Happy Earth Day To You

What a wonderful weekend, the first weekend of summer. I got out my bicycle and went around the neighbourhood, and very much enjoyed walking too. On Saturday in particular I experienced something rather strange and wonderful which is called happiness. Joy in such quantity must be enjoyed while it is at hand.

Yesterday was Earth Day. The Earth can sometimes be difficult to love, such as when it comes at us with tsunamis and volcanoes and the like, but then, anything and anyone can be difficult to love, really. And compared to the other planets we know of (such as hellish Venus and frigid Mars) it offers a high quality of life. It is the quality of life the Earth offers us, rather than the Earth itself, that is now in play. What sort of Earth will this be a generation from now?

The Earth is an interlocking system of systems of which we are a part - a drama in which we are playing an expanding role. A bigger role is not always a better one. I remember English classes in which the teacher would teach Shakespeare plays, discussing the "tragic hero" whose hubris was the tragic flaw that would prove to be his undoing ("Hubris" is a sort of arrogent disdain for the limitations of existence).

But setting aside such foreboding for now, the Earth Day festivitities went to yesterday were realy quite festive. In fact, the party I went to at the co-op La Maison Verte in N.D.G. featured a rather rich and delicious chocolate cake.