Close to Nature

Watching the sad but determinedly constructive PBS film, Journey to Planet Earth, narrated by Matt Damon, what struck me was peripheral to the central message (the Planet is in trouble, we are in trouble; we need to do soemthing to save the planet, we need to do something to save ourselves.)

What struck me was the lives of the cowboys in Florida, the black sheepherder in South Africa, an the cowboys in Montana. Hard physical lives, hard physical work, done out of doors. Not indoors, at the computer, or with book in hand. (They may have iPods, but probably don't use them while herding.)

There they are, in 2006, people still doing what people did 100 years ago--and what they are doing is precious to them.

For me, the most moving part was the bit about the Blackfoot Challenge, a group of people in a small community in Montana who have decided to live with the grizz;y bears, for the benefit of the bears, of course, but also to preserve the life--the environment--that is dear to them. (Whoa! Imagine choosing to accept that grizzly peering in the window!)

Amazing.

So, what do we do to curtail the Sixth Extinction? I don't see what we can do about the polar bears drowning--can't stop the ice from melting.

Or can we? I realize I haven't a clue where to begin to do my bit to heal Planet Earth.