It’s still cold here in Paris, and the skies are pristine blue, different shades by day and night. Not a cloud in sight. But the pollution is so bad that the mayor has established alternate-day rules for cars: Only cars with even-numbered license plates could circulate today, tomorrow only odd numbers can circulate. And public transit was free for everyone all day.
What are we doing to ourselves and our world with our polluting ways? I was happy to hear Al Gore call on Obama and Clinton to move on and throw themselves into the crucial battle to save the planet. He said all the people bitching and fretting about Trump are just in denial of the obvious: Trump will be president, and the big issue is climate change!
Myself, as day was falling, I stepped out to run some errands in the neighborhood. Immediately, my eyes were drawn to a splendid slice of winter moon resting there in the darkening sky. The picture I took of it was unsatisfactory, displaying just a blur of light above the buildings. (You’ll have to take my word for it!) That lovely winter moon made my think of the astronauts who have been there, who have looked back upon our planet from afar. They have said how vulnerable the Earth looks, and how precious.
We’ve seen the pictures they took. And like my picture, their pictures are probably unsatisfactory, nothing like the real thing. But we can see our home there, floating beautifully in vast, deep space. It’s like this very moment, vast and deep: This is all we’ve got, it’s all now, and there’s nowhere to go but here.
Loved reading your words about our planet. About ourselves? Will it/we perish or not perish?