Today’s running post will be on the front page. What you’ll find in this blog is my story of deciding to run, and then running. I tie in this wonderful outdoor experience with many thoughts that relate to literature and the environment as well as documenting what it’s like to be running in this space and time: in the Anthropocene. Some of the stories are about the world around me. Some are more personal, like memories of “home“.
Being a runner, and celebrating years and years of eco-novels and art, to me, every day is Earth Day. But the most important thing I feel we can do on Earth Day (and every day) is to get outside, get back to nature. I interview a lot of authors at this site, and often the question comes up: What inspired you to write about climate change, or what inspired your work in the environment? Always the answer has to do with when they were kids they were were encouraged to explore the great outdoors. Being in nature gives one a sense of wonder, a sense of awe, which is the first step to respecting nature. And when one learns to respect and enjoy nature, the next part is the desire to protect it.
I feel the same way, and was lucky to grow up in a home where my parents were always taking us hiking, canoeing, camping, rafting, climbing mountains, and fishing. On special weekends Dad used to take us morel mushroom hunting. We once went into the middle of the Arizona desert and rode horses. Our home library was filled with nature and science books, and I was an avid reader. And now that I’m an adult, that sense of wonder has not gone away. The best advice I can give today is to GET OUTSIDE. Get out and find a park, a forest, a beach, a hillside. Plant your feet in the dirt. Feel the connection with that dirt, that Earth. Read a book under a tree. Get involved with local environmental celebrations.
Me, well, much of my day is stuck inside at work. I also am recovering from a knee injury from last weekend’s Vancouver Sun Run. So instead of running today, I will go on a hour long recovery walk in the surrounding trails where I work. The trails will be a little muddy from last night’s rainfall, but the day is promising to be sunny, and the clouds are few.
Happy Earth Day!
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