For a long time, I did not think of the Earth as an evolving living entity. It was constant. The weather was constant.

As a kid, I spent a lot of time outside. I worked as a YMCA camp counselor.  Being outside is my comfort zone. 

I didn't though, think about it beyond the science of it. And I didn't think about it as something that would change. 

It was easy to understand that because of its shape, and the concept that it was a spinning planet, weather was different depending on your geographic location.

 In elementary school, I learned that while it was winter where we were, it was summer in Australia. I could see the Earth as a globe, a whole connected ball.

In one sense, it was a time when we felt connected as a globe.

And then the weather was not constant. It was changing. (Of course, Rachel Carson alerted the world in 1962 of the nature of the Earth and our relationship to it.)

I first started noticing weather changes in the winter. It's ironic that while the Earth was in fallow, that was when I began to notice that the Earth was sick. Winter storms became a mixed weather event—snow, freezing rain, rain, snow, shifting from one to another. 

Which, thankfully, comes back to my point. The Earth is a living entity. And our connection to it is as intimate as life and death. 

Let us love it fully, with our hearts, minds and spirits.

Especially in this time of turmoil.

For a lovely song about Rachel, take a listen to Emma's Revolution's "Silent Spring."

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