Earth Day

Did I mention I live in the rain forest? Ferns cover the ground under Oak, Madrone, Pine, Redwood, and Birch trees. Spanish moss hangs on many branches. 200 yards from my house in any direction it is the mountainous jungles of the Pacific northwest. On days when it rains steadily for hours, like today, it's easy to sit enclosed in the shack, stoke the fire, and feel that 'man against the elements feeling'. Me against the world. The greatest force on Earth; the 'drive to survive'.
Ok, I concede, it's not exactly Mount Everest here, but I didn't say anything about 'conquering' Nature. I recognize and realize, the best you can do is hold your own. The elements will win in the long run. The beat goes on. Man is just one of the dancers. The song will change.
If one considers the age of the Earth (also the brevity of human history in relation to that age) and current predictions for the future, it is hard not to conclude that man's time will soon be over; even if it takes another 10,000 years. Life on the surface of this planet is very fragile. Ask a crocodile.
Which brings us to Earth Day. The Earth doesn't need any help. 'Man's Survival Day' is what we should be talking about. The Earth will continue to spin for as long as you can contemplate where space ends. The Earth can shed all living matter on it's surface like a dead skin and start over, so let's call it like it is, 'Survival Day'. Man's survival.
Now hear me well: man didn't care in 1970 on the first 22 April 'Earth Day'. Man doesn't care now. As my brother would say, "Save yourself. Mankind don't want to be saved." Man isn't worried about mankind's survival, only his own individual survival. Man's standard of living is more important than mankind's survival. Which brings us to that often asked question, "What will you tell your grandchildren?"
Grandchildren? How about children? How about me? How about everybody? Who ya' gonna call? The effects upon the atmosphere from urbanization and cultivation of the rain-forests, along with the problems of burning fossil fuels and the pollution of mankind's industrialization, have long been documented. I remember reading about them in the 70s.
1970 seems a long time ago compared to the period of knowledge in which we now live. But then too, like now, mankind didn't want to be saved. At least industrialized man didn't want to be saved. He wanted a higher standard of living. The rest of mankind didn't have much to say about it. They just wanted to be industrialized. Those that are now industrialized are not giving up the modern world. The beat goes on. The leastest suffer mostest. The fattest are hungriest.
Long past the realities of mere survival in a small, small, small world, industrialized man lives in the fantasy that he'll fix 'it' when necessary. Kind of like taking up religion when one learns they have a terminal illness; industrialized man stops smoking when he has lung cancer. Gas hits $4 a gallon, and then he buys a smaller truck. People will quit driving when the ice-caps melt and the roads are flooded. Then it'll be motorboats, but the guy behind the wheel won't care if people are drowning in a flood halfway across the world if he doesn't know them. Man don't care about man. Man cares about 'himself'!
The Earth is in charge, however. The earth will fix 'herself'. Man most probably won't survive the process. Which is why I wrote this letter; the beat goes on. Whether or not man shortens his existence or lengthens it a little is inconsequential. What counts is... the last man standing!

Happy rainy day from the jungle!

PS ~ These are exciting times we live in. Check out this UFO !