Happy Earth

Happy Earth Day! In the morning we tubbed again at the Travertine Hot Springs then came back through Bridgeport to check for wifi. There was none but while we were in the library this flicker died flying into the large glass window in the front of the building.
In honor of that beauty I just want to mention what I’ve concluded on this tour de North America—Humans, all of us, are still pretty bad on a number of things.

People don’t consider when and if to drive or what kind of mileage their cars get, except now with prices going up.

Many people still throw litter on the ground and in waterways.

Humans have tied up critical habitat for human pursuits-housing or other types of density… waterways are heavily stacked in favor of human habitation and recreation so animals have to survive along the edges when they can. Water is survival.

Recycling is at a very primitive stage throughout most of the U.S. We take it for granted if we are recycling but most communities have limited recycling, if any.

Airplanes are constantly in the skies leaving contrails that gobble up ozone. You rarely see a sky without a jet flying through it…often 5 or 6 are visible at once.

North America is incredibly big and beautiful but heavily impacted by the sheer numbers of us humans and our artifacts. Solitude and pristine wilderness still exist but they are rare on the edge of human endeavors and it feels like our growth is like a cancerous skein spreading everywhere. Ordinary people who can’t hike into the back country soon will not see a landscape without their mirror humans in it.

Those are the main things. I could go on about mining and other bad stuff, like two stroke engines, but we have our work cut out for us. To live fully and in balance while reducing our impacts and finding ways to reverse the trends that are pressing down on all of us.

We went to Twin Lakes…got thwarted again in our search for snow access but then helped a Canadian guy whose car was stuck in a snow patch, went for a walk up ….creek canyon, and ended up in the ….hotspring for the sunset and full moon rise…it’s a bit out of focus but you get the beautiful idea.