I never thought of myself as a, if you'll pardon the expression, "treehugger". I remember back in the 70s, during the "Keep America Beautiful" campaign, seeing a commercial in which a now iconic Native American turns his head, upon seeing the polluted land, and a single tear trickles down his cheek. I was just a kid at the time, and the deep symbolism was lost on me. If memory serves me correctly, there was also the "Woodsy the Owl" campaign, with the slogan "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute," as well as the "Pitch In" campaign: ♫♫ We've got to pitch in to clean up America. ♫♫ I remember hearing my dad say, "You can't turn on the t.v. without seein' them cotton-pickin' treehuggers all over the place!" People of his generation just didn't understand that Earth's natural resources are finite and should be conserved and protected. That was thirty years ago, before "going green" became the in-thing. I have to hand it to the treehuggers: they were giving it their all even back then.
I guess I began thinking about the environment, somewhat anyway, when I took an Environmental Biology class back in 1991. This was the catalyst to my treehugging journey. As my own daughters grew up, I began thinking about the kind of world we're leaving behind for them--this thought further developed my concern for the environment. I taught second grade for ten years and am now teaching third grade. It was during the second grade years, when the Missouri Grade Level Expectations require "the comparison and contrasting of the habitats, resources, art and daily lives of Native American peoples, Woodland and Plains Indians" that I really started thinking; "You know, my father's, father's, father's people really had it right." Native Americans did not believe the land was theirs' to own...the Great Spirit had blessed them with it to use. They took only what they needed, used every single bit, took care of the planet, and thanked the Great Spirit, as well as the animal/plant's spirit, for its use. Do modern day humans do the same? And here our forefathers thought they were the civilized folk--that the Aboriginal people were wild heathens who needed civilizing!
People start blogs for many reasons; to get things off their chests, to complain, to entertain, to gain notoriety--the list goes on. If I had to say why I started this blog, it would be, I think, to have meaningful dialogue with like-minded people...to do my part in getting readers to think about their contribution to the preservation of our planet...and maybe even to (don't freak out--this isn't another evangelistic blog) apostletize just a little to get folks thinking about their spiritual needs. My dad passed in December. He was eighty-five years old and suffering from Alzheimer's. The old, anti-treehugger really spoke out against wasting things during the latter part of his life. I think he would be pleased.
