I was going to have Mari write a “Earth” poem like the one she wrote HERE, or get Lila to draw a beautiful picture celebrating Earth Day maybe post a few tips on how we could be better about reducing, reusing and recycling, like those I found HERE. I even considered posting Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy, Mercy Me,” the ultimate Earth Day anthem. Each of these things was meant to remind my MyBrownBaby friends to protect our planet at all costs. After all, we have but one Earth; who are we to do anything but revere all that the Lord has made?

And then I started flipping through my iPhotos and came across some breathtaking pictures each one of them taken over the past year as our family made a much more conscious effort to enjoy nature and the great outdoors. I’m more of a keep-it-in-the-house kind of girl, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed breathing in the fresh air and admiring the wonders of nature. Here, our year-long celebration of the Earth, in pictures. My hope is that you’ll be inspired by our journey, and perhaps create some beautiful outdoor memories of your own.

Snow Balls, February 2010

Lila and her best friend, Maggie, got a kick out of seeing who could make the biggest snow ball!

The Secret Life of Bees, April 2009

When our cousin found a wall-wide beehive nestled in the porch wall of his house, we got a lesson on bees that we wouldn’t soon forget. Mari waited patiently while the beekeepers got the job done.

Spring Flowers, April 2009

Who can resist spending quality time out on the front lawn when Spring is in bloom? We sure can’t!

Mother’s Day, 2009

Sometimes it’s the simple things, like watching your children run and play and giggle in the park, that make Mother’s Day the most special.

Carnival B-Day Party, June 2009

What do you know about egg races, hoola hoop contests, and water balloon tosses? I can tell you they’re GREAT summer party games, especially if you’re partying outdoors. This is Lila, dead serious about winning a pack of gummy bears for keeping her hoola hoop going the longest.

Camping Trip, June 2009

A whole weekend outdoors. With bugs. And weird night noises. And campfires with s’mores and lots of great grilling. Not sure I want to do this again but I will have stories for the grandkids!

Hilton Head, July 2009

Our family vacation in one of the most beautiful towns we’ve ever visited full of great history and natural beauty.

Kentucky Wind Mills, August 2009

I shot this picture of the incredible flat lands of Kentucky while riding with The Blogrollers back from BlogHer 2009. Man was that ride fun matched only by the scenery of our beautiful country whizzing by.

Black Butterfly, August 2009

Black butterfly/Sail across the waters/Tell your sons and daughters/What the struggle brings. (Man, I love that song that Niecy Williams sure can belt it out, can’t she? This butterfly, which we found in our driveway, was a source of endless fascination for the kids.

Gone Fishing, September 2009

The kids had a blast getting fishing lessons from their Uncle Marvin, but it was my mom-in-law, Helen, who schooled everybody when she caught three fish!

Our Garden, September 2009

Every year the girls and I plant and maintain a container garden out on our back deck; the rosemary, thyme, sage, peppermint, flat-leaf parsley, cilantro and basil give our food the best zing, and the colorful flowers keep butterflies and hummingbirds aflutter just outside our kitchen picture window. We tend our garden with love.

Soccer Game, November 2009

The girls stayed active out on the soccer field the perfect way to get in some exercise and enjoy the outdoors.

Martin Luther King Day, January 2010

This is my beautiful nephew Miles, who volunteered at this year’s MLK Day celebration in Atlanta, at the MLK Center, a national historic park site.

The Great Snowstorm, February 2010

We actually got enough snow to make two snowmen. This one, with carrots for eyes and a nose and a random Gap hat (because our snowmen are supa fly!) was pulled together by Mari.

ENJOY THIS DAY, AND EVERYDAY, CELEBRATING THE WONDERS OF OUR PLANET AND HAPPY EARTH DAY!

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7 Comments

  1. Agrarian Age

    In Spring we speak of seeds
    bundled possibilities
    foreseeing market days hale and fair
    succulent fruit, trilling herbs,
    vitalizing veggies
    and all the spicey chatter of conviviality

    First there was the seed
    plowed under to taste Earth,
    swell with water,
    burst into fecund brew building
    cells of chlorophyll to catch the fire,
    symbiotically breathe, exchanging
    death for life

    Sacred seed
    clothed in mystic ceremonies
    deeply deified in chthonic memory
    We carry the seed of our fathers,
    the tears of our mothers,
    the hopes and fears of our priests and lords,
    over rocky terrain, in hidden caves through
    ice and flood and slavering predation,
    never doubting nobility of destiny
    On appointed days, carefully watching solar/lunar
    alignments,
    our assigned labor commences. Busy as any
    bird or bee, we commit seed to chosen ground
    with all the love we can command
    Then, off to bacchanalia, reveling in a grand scheme
    promising sustenance, renewed strength, plans,
    romances, unnumbered chances for pride
    and glory

    Thus goes the story we retell in lullaby,
    in schoolyard intimacies and scholarly lies,
    puffing up our little share of knowledge, magical
    protection from overwhelming vastness
    of mystery, shades of colors without name

    Unclear on the protocol of shame, unwilling to admit
    to ignorance that might unsettle carefully laid
    hierarchies, unloose gates inviting chaos or worse,
    we gather of our fruit for sacrifice to gods of greed and vice,
    gleefully watch the rending of they who are not me

    "I, too wise for such ill use, repeatedly proven
    in my abuse of these ill-named foes I refuse to admit
    as kin — sinners, Lord. Surely I'll not be taken in,
    not take them in. Not share the bounty of your seed,
    given to the chosen."

    Even in these days of polluted soil, of toil
    demoted to laughable commodity,
    idly watching waste stream into muddy rivers,
    enjoying occasional feasts of vicarious blood,
    throwing the unsanctified into the raging flood,
    desperately trying to stem an unquenchable tide,
    while hiding any glimpse of remorse lest shadow
    presage disaster
    Eating both fruit and seed, rather than part with
    familiar fantasy

    April 2010
    Laurie Corzett
    http://emergingvisions.blogspot.com

  2. I.WANT.YOUR.CAMERA. You've told me seven or eight times now, but what make is it? I'm buying a GOOD camera pretty soon so I can have banging pictures of my kids. My current camera (bought off Overstock.com) is a piece of crap. 🙁 Help, Denene! And if there's any class or book you used to help you get so good, please let me know!

  3. An absolute joy to read; I felt like I had those experiences with you, the pictures are fantastic.

  4. GYF Executive Director

    Absolutely breath-taking!

  5. LOVE the pictures and the sweet shared memories! Thanks.

  6. Fantastic photos. 🙂

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