Sharani

Earth Hour 2009 – Prequel

I have been seeing information about Earth Hour 2009 at work today in both expected and unexpected places. When I saw it on Google, I must confess I disregarded following the link. When I also saw the link on Ingram, our book jobber for the library where I work, I finally decided to find out more about it.  Just in time for participating too! I visited the U.S. part of the organization’s website, Earthourus.org to sign up as a participant.

Tonight from 8:30 to 9:30 pm individuals and businesses are turning off the lights for one hour to offer a symbolic statement of unity in favor of energy conservation and climate change awareness. It is sponsored mainly by the World Wildlife Fund and started three years ago in Sydney, Australia before it expanded to a global scale.

It is a worldwide effort which will be observed at 8:30 p.m. local time in whatever part of the world is that time of the night. Since it is so soon after the March Equinox, the thinking is that it will be dark at 8:30 p.m. pretty much anywhere around the world.

Famous buildings and landmarks around the U.S. will take part by not having lights illuminating them for that one hour. Manhattan landmarks will probably be some of the most dramatic – Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building are going dark along with the lights on some of the famous bridges. I looked up what would be happening in Rhode Island and they asked the main tall building – One Financial Plaza (formerly Hospital Trust) – to turn off the lights it usually always leaves on across the top of the building.

Earth Hour – In Progress Right Now

Since the effort is symbolic and not an intentional absolute blackout, they are advocating turning off overhead lights and lamps around your house but say it is ok to keep television and computers on. Therefore, I am blogging in the dark by candlelight right this minute. I have groupings of small candles lit near the couch where I am sitting and on the counters in the kitchen. This is fun!

What strikes me the most is how quiet it seems right now. The second most noticeable thing is how much light the candles give off so that I do not feel absolutely in darkness.

I looked out the windows to see if my neighbors seem to also be doing it and I must confess most of the house windows are well-lit. But I can know that I am joined by perhaps millions of other people around the world. This kind of common effort is very inspiring. I just stopped in at the Earth Hour website with its live update and the photos of cities around the world are awesome.

What a great idea! It inspires me to share some of  Sri Chinmoy’s aphorisms and poetry with the imagery of candles:

My heart’s candlelight
And my life’s hope-flames
Are going to show me the way
As I walk along
Eternity’s God-Vision-Road.
-Sri Chinmoy

How beautiful to look at
When my prayer
Lights a candle of hope
In my heart.
-Sri Chinmoy

Driving home from New York City to Rhode Island today, we took the Throggs Neck Bridge to the Hutch to 95 North. The route is a familiar one because I travel often to New York to attend meditations at the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Jamaica, Queens. While on the Hutchinson/Meritt Parkway, we saw deer in the woods and geese, but no wild turkeys – a common sight at other times of the year.

We have some typical haunts and stops along the way when we are making the journey in a leisurely fashion. Some are shopping oriented,  some food oriented and some nature oriented. Route 1 in Orange, Ct. boasts a Trader Joe’s, L.L. Bean Outlet, Talbots Outlet and Starbucks all in practically the same shopping plaza. Just down the road and around the corner is a Christmas Tree Shop which unlike its name sells all kinds of stuff cheaply, not just seasonal Christmas items.

In the summertime, we like to get off 95 in Connecticut and drive along Route 1 (Boston Post Road) as it hugs the coast of Long Island Sound. Madison, Ct. has a quaint and adorable Main Street with nice shops and cafes right near the water. Usually we get ice cream in downtown Madison at The Beanery since they sell coffee, sandwiches and baked goods along with Gifford’s ice cream.

In the fall, you’re likely to find us at Bishop’s Farm in Guilford, Ct. buying apples, apple cider and freshly baked donuts or cookies. They have pumpkins galore and you can even make your own scarecrow at certain times of the year.

Today we tried something new and different for us. It seems like we have passed the sign for Rocky Neck State Park (Exit 72 off of 95 North) a million times but today was the first time we ever took the exit and decided to see if it was a short distance from the highway. Sure enough! We traveled probably less than a mile off the highway to arrive at the entrance. We got in for free since it is off season until the end of April. Someone parked near the booth where you would ordinarily pay to get into the park rolled down their window and explained to us that we could drive about a mile into the park to get to the beach area.

We were doubting that we had arrived when we came to a parking area because all we could see was an embankment with train tracks, overhead wires and metal fences. One sign said walkway to beach so we got out and went exploring in search of the the ocean.

There is a walkway under the train tracks – a kind of an underpass. Right through this opening you see a fantastic beach with very white sand and a rocky area extending out into the ocean. It is gorgeous and so unusual with the train tracks right up against the edge of the beach. While we walked around on the beach picking up shells and playing race the waves, a train actually came by on the tracks. I cannot picture ever seeing such a close  juxtaposition of these elements together anywhere else.

When I got home, I looked up the State Park on the Web. Here is a link to the park’s official website. It is located in East Lyme, Ct. on the Long Island Sound and contains a large pavilion constructed in 1931. It contains camping facilities and is noted for its white sandy beaches and clear water.

Here are some photos I took while we were there shortly before sunset.

Since my favicon for this blog is a miniature of a photo of a crocus that I took in my front yard last year, it only seems fitting that I herald the first day of Spring and the first flowers to bloom in my yard a few days ago – some purple crocuses.

Here is a photo of this year’s crocuses:

Crocus blooming around my house is a fairly new addition even though I’ve lived here in East Providence, RI for ten years. Squirrels had typically eaten crocus bulbs I planted until I tried waiting until December to plant them. Now they are the first flowers to bloom at my house in the barely arriving season of Spring.

The crocus is part of the iris plant family and is most noted for the variety of crocus that is used to produce saffron – used for its dye, medicinal purposes and for its use in cooking.

Emily Dickinson called the crocus “Spring’s first conviction.” Here is an Emily Dickinson poem about Spring that is the perfect usher for today’s Vernal Equinox.

Spring is the Period
Express from God.
Among the other seasons
Himself abide,

But during March and April
None stir abroad
Without a cordial interview
With God.
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, poem no. 844

Read about Crocus Lore at The Butterfly Barn Nature Center Website in Pennsylvania.
Read my post about success with the squirrels not eating the bulbs.