L.A. County Arboretum in the Spring (Photo – Melissa Michelson)
Do you remember the first time you fell in love? I don’t mean with another person, but when you fell head over heels in love with our Earth?
By Tera Landers
I was eight years old, and the sounds of a gentle spring rain drew me outside. The young green leaves sparkled with raindrops and the world seemed full of magic. My heart swelled and I burst into song. Nothing had ever seemed so sweet and so precious to me as the beauty of the earth in that moment. As the pattering of rain slowed, I sank down into the soft grass to take it all in. As I stood to go in, I looked down and realized that my lavender terry cloth sweatsuit was covered in grass stains. Oh, the pain of love!
It wouldn’t be long until that burst of new love faded, and I turned my attention away from the natural world to video games, roller skating, and Michael Jackson albums. By the time I was a teenager, I swapped wading in the nearby stream for scouring sales at the shopping mall.
It can happen to all of us. Forgetting to notice the extravagant allure of the trees. Ignoring the peril our Earth is in. Life is full, our to do lists are already way too long, and it hurts to admit the damage we have contributed to.
What we love, we save. And right now, our Earth needs all of us to fall in love with her again and put our hands and feet to work to save her.
The world around us awakens into spring. Follow the sunlight outside and let yourself fall in love all over again. What do you see that delights you? Tiny buds forming on tree branches, or seeds sprouting into orange poppies and purple lupines?
May you reawaken to the splendor of creation and work for change in our world.
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