Sacramento River Delta Clean Up
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: Honoring Mother #Earth

In a normal universe, we would likely be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day (April 22) outside, perhaps at a large event venue. Even before this popular annual event, volunteers typically gather in various locations during April to clean up litter in the parks, rivers, creeks, and beaches.

Sacramento River Delta Clean Up
Doing my part for the Delta Clean Up in 2015.

Staying on TOP of garbage and debris pick-up by participating in community clean-up days helps keep our natural areas and leisure spaces fresh and inviting.

Delta Ice plant

Speaking of the universe, two weeks ago, we had a pink super moon event, one I happily captured with my Lumix FZ 300! Without the moon’s gravitational influence on tides and weather, life on Mother Earth might look quite different.

super pink moon
April 2020 Super Pink Moon

In My Universe

My plan for Earth Day this year is to simply stay home and play in my backyard garden. By staying on top of planting…

My sunflower seedlings were ready to be planted.

Sunflower Seedlings

Within a few short months, they’ll go from this…

planted sunflowers

…to this, a half-open sunflower from 2018…

Half open Sunflower

…And, finally, to this! All grown up (from 2019)!

sunflowers surrounded by blue

The rest of my deck garden is close to bursting with flowers!

Deck Garden

To help spread the love of sunflowers, I sent a package of various seeds from last year’s sunflower crop to my daughter, so she can plant her own!

I’m adding my images to Cee’s Flower of the Day and to Becky B’s Square Tops.

What can YOU do to honor our Earth?

This article, 13 Small Things You Can Do to Help the Earth Every Day lists simple things you can do to help our Earth. Some of these I do regularly:

  • Use your own grocery bags
  • Re-use your coffee mug and water bottle (we do this on road trips, too)
  • Buy in-season produce. Our local farmer’s markets are still open on weekends! Support your local growers and buy their produce.
  • Plant Your Own Garden. Check out Author Cathleen Townsend’s recent post Be Prepared: Plant a Garden.

I suppose during the current pandemic, gasoline emissions are down due to folks not driving their vehicles as much.

I’m excited to see what you might share for the theme “Mother Earth.” Remember, you can link all week!

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95 comments

  3. Ah, I remember our boys planting sunflowers for a competition at school many years ago. We’ve been out gardening all day. A question Terri… next week the topic is ‘Dog Day Afternoon’. What does that mean exactly (sorry for being so dense)?

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  19. Mother Earth is my inspiration and my main cause for joy. She deserves all the respect she can get. If there’s one positive to come out of this virus crisis, it’s hopefully benefits to the earth by means of decreased pollution. I guess air pollution that is, as I’m already seeing reports of disposed masks and gloves making it into the oceans. So much extra trash is being created with one-use gloves, masks, plastic bags, etc…And, while a lot of people have become used to bringing their own grocery bags to the stores, that’s now not allowed. At least not in Trader Joe’s…

    Without garbage cleanup on beaches, parks, and road sides, our environment would be a mess. But, why, I have to ask, does that garbage end up there in the first place? And so much of it? Are people still not educated enough to throw trash in dumpsters and to recycle? Seriously! It drives me mad!

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  25. There must be a reduction in Greenhouse gases during this lockdown, don’t you think, Terri? I hear that people who live in New Delhi can see the Himalaya mountains again because all the smog has cleared. And it’s great to see and hear about the wildlife that is venturing into empty cities and towns again.

    We’re so lucky to have a garden where we can sit and enjoy the highlights that Mother Earth brings us. She’s putting on a great display at the moment. I hope she’s also taking this time to heal all the wounds us humans have inflicted on her.

    Happy Earth Day. 🌍

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  26. New subscriber here and thoroughly enjoying your excellent photography. Love this topic as well. Before we downsized, my wife and I lived in a home on the Tennessee River. We participated in Earth Day clean-up efforts along the banks every year. At first, I was not sure the effort would be productive but, when I hauled 14 car tires out of the cove next to our house, I became a believer. We only have one earth. Thanks for the reminder! Joe

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  27. I think this might be the best Earth Day ever, Terri. I hear birds chirping where before they were silenced by outside human noises. The Venice canals are clearing up. I wonder how we can keep this sort of benefit going?

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  29. We finally got a warm, sunny day here yesterday and we spent the day cleaning up our garden, getting out the patio furniture and even went for our first bike ride of the season. I don’t think I have ever been so thankful for the outdoors and nature as I have been the past few weeks. To be able to go outside changed my mood tremendously. I am anxiously awaiting being abl e to plant my garden and set out flowers- a few weeks away from us yet- though daffodils are up!

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    • Nothing more therapeutic than being outdoors. No wonder people are demonstrating! Our delta campground is still closed, so no rushing off for weekends, which is nice, although I miss being there. I can’t wait to take the paddleboard out!

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  33. Great to see so much interest in Earth Day, Terri. It’s not something I’ve taken much notice of in the past. We try to do our share, litter picking on a regular basis and using resources thoughtfully. Hopefully for a better future for our youngsters. 🙂 🙂

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  35. A lovely way to spend Earth Day, Terri. We have also started a vegetable garden but, as it is going into winter here, we have only planted spinach, onions and beetroot. The seeds have germinated and it is rather fun to watch them growing every day.

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  44. We’ve started our seeds, but there is still too much snow to plant outside (yet)! We are (mostly) patiently waiting. My husband brought me sunflowers last week for my birthday. Your photos made me smile about them all over again! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

    Our World: Earth

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  52. Love all your pro-Earth activities and the easy list of ways to help care for our planet – which means we’re also taking care of ourselves and our neighbors. We can’t garden where we live, even window sill gardens are harvested by the local rodent invaders. But I love to shop the local farmer’s market, tho I don’t even know if it’s open now. We did plant milkweed and had at least 15 healthy Monarch caterpillars until a week ago. A lizard and a crow figured we were nurturing their personal buffet. We even tried to pop a cover over the last 3 caterpillars but nothing could dissuade the free loaders.

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  54. A wonderful tribute to mother Earth, Terri. The Lockdown is good for nature, proving that we’re a part of the problem. I’d like to consider ourselves a part of the solution, leading a sustainable life, not flying for pleasure, the list is long, there’s always one more contribution that cold fit in.

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