Some days are Sunny, others are a B*tch

BCOF Feb 28, 2022 Enviromental

Day 3399: February 28, 2022

Prompt: Environmental: “But Man is a part of Nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.” — Rachel Carson: Use this quote to inspire you.


Thanks for this prompt because I didn’t know very much about Rachel Carson so I looked up her writings. She is inspirational and cautionary and ahead of her time. A biologist who wrote and studied the negative effects of pesticides and DDT. Apparently post World War Two the US went all out with different chemicals to destroy pesky mosquitos and ants, whatever was eating our pretty flowering plants and of course, agriculture. I took almost all science courses in college in the 1970’s and don’t remember studying the negative effects of hardly any routine gardening chemicals. Since I was working on a nursing degree, perhaps I only was taught about how to treat chemical splash wounds or something poisonous that was ingested or inhaled. I remember “Call Poison Control ASAP”

When man was so invested in working in the ground I think he thought more about the actual caring of the land. I come from farmers and even those that didn’t make a living at farming sometimes kept a cow, chickens, maybe a goat. Until the 1950’s there weren’t any fast food restaurants that had carry out containers. Milk was delivered in bottles, even grocery stores had my grandma bring a basket to put things in from bins. I believe it was when I was a child that we started seeing more and more plastics. It was better living through science and my Mom loved the new polyester clothes that she didn’t have to iron. Containers from stores were not just glass (which you could recycle) but light weight plastic and then styrofoam came about. All these synthetics were used for so many things.

When I began my nursing career I remember physician’s offices still had the autoclave to disinfect syringes and instruments. Hospital were still using glass IV bottles that were recycled. Suddenly everything became prepackaged because you could charge so much more money for it. I worked with Quality Assurance for a few weeks and we made recommendations for cost cutting for the hospital. RNs and MDs didn’t use half of the things that were put in packages. A catheter kit had so much extra stuff that was waste but cost the patient. I think that information went right into the trash. Now a patient watches most everything used on them thrown away afterwards. Remember glass thermometers in alcohol? (I am a dinosaur.)

There is a terrible cost to all this, of course. No one asked nature. Man is a greedy creature that looks to his own convenience and time. Things are changing for the better but have we waited too late? Jimmy Cater was the 1st President that I remember mentioning environmental concerns (a peanut farmer). Curiously, he gave Rachel Carson a Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously. She certainly deserved it.

Our Weeping Planet

I began, a trickle of clear water.
Sneaking into crevices,
sparkling tiny bubbles, sustenance for plants.
Life affirming hope, nature's glorious dance.

A luminous stream under the sun,
grows longer, wider in girth.
Molding life, giving birth,
becoming part of an evolving earth.

A swimming hole for children,
laughing, searching for treasures.
Moonlight lovers find enchantment.
All vital parts of a wondrous planet.

Wait! What is this change?
Has nature become mans’ merciless game?
My riverbed, now covered by discarded trash.
Is my legacy to become history's sad past?

By Kathie Stehr