Earth Day Rock
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: Continuously Moved by the #Earth

Earth Rock

This week’s theme, “Earth Day,” is inspired by 2024’s recognition of Earth Day, which originated on April 22, 1970.

Earth Day

“On Earth Day, we celebrate all the gifts the world and nature make available to us. We recognize our complete dependence on its bounty. And we acknowledge the need for good stewardship to preserve its fruits for future generations.” ~ John Hoeven

If you are a wilderness geek like me, you might know that today, April 21st is the 179th birthday of John Muir. If you didn’t know, let me tell you why he may have been considered (in my eyes) one of the most important men on Planet Earth.

John Muir plaque

John Muir was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, and early advocate of preserving wilderness in the United States. He was the founder of the Sierra Club.

“He traveled to California in the spring of 1868 and explored the high country of the Sierra Nevada, making California his life-long home.” ~ Sierra Club

His life is celebrated by the existence of Yosemite National Park, which he was instrumental in establishing in 1890.

Painnted Half Dome
Yosemite’s Iconic Half Dome

President Teddy Roosevelt was influenced by Muir and as a result, “set aside 148 million acres of forest reserves, created 50 regions for the protection of wildlife, founded 16 national monuments and established 5 new national parks.” ~ National Park Service: John Muir

In fact, any of us who have enjoyed the outdoors has surely been inspired by Muir’s famous quotes:

“Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike” – John Muir, 1869

Gateway to Yosemite
Tioga Pass Entrance to Yosemite Nat’l Park

Now that you are properly inspired by John Muir’s writings and the idea of Earth Day join me in sharing your favorite places and spaces Mother Earth has to offer. 🌎

U.S. National Parks

“Within National Parks is room–glorious room–room in which to find ourselves, in which to think and hope, to dream and plan, to rest and resolve.” — naturalist Enos Mills

Wall of Windows from Bryce Point
Wall of Windows from Bryce Point
Yosemite Valley with Bridalveil Falls
Yosemite Valley
Kilauea Crater 2018, Big Island, Hawaii
Visiting Kilauea Crater 2018, Big Island, Hawaii
View of Grand Tetons from Rexburg, Idaho
View of Grand Tetons from Rexburg, Idaho
South Rim of the Grand Canyon in snow
South Rim of the Grand Canyon
Yosemite is the People's Park
My BIL’s first view of Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite)

American SouthWest

“The desert, when the sun comes up. I couldn’t tell where Heaven stopped and the Earth began.” ~ Tom Hanks

woman contemplating walls of antelope Canyon
Contemplating the Antelope Canyon
Elephant Rock, Valley of Fire
Elephant Rock in Valley of Fire
Iconic Horseshoe Bend, Page, Arizona
Iconic Horseshoe Bend, Page, Arizona
image of Mono Lake's Tufa Towers
Tufa Towers of Mono Lake, CA
Entering the Narrows of Valley of Fire
Entering the Narrows of Valley of Fire
Wavy clouds
Wavy clouds walk the desert floor

The Earth is a Watery Place

“Water flows from high in the mountains. Water runs deep in the Earth. Miraculously, water comes to us and sustains all life.” ~ Nhat Hanh

woman floating in the ocean
Me Floating in Sea of Cortez
Weightless water
Ocean spray in Baja
Bridge over Spokane River After Long Lake Dam
Bridge over Spokane River south of Long Lake Dam
Multnomah Falls
Multnomah Falls
Spokane Falls in May
Spokane Falls in May
Nine Mile Falls
NIne Mile Falls first sign of Spring
Spring at Deep Creek Steel Bridge
Spring at Deep Creek Steel Bridge on the Centennial Trail close to home

Heavenly Gifts Viewed from Earth

“The moon is the first milestone on the road to the stars.” – Arthur C. Clarke

super pink moon
April 2020 Super Pink Moon
Full moon Perspective
Delta Moon
Blue Sky Half Moon
Daytime Blue Moon
Aurora Borealis from my porch
Aurora Borealis from my porch

What Can You Do to Honor Our Earth?

