Appreciating Our Ride

My fingers are playing a keyboard sonata as this piece is crafted. Conditioned to a clean copy, the days of “white-out” and torn-up pages requiring hours of effort are not desirable memories. Yet there is a rich history that is unforgettable.

In college, a huge room was filled with computer components. A large card-reader was fed 86-character card decks. There were manual typewriters with broken ribbons pumping out messy papers and desk top telephones with such lengthy cords they wound around like unwieldy vines. So much frustration … who needed it? Indeed there are shouts of hurray for those flashes of brilliance—and hours of labor from energized people—that produced the world at a thumbs beckoning.

Yet, with today’s technology, we are losing touch with our planet and with one another.

Such grand achievement has produced much compromise. This is seen in many little ways. Just walk about the marketplace, people are talking loudly on their phones, bypassing others and panoramic sights. Families gather in restaurants, heads are down, as fingers text rapid fire. Most troubling are drivers on the highway doing exactly the same thing— creating a hazardous situation.

As riders on this sphere called Earth, we share with one another and other life forms. There is awesome brilliance seen in the continents, the blue skies, the towering mountains, the verdant valleys. There is a symbiotic relationship, a beneficial relationship between us and this planet that is life-giving and restorative.

Take something as simple as trees. Although present in full view, they rarely get our attention. Trees have serviced us well with their exchange of oxygen for our carbon dioxide and provided wood for paper products, furniture and other fashioned goods.

Just a walk in the forest of mixed vegetation can make you smile. The Japanese call this “forest bathing” - Shinrin-yoku - which can improve overall mental and physical health.

I recently heard a strong testimony given by an elderly woman who had had a serious condition of tuberculosis. She was sent to a special hospital surrounded by dense evergreens. Her daily treatment required physical contact with those trees. During the winter months the furnace was turned off and windows fully opened. Yes, she nearly froze. But the remedy, the bodily absorption of released phtoncides - certain organic compounds from the evergreens—did restore her lungs.

Earlier years of childrearing found me loosening the Velcro on the video games and heading to a lovely park. Initial balking was soon replaced with anticipation. An afternoon surrounded by ample foliage enhanced a day of hiking, picnicking and bird-watching. Memories were made. But most beneficial were their bright complexions and earthy sweaty selves.

Yes, I appreciate the great outdoors; the clear air fragrant with budding blossoms. I often take long walks or put on my gloves and do some planting. But I also am grateful for today’s technology and it many uses. This planet, its inhabitants, and wonderful discoveries are a gift to us.

On earth, it is essential that we appreciate and support one another so we can continue our sojourn in this amazing place.

And this effort begins with one respectful step at a time.

… “and that’s how I live it.”