All posts by Dona

100. I Want to Die Before I Get Old

Music, Song Blog,

I began following geriatric1927 on YouTube about a year ago. I think I was checking out videos of older folks on the internet, thinking, perhaps, my dad might want to be interviewed. I was interested in how videos of older people were accepted on YouTube. geriatric1927 has quite a following.

Last April he was involved in a media event to raise money for a cause called Age Concern. He, together with about 40 elderly folks formed a group called The Zimmers. They even have a myspace page which you should check out because of all the extra videos there. Here’s their end product — My Generation. Watch it to the end — it’s worth it.

This video is relevant for me these days, having spent a couple of weeks with my mother and her friends. (not that they are quite as old as the folks in the video).

Earth Day then and now

Events, Memories

I remember the buzz about the first Earth Day. I was 13 years old and probably saw posters about the event in my school. I’m sure my best friend, Cynthia, had some involvement in it. Her parents were the most likely candidates to be environmentalists of anyone else I knew. I don’t remember what actually I did for Earth Day 1970, but I must have done something enjoyable because I remember wondering, years later, whatever happened to Earth Day?

First View of Earth from Moon (photo courtesy NASA)

The summer before the first Earth Day the world had seen the first image of our planet from the surface of the moon. Perhaps seeing that image made the inhabitants of Planet Earth see our planet as a more fragile place than we’d done before. I don’t remember being environmentally aware until the spring of 1970, but after that I became more conscious about protecting the Earth.

At first I think the emphasis was on littering. There were campaigns to not litter. I took it to heart and made sure I didn’t contribute to litter of any kind. After that I remember being aware of industrial pollution. In high school my friend Cindy Mahaffy and I made plans to protest toxic emissions outside a local factory with signs stating, “Don’t pour filth into the air, Air is the best thing that we can breathe.” (a line from Donovan’s song, “Spaceship Earth”).

Continue reading Earth Day then and now →

After dinner entertainment

The Great Outdoors,

A few evenings ago, after dinner, Dean called the kids to quickly come up to the dining room. They both compiled, Clare from the living room where she was studying for a chemistry test and Andrew from the basement where he was playing a computer game. Dean pointed out the window and we all looked and saw a large raccoon on a low branch of the tulip tree, which stands on the easement about 15 feet from the house.

My first thought was rabies. Aren’t raccoons nocturnal? What, other than rabies. can cause an animal that is supposed to come out only at night, to be visible in broad daylight? Dean suggested it had been scared by another animal from its normal hiding place. It did look rather worried and while we watched, it climbed even higher in the tree. Clare ran for the camera to document our visitor and the rest of us scattered to different windows to watch.

At first it continued its ascent of the tall tree, but after a while carefully climbed back down the trunk and slowly ambled over to the house, opened the garbage can lid and began biting at the garbage bag. I opened the side door and after it scurried away, pushed the lid down on the trash can.

Shortly thereafter Andrew looked out the window of our kitchen door and exclaimed, “It’s right outside the door and looked me right in the eye!” Sure enough there was the raccoon, precariously perching on the railing observing the humans who were observing him. Then it reached over, actually sneered in his raccoon way and opened the trash can lid again, with no trouble at all and began pulling at the trash bag with his teeth.

This time Andrew opened the door and the raccoon once again left. Andrew stood outside for a few moments and Clare noticed the raccoon had scampered across the street, possibly to find a garbage can without so many pests hanging around.