• EARTHOLOGY: Go Wild! Spirituality for Earth Day and Beyond

• TRAILMIX: Easy Corn Casserole

• CAIRNS: The Plastic Recycling Scam

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“They are so big you feel like a pygmy. The enormous Sequoias of Henry Cowell Park in the Santa Cruz Valley of California stretch the limit of imagination and vision. The tallest are more than 270 feet with a circumference of 50 feet! Some trees were seedlings when Rome fell, the Sui Dynasty united China, and the Mayan’s built Tikal. They have survived with amazing resilience the fires, earthquakes, and human greed across 1500 years.

I’ve visited this park several times with my son and his family who live nearby. One year I ran through the towering trees, cooled by their magnificent crowns so far above me. I thought of this one hour of one day of one year of one century—and was awed by the insignificance of my moment flashing by the dark brown bark of these giants.

When I move out of my plastic, domesticated world I enter a different place spiritually. Inside the four walls, my faith is often under the influence of the words printed on the pages of the Bible, or the music that sounds in the church sanctuary. Without question, those resources are valuable. But there is a larger, more ancient language that can bring a special dimension to my faith. It is a dimension of Wildness….”

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Topics include: Discover a Wild Spirituality. Panentheism and the Our Natural World, Ecopsychology Brings Health from the Wild, Earth Day 2024 Battles Plastic Pollution

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I was startled this week by an investigative report on the failure of plastic recycling presented on the CBS Sunday Morning program. Recycling is a good idea but there is systemic failure to execute in a way that significantly decreases the massive amount of plastic pollution covering our planet on land, in the sea, and in our bodies! The problem is compounded by the plastics industries disinformation and coverup of the problem.

Action is needed to bring a change in the industry, government policies, and our lifestyle. Here’s a great resource by an active and effective group to bring positive results. Mom’s Clean Air Force offers links to the data and what we can do now. They say,

“Many of us were raised on the mantra of recycling our plastics. We’ve been bombarded—for decades—with marketing from the plastics industry telling us that plastic trash is recyclable and that it is our civic duty to place it in the blue bin. Turns out this is not true, and we have a plastics crisis, from one end of the chain—making it—to the other—tossing it. But don’t take our word for it. Watch these investigative videos, read these documents, and decide for yourself. For my part, I’m throwing plastic waste into my trash because right now it is safer for all of us to put it in landfills. And of course, I’m cutting as much plastic out of my life as I possibly can. But wow. That’s hard. That’s why we are fighting for big system-wide changes.”

Read the resource page and take some action!

This tasty side dish was collected by our younger daughter during a Thanksgiving meal with friends. It pairs well with a variety of main dishes. —JanMaree

Easy Corn Casserole

1 can or small bag frozen corn                        1 can creamed corn

1 box Jiffy Corn Mix                                       1 stick of butter, melted

1 c. sour cream                                              1 egg

¼ c. sugar

 Combine all ingredients and bake at 350○.