I attended the very first Earth Day celebration in 1970 at Balboa Park in San Diego with a crowd of about 70,000 people. It was on a Wednesday, the weather was beautiful, about 68 degrees, and I must have skipped school that day.
I can’t remember who I went with or how I got there but I do recall walking from booth to booth looking for free stuff and having an unpleasant encounter with a San Diego cop, probably about being truant.
There is a vague recollection that I swore at him and he got all puffed up and intimidating, threatening to call my dad until I told him to go ahead, my dad was a lawyer…and then he walked away. Miss you Daddy!
I love the concept of EarthDay, of being good stewards and caring for Mother Earth, of passing on the torch to the next gen, but I probably won’t attend any large gatherings for a while–still being prudent about Covid and all that.
My local contribution to EarthDay is this neighborhood egret who just picked up something to eat; I think it’s a crab but I can’t tell for sure:
On my walk today, I looked through the fence into the culvert that drains into Agua Hedionda Lagoon and saw a pair of white egrets. One flew away, but I was able to snap a pic of this beauty. Look closer and you’ll see he’s sharing a bit of land with two ducks.
And then this other handsome sun-glistened mallard decided to swim over and join the fun. Co-existence peacefully without social distancing!
The late afternoon light intensifies the male’s colorful plumage that helps them attract females.
Maybe they’ve forged a friendship while they forage together for food. It could be possible even though I learned that egrets (and herons) can and do eat ducklings, but I watched their interactions for quite a while and didn’t observe any aggressive or frightened behavior. It was all peaceful and serene, just like my wishes for happily ever afters.
When we first moved here in 1985, our street was a dead end (literally).
My son and I would walk our dogs to where the pavement ended and there we abruptly entered a wonderland of nature: along narrow paths with overhanging vegetation; sage, coyote bush, sumac — and wildlife; coyotes, bobcats, deer– even a mountain lion was spotted now and again.
In other words…heaven.
It was a sad day when the bulldozers appeared and in a matter of minutes completely raped the hills, scraping the native flora down to bare earth, uprooting mature trees, and displacing dozens, if not hundreds, of animals.
It’s unrecognizable now–if you hadn’t lived here as long as we have, you’d never know the rich beauty that once existed.
It’s regretful that the city leaders didn’t and don’t seem to care about respecting, protecting, and preserving native flora and fauna.
Instead of conserving and sustaining our unique beauty, they’ve allowed Carlsbad to become an Orange County clone — heavy on the ubiquitous business parks and subdivisions totally disconnected to the land.
They’ve mostly destroyed the unique personality and beauty of our little coastal town.
In my opinion.
Historically, Carlsbad/Agua Hedionda Lagoon was the former home to two Native American groups, the Luiseños and the Diegueños or Kumeyaay.
Did you know that Agua Hedionda means “stinking waters”?
(It does and it does.)
Although the Spaniards (and other settlers) decimated the Native American connection to this area, over the years I’ve heard about nearby sacred burial grounds that might still be intact, and that’s a good thing.
In spite of the destruction of habitat, there are still a few surviving animals attempting to coexist.
In the evening, we hear the song of the coyote, not as often as we used to, but it makes us happy. Check out this audio. So close!
I’ve seen fresh bobcat tracks, too, but no actual visual sighting.
On a recent walk, I stepped out of my front door, walked across the street, and was immediately greeted by this amazing sight, a Great Blue Heron nearly as tall as me. After I snapped a dozen photos, I continued walking, and spotted a White Egret.It was a day for wildlife; these are not good pics for some reason, but a couple of different rabbits made an appearance.
On a front lawn. Overlooking Agua Hedionda.
I believe this is a Cooper’s Hawk; don’t think it’s a Red Tailed Hawk.If I ruled the world (or at least my little part of it), I’d make sure that any planned development would respect all wildlife and make appropriate plans to not only preserve habitat, but encourage MORE animals to coexist with us.
Especially predators. We need predators. We need coyotes and bobcats and mountain lions and hawks and falcons for balance. Without them, we’re inundated with their food source; rabbits, rats, and squirrels.
Enchanted Seashells by Princess Rosebud 