Our catch phrase is on its way.
Dear Fellow Earthlings:
We are all in this together, you know! As I relate a story of two rivers and one rabbit, just keep in mind the fact that we are all in this together!
In the state of Oregon, where I live, a train carrying volatile crude oil on a track that parallels the Columbia River has derailed, resulting in a fire which sent huge amounts of pollutants into Earth’s atmosphere. In addition, some of the oil from the train has found its way into the Columbia’s waters near the town of Mosier, Oregon.
Even as this accident is being investigated, plans for increasing the amount of oil transported through Mosier are underway. What is so sad about this is that so many people continue to deny the need to REDUCE – NOT INCREASE our evisceration of Earth for the oil inside her!
This accident was not on the scale, of course, of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster or the 1989 Prince William Sound “Exxon Valdez” oil spill. But it should serve as a warning of the inevitability of more destructive human-caused disasters that will surely occur if we do not change our behaviors.
Meanwhile, in my beloved city of Paris, the Seine River is flooding. The bridges over the Seine have so little clearance above its waters that only small boats can pass under them.
The rising waters have caused flooding that has resulted in the closure of many tourist attractions in Paris. Emergency measures to protect works of art at the Louvre are also underway...
As global warming increases, the incidences and intensities of such flooding as has just taken place in France (and in the U. S. state of Texas, too, by the way!) will continue to rise in number...
On my beloved Reltonia, so far the events taking place in Mosier and in Paris somehow seem far away. The invasive blackberries that I am battling to eliminate from most of my land are, ironically, proving a boon for the rabbit population on Reltonia.
Those exotic blackberries are protecting my rabbits from the exotic feral cats that would like to do the rabbits harm. Thus -- in a twist of irony -- one exotic species is stifling the efforts of a second species to do harm!
If only such fortuitous juxtapositions of exotic life forms were the rule rather than the exception!
For the time being, at least, the rabbits of Reltonia are, as we say in Oregon, “happy campers”! One rabbit, in particular – I call him “Blue” since he appears to be almost blue in color – is so appreciative of my efforts to keep his environment safe that he allowed me to come to within one meter’s distance to take his picture!
Steve Walker Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.