Dear Editor:
I just saw a photo of a huge old growth tree which had been cut and stripped and loaded onto the back of a huge flatbed truck in BC. I sat here and cried. It is the body of our grandmother or grandfather, the nurturer, the safe harbour, the home, the creator, the lungs that breathed for us and cleaned our air for many generations. How long will it take to replace the irreplaceable?
Now it is a dead body. Greed did this. Neglect of our children and grandchildren did this. Expediency did this. A deep ignorance and indifference to the natural world did this. Our looking the other way, wanting more and more things to fill the void that our disconnection with Earth has caused.
So we slaughter her creation, burn, cut deep, slash, poison and deprive her of the simple things that have made this Earth a breathtakingly beautiful planet, our home.
So many of us are house proud and want only the best in our homes. How about having the best for Earth. How about making sure that we nurture, feed, give generously to her. We are, at this point, like selfish greedy children who haven’t learned the lessons that our mother, Earth, has taught us: gratitude, respect for the natural world, responsible stewardship, love, generosity, a sense of the value of loving exchange: we give what we can to nurture this Earth and she returns that gift millions of times over.
Fight for old growth trees. Realize that working towards, and making even small sacrifices to save the planet is the choice to give our kids and grandkids a future. How tragic it will be if we don’t act.
All the rare and the abundant beauty of the world will become a memory of old folks, or high resolution photos archived in some museum. Imagine the deep sadness and anger of future generations! We will be truly known as the creators of the second “dark ages.” Do something.
Gerry Walsh,
Erin