Ferida Wolff's Backyard: Caring for Our Climate and Our Earth; Inside and Outside; NASA's New Spacesuit for Artemis Generation Astronauts
Caring for Our Climate and Our Earth
This is strange autumn. Mother Nature seems confused. The temperature is bouncing up and down, sometimes zooming into the 90s. Our tulip tree, which usually loses all of its leaves by the end of August, still is partially green. The backyard normally is awash in leaves by now but the maple trees are only reluctantly shedding their foliage. It is October, right?
We do have acorns, though. Lots of them. We can hear them crunch underneath the cars that pass by and under our feet as we take our usual after-dinner walk. There seems to be more than ever dropping from the oak tree in front. At least the squirrels will have some good meals this winter.
If Mother Nature is confused, how are we to understand what is happening around us? We were up in the Alps not long ago and the temperature plus humidity soared to over 105 degrees! It’s hard not to take the concept of climate change seriously when the climate is changing all around us.
Other than observing our own tiny part of the world, how do we know this is happening? NASA* helps inform us. Our kids need to know what’s happening, too. Earth is an incredible place. I hope that we can preserve its beauty and function and remember that we are visitors here.
Let’s be good guests and care for our climate and ultimately our planet.
Inside and Outside
I have two pots of African violets sitting on my kitchen windowsill. Most of the time they just have fuzzy green leaves and no flowers but I like them anyway. This summer they started to bloom. Each little stem carried three or four beautiful flowers and more stems kept blooming. It has been a real treat for me to see every time I go to the sink and look up.
I also love the hibiscus plants outside my kitchen window. They have two blossoming times, one in the beginning of summer and the other at the season’s end. Their vibrant red flowers are riveting.
Today I looked at the African violets as I was pouring water into my teapot and was drawn to look outside at the hibiscus flowers. I gasped with pleasure. The inside flowers were beautiful. The outside flowers were beautiful. It made me suddenly aware of how beauty exists in both areas. We are amazing beings inside ourselves, full of intelligence and diversity. But we also are part of the outside world, interacting with what nature and other humans offer. If we can just remember that everything is part of the whole perhaps we can allow our inside and outside worlds to coexist in peace. Yogi tea tag: “Be kind to others, but always be compassionate to yourself.”
©2019 Ferida Wolff (2) for SeniorWomen.com
* SeniorWomen.com's Editor's Note: We couldn't resist including this portion of NASA's website considering Ferida's mention of the Agency:
A New Spacesuit for Artemis Generation Astronauts
At NASA Headquarters on Oct. 15, Administrator Jim Bridenstine and spacesuit engineer Amy Ross introduced the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (Xemu) and Orion Crew Survival System suit which will be will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the Artemis program.
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