This article lists 13 things you can do to help the Earth daily. Some include those that 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 or grow your own
  • Support your local growers and buy their produce at Farmer’s Markets.
  • Plant Your own garden
  • Participate in a local clean-up

Having spent 11 lovely summers at the Sacramento River Delta, we often spent a day volunteering in a planned clean-up sponsored by various local groups.

Sacramento River Delta Clean Up
Doing my part for a Delta Clean-up in 2015.

Wind turbines loom over the wind sports area in the delta.

Day is Done
Reward after a good clean-up day

Plant Your Own Garden

Sunflower Seedlings
Infant Sunflowers
Potted garden plants
Sungold cherry tomatoes
Sungold cherry tomato harvest

Or plant flowers…

Bright pink Pretty Princess Tulips
Pretty Princess Tulips from Tulip Farm are still in the pot

“The Earth Laughs in Flowers.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Red Tulips Reach for the Sun
Red Tulips Reach for the Sun
Wild arrowleaf sunflowers bloom
Spring’s blooming of wild sunflower Arrowleaf Balsamroot (a medicinal, edible flower)
brown swatch

Inspiring Photo Challenges This Week

Each week, I find inspiration from my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes. Special shout-out to Jane Lurie’s Earth Day post–it’s not to be missed!

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers, poets, artists, and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers sharing their photos inspired by Earth Day. I add these all week as new links are posted. Please comment on my post if you link your post to Sunday Stills and wish to be included in each week’s listed round-up.

I can’t wait to see how you interpret Earth Day this week! Join me next week as we explore the theme of “National Kids and Pets Day.”

graphic

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106 comments

  15. Finally got my post done. Phew.I love that quote you shared at the beginning. I also loved what you shared about John Muir. When we were up at Mt. Rainier, at paradise, there is a base camp for climbers called Camp Muir, named after John Muir when he summited the mountain. The was part of the climbinb party that made the sitxth recorded ascent in 1888. While at one of the N.P.’s I bought a passport book. Now I’m determined to visit more parks…haha. I loved all your photos. So gorgoues. WOW. Spokane falls is amazing.

    https://troyerslovinglife.blogspot.com/2024/04/taking-in-life-around-me-sundaystills.html

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    • Thank you, Kirstin! I’ll be by soon to read yours. John Muir is well known to us Americans, but interesting some bloggers didn’t know who he was. Congratulations on getting your NP passport… at 62 you can get the lifetime pass for $80. If I use mine twice this year, it’ll be paid for 😃

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  17. I had no idea who John Muir was, so thanks for the introduction, Terri.

    I’m pleased to say that I have had the pleasure of visiting Yosemite. We drove through it twice and loved it. It’s the only place where we saw wild bears, although when they saw us, they made a dash for it.

    Your photography certainly showcases planet Earth. I’m proud to live in Wales which is Number 3 in the world for the countries that recycle the most. I hate throwing waste into black bags that end up in landfill, although I’m afraid that I don’t have anywhere else for the inside of the vacuum-cleaner bag to go. But that’s it!

    We also grown out own veg in the summer and some fruit too. It always tastes much better that shop-bought fruit and veg.

    My entry will appear in this week’s Wordless Wednesday post.

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    • Many thanks, Hugh! Someone else (In Canada) hadn’t heard of John Muir either. He was a Scot who eventually moved to California once he hiked through Yosemite. We Americans thank him for his vision so we (and the rest of Earth’s citizens) can enjoy Yosemite and so many other NPs and public lands that were set aside through the efforts of many in the late 19th century and early 20th. I’m glad you’ve been to Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. I look forward to your post tomorrow.

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  21. Gorgeous thoughts and pictures, Terri. You covered the gamut – earth, sky, and water. John Muir did leave his mark on the world. How few people in the world leave that big of an impression. Was it just the time, or would he have done just as much for society today? It’s hard to know. We live in a different time with lots more people, more complexity. He still reminds us that the simple things in nature are to be treasured and never to be lost.

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  25. Hi Terri, this was a great post with beautiful photos – those tulips, sunflowers, water, moon shots and of course the pink rocks of the Antelope Canyon which are always well worth another look! 

