“The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.” ~ Ernest Hemingway
I was a junior in high school when Earth Day was established.
A group of us went to one of the local San Mateo County beaches and picked up trash.
It was along about that time that an oil spill took place off the coast. Well, a group of us went out to help clean up. There were no hazmat suits or rigid regulations to follow. We just went out and scooped up glops of oil.
Since then there’ve been lots and lots of glops, millions, I’d guess, along with scores of other disrespects towards our Mother.
I suppose that I could take up this space with admonitions and a general ass chewing directed at humankind but there’s plenty of that already going around today.
Instead I’ll just celebrate Mother with photos (some new and some recycled; no pun intended).
“I see Earth! It is so beautiful!” – Yuri Gagarin, Soviet Cosmonaut

Mount Tallac & morning clouds.
“The poetry of the earth is never dead.” ~ John Keats

Manzanita

Turquoise

Egret

Gibbon Falls, Yellowstone Natl Park

Pacific Ocean, Marin County, CA.
In beauty I walk
With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again ~ From Walking in Beauty: Closing Prayer from the Navajo Way Blessing Ceremony

Schwabacher Landing, Grand Teton Natl. Park

Wetlands, San Pablo Bay, CA

Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone Natl. Park

Ghost Ship Island, Crater Lake Natl. Park (Yes it is that blue)
“One beast and only one howls in the woods by night.”
~ Angela Carter,

Gray Wolf, Yellowstone National Park

Elk, Yellowstone Natl. Park

Lake Tahoe, CA

Cambria California
“The Great Spirit is in all things. He is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us. That which we put into the ground she returns to us.”
~ Big Thunder (Bedagi) Wabanaki, Algonquin

Storm over the Absaroka Mountains, Montana

Red flower in snow

American River, CA.

Sunset, Lake Tahoe
“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.” ~ Attributed to Chief Crazy Horse
Hi Paul,
Incredible images and thoughtful passages and quotes. Thanks for reminding me of today and seeing the beauty of where we live, especially while we have time to reflect on how we’re messing it up.
eden
Hi Eden,
Once this fuckery (hmm, who did I learn that word from?) is over you should do some road tripping around our beautiful Canada and U.S.
Beautiful. I went backpacking in those Beartooth-Absaroka mountains with my father in 1993. Wonderful trip. He died 10 years later. I’ll forever be thankful for that week with him in the wilderness.
That must have been a spectacular trip. My wife and I might just take a road trip that will take us through the Beartooth Pass. We missed it by a few days when an early snow closed it for the season.
Such great images. We are grateful for the earth’s beauty, diversity and its ability to provide for us.
Thank you so much for visiting and commenting.
Thank you for these wonderful images, Paulie. A great reminder of the beauty of the Earth.
Thank you Audrey. We should remind ourselves often, daily even, how beautiful our Earth is and what a treasure it is.
Paul
Beautiful photos Paulie ❣❣❣
Thank you. As always your kind word are appreciated.
Paul
Beautiful pictures!
Thank you so much Kim.
Paul
Oh these photos are all outstanding 😀
Thank you so much Cee. No shortage of subjects when it comes to nature.
Paul
Simply beautiful!
Thank you Len. Always appreciated.
Paul