Earth Day

I was a high school senior on the first Earth Day in 1970. As part of a group of budding ecologists, I helped organize an entire Saturday of information sharing about the environment and our individual roles as citizens of the earth. One vivid memory was the lunch we prepared for the event. We served plates of brown rice and cups of soy milk---a meal that would have been typical for us if all the resources in the world were equitable. The meal was memorable but not very palatable.

On the actual day of Earth Day many of us decided to walk to school, forsaking our cars, carpools, and usual bus rides. I just "mapquested" my route and discovered I walked 4.90 miles from my home in Lafayette, CA to Campolindo High School in nearby Moraga, and 4.90 miles back home. We got up very early and walked in the dark along winding roads and hills to get to school before 8 a.m. I remember that the walk back home in the afternoon sun seemed very long.

I'm going for a walk this morning to commemorate my inaugural Earth Day journey 29 years ago. Don't think I'll replicate the distance today, but I'm there in spirit.