    I do like Muir’s quotes especially the one about entering the forest to lose my mind and find my soul. Very fitting to mention jim in your post for Earth Day. I’m back joining you this week with my post about a lovely sculpture walk in a nearby town. It’s autumn here so the colours are beautiful with warm sunshiney days – perfection!

    Earth Day and a Sculpture Walk #SundayStills

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    • Thank you, Debbie! Glad you enjoyed the gallery of a few old favorites. The flowers were new! With Muirs birthday being on the 21st, made me wonder if Earth Day planned it’s inaugural date to coincide with his. Glad you are back and I see you are enjoying your Autumn season!

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  30. A glorious paean to the beauty of the earth, Terri. I started out thinking I’d mention the stunning shot of Half Dome and then the Grand Canyon, then it got out of control with beautiful photos. So take that as the compliment it’s meant to be and thanks for the beauty.

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  31. Thank you for the info on John Muir Terri and this fellow nature lover agrees about his importance. I did know about him and learned more about John Muir when visiting Muir Woods on a trip to California in 1980. He was important to everyone’s well-being … yours and mine especially and we cannot thank him enough for his contributions. So this is National Parks week, John Muir’s birthday, Earth Day and Arbor Day (Friday), all neatly placed in one week as Spring continues to roll out slowly (for us, a frost advisory tonight and later in the week). I enjoyed seeing your photos of National Parks you have visited. You are lucky to have traveled so extensively. You have so many beautiful images of land, water, flowers, even veggies that is difficult to pick a favorite.

    Here is my post on Earth Day … I am happy for my little Park where I spend so much time, but am worried about what is going to be done to correct issues.

    Am I a tree hugger? You betcha!

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  40. Wow, what a spectacular showcase of your photography, Terri. Happy Earth Day! Ecology was taught in my high school in Milwaukee, WI many years ago. We also had a high school named after John Muir! Happy new week. 💖

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    • John Muir HS, how cool, Colleen, and thank you! I think those of us who attended middle school in the 70s got our fair share of ecology and environmental subjects. which was a great education. No wonder I went into the recreation and parks management field, LOL!

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  44. Oh wow, Terri, your photos are fabulous!! I love our national parks and am thankful for those who realized the importance of preserving wilderness for the enjoyment of future generations. We’ll be on the road this week so I’m not sure I’ll make it back with an Earth Day post, but if I do, you’ll be the first to know! 😉

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  50. Your photos are a great tribute to Earth Day. This also clearly embraces last week’s Lens Artist’s theme of Rock my World.

    I was lucky to grow up in California, and I remember in school learning much about John Muir and his contributions to conservation.

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  52. I’m awestruck with your post. You’ve seen so many majestic places in your travels and captured them well in photos. I’ve always been a fan of Muir’s quotes and am slightly embarrassed that I didn’t know his history. Thank you for sharing it as part of your post too. When our kids were young we participated in Earth Day clean-up in our hometown and we also planted trees, it was a fun family event. May Earth’s blessings keep you smiling and finding more places to discover! 

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    • Thank you, Shelley! I actually forgot it was Muir’s birthday today until I looked at an older post. Makes sense Earth Day was chosen to somewhat coincide with his birthday. I’d been to Yosemite NP enough to have read all about Muir’s influence. How cool you and your family have taken part in neighborhood cleanups and plantings!

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      • I appreciate you sharing the lessons and inspiration moments about Muir and his influences. I like to think that our efforts back then have helped shape our daughters love of nature and our earth. Both in their own unique ways. 

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      • Yes, to spread remains on public lands, you need a permit, and now in Yosemite, like Glacier NP, you also need a permit to drive into the park, and I don’t mean the entrance fee, They’re trying to the huge amounts of traffic throughout both parks. Most people who enter Yosemite from Tioga Pass on Hwy 395 drive through the the Valley where most people visit. Tuolumne Meadows is high country, quiet and more dear to our hearts after spending so many camping trips there, My mother loved the outdoors, fishing and hiking, I remembered her favorite spot for fishing and that’s where she will have her final rest. Thank you again 🙂

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