told that a tree, some distance away, was on fire. One wonders how a tree catches fire on such a beautiful day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and certainly no lightning…

I spent the better part of my day out by the pond, cleaning filters and watering our early spring flowers, plants and parts of the lawn. I was down on my knees cleaning out the debris left behind by winter. Leaves from the neighbouring mature trees fall in the autumn on the pond’s surface and eventually sink to the bottom. They need to be cleaned out now. The decaying matter is a natural part of the cycle in woodland ponds but it is not conducive to a healthy environment in backyard ponds. I was back and forth to the tap on the side of the house that feeds the hoses. On one of my trips back to the pond after turning the water off, I saw we had a visitor. A fairly long garden snake was sunning itself in that short period of time on one of the large, flat stones that rest on the perimeter of the pond. I almost walked right by it, but my movement had disturbed its reverie. I must admit that it startled me. This is the earliest in the year I’ve seen a snake. It slithered down into the pond itself, and it was then that I ran for the net. We have a new generation of fish that were just born last year. The snake would be more than pleased to make a meal of some of them. I circled the the water for awhile, watching for it, but it must have slipped out of the water and into the bushes. A snake can be a threat to the backyard water garden, along with raccoons, foxes, cats and herons. On my home after work the other night, I happned to see two raccoons sauntering across our front lawn. Just the other day, a neighour out for a walk with her family, heard tell of a coyote that has been seen in the ravine that borders our community. I’ve mentioned the fox, the raccoons and the rabbit I’ve seen in the past little while in my blogs and radio programs. In years past, I’ve heard stories of coyotes encroaching upon the northern borders of the city I live in. The ravine next door is a little too close for comfort, though. As our communities continue to grow and expand, we’re building in places that used to be the natural habitat for these creatures. It doesn’t surprise me to find they are turning up in our communities from time to time.

In our dining room is a real tree that we bought at a furniture store. You might think that a rather strange place to buy a tree, but this tree no longer has any leaves on it. Rather than destroying it after it died or cutting it up for firewood, some imginative person found a way to preserve it and fill its branches with beautiful silk flowers. If you didn’t know any better, you would think that this tree was in bloom all year through. It resembles the large pink flowers that are beginning to open now on the branches of one of our magnolia trees.

We planted two magnolia trees on our property. The one on the back lawn was planted the year my daughter was born. We planted another variety on the front lawn when my son was born. The one in the back is filled with magnificent blooms this year. I wondered what would happen since last year was a not a good time for both magnolia trees. This year we are more than making up for it, and even earlier in the season. I snapped a photo today so that you can see the blooms in the uppermost branches of this huge tree.

Both trees seem to have mirrored the growth of my children. Both have grown straight and strong. My daughter’s tree rewards us with beautiful pink flowers early in spring and his rewards us later with absolutely stunning purple blooms. People who stroll by on the sidewalk always comment on the lush leaves and the fact that it is filled with so many dark purple flowers. Over the years, the roots of these magnolias have reached out to take nourishment from the soil, and the values we’tre trying to impart in both our children are also taking root.

I couldn’t take a photo from orbit of the Earth in all its magnificent slendor for Earth Day, but I thought you might appreciate savoring the beauty of this incredible tree in my little corner of the world.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds, the ebb and flow of tides, the folded bud ready for spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature–the assurance that dawn comes after the night and spring after the winter.” Rachel Carson (1907-1964) in her classic work, Silent Spring published in 1962 by Hamish Hamilton Ltd.

Happy Earth Day!

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Don Jackson

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 8:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.