"The longer I live, thumb the more beautiful life becomes." ~ Frank Lloyd Wright
Do you think this was what FLW had in mind when he designed Falling Water, the house that "captured everyone’s imagination" when it was on the cover of TIME magazine 1938?!?
Oh there's no place like home For the holidays, 'cause no matter How far away you roam If you want to be happy in a million ways For the holidays, you can't beat Home, sweet home For the holidays, you can't beat Home, sweet home ~ Home For The Holidays
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday, from my Econest to yours!
It saddened me to learn that many large-box retailers opened their doors yesterday...on Thanksgiving. Here’s Walmart’s rational:
"We bought deep, very deep, and we bought deep on items that matter to our customers," said Walmart U.S. Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer, Duncan Mac Naughton.
What’s deeper than spending time with loved ones on Thanksgiving?
"Walmart's offers will include video games starting at $10 and home appliances such as a Crock Pot slow cooker for $9.44 each."
There's an underlying disconnect…and discontent in this deep thinking that inherently weakens communities.
But who am I to tell Walmart, the largest US employer, what to do? I live in a thriving small town that flourishes over the holidays. Local holiday shopping starts today and helps keep the merchants afloat during the less lucrative winter months. Shopping local during the holiday season creates jobs, boosts the economy, and preserves our neighborhoods. Keeping with peaceful holiday tidings, being a "locavore" matters because it conserves precious energy (the malls are often quite a driving distance away), and preserves our small towns.
In the spirit of the season, let’s be conscious of where we shop. It matters more than saving a few cents on video games and Crockpots. In fact, it matters because shopping local is the glue that holds communities together.
With even cleaner ways to power our vehicles, have we embraced cleaner cars? With mercury pollution poisoning our children and asthma on the rise, is our air clean enough? What will happen to our rivers and ground water if our land is fracked?
Earth Day was inspired by the anti-war movement. It tapped into that tremendous energy to bring public awareness to air and water pollution. In April of that year, 20 million Americans rallied for a healthier environment. Groups fought for less polluting power plants, eliminating toxic landfills, bans on pesticides, and cleaner roads.
How'd they do it?
In a rare political alignment, Republicans and Democrats created the EPA, and then passed the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.
Could this be done today?
We've got climate change deniers in Congress, and a well-funded pro-polluter lobby drumming the false message that we have to choose between the economy and our precious planet. Such a no-brainer. Where's the economy headed if we can't breathe the air, drink the water or farm on the land?
What can we do with such a divided environmental community?
We've come a long way since 1970, yet we haven't answered all the questions. I'm thinking we need a new uprising, a new mission for Earth Day...a grassroots movement focused on the single most important environmental problem of our time--global warming. Our parents fought hard for a cleaner environment for their children. And we've learned there is no away.