Slow Sunday Scenes in the Village: Celebrating Earth Day

 

I always figured that if there were one day, just one, during any given year that people would feel like ditching their motor in favor of getting around without, that day would be Earth Day. But no, every year that does not happen, and there are just as many people driving their motors into the Village as there are any other day. I suppose part of the problem is that the official Earth Day is calendar-fluid, not falling on the same 2nd Sunday, or 3rd Sunday, or whatever each year. Instead, April 22nd could be any given day during any given year. Nor does the Day seem to attract the attention that is once did. Thus, today, many folks seemed to be surprised that little Shelton Park was the scene of Claremont's little Earth Day celebration. 

Now, that said, there were plenty of people who did ride in, some of whom may have come in specifically for Earth Day, others who may have wandered over from the farmers' market, and still others who were more likely just passing through, saw the booths, and decided to see what was going on. I noticed a family stop to check out a cargo bike parked at one of the racks; it was pretty clear their thoughts were along the line of, "hey, you know, we could do this." The two little kids with them were especially interested in the seating arrangements. Much the usual lineup of civic organizations and what not were sharing information, and at any given moment they all might have a good group of people listening in to what was being shared. There was a kind of talk and hands-on learning experience about native plants which was cool - man, i can't believe it has been nearly twenty-five year since i gave a lecture on native plants at the museum. Time flies. There were activities for kids, always a good way to get them involved, but no other entertainment as there used to be during the heyday years of the celebration, no music, no puppet show, not even a sage smudge by members of the indigenous community to open the day. Like i said, not what it once was. 

Well, i guess that is alright. You don't need any of that the celebrate the only earth we've got.

And then there was the return ride through the Colleges. Though the academic year is quickly drawing to a close, there are still some athletic events on the calendar - todays' happened to be ultimate frisbee, with teams from Claremont, UC San Diego and, i believe, CSU Long Beach playing games on a couple adjacent fields. Not quite the same action as football, rugby or lacrosse, but between the running, catching, scoring, and cheering everyone was having fun. Which is the whole point after all.