2026 Life Logs, Day 112: Happy Earth Day 2026
Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Weather: Overcast and Chilly; High Temp 47, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
On Wednesday, April 22, 56 years ago today, the very first Earth Day was spawned by a national “teach-in” that brought out 20 million Americans. That was in 1970 and 10% of the population at the time participated. A U.S. senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, was the mastermind behind Earth Day, along with an activist name Denis Hayes and Rep. Pete McCloskey from San Mateo in California. The 20 million people on that day protested against industrial pollution, oil spills, and ecological destruction.
Fast forward four years to April 22, 1974. On that day, Mark and I signed the contract to buy 10 acres of forest land in northern Idaho to begin our Back-to-the-Land experiment. We cut down cedar trees to build a log cabin, put the ridge pole in place on August 8th of that year, the day Richard Nixon resigned.
But by Earth Day 1975 we had abandoned our first attempt. Forest land is not ideal for growing food! We went on to buy 10 acres in northern Minnesota and built another home. And then on to southern West Virginia where we bought 40 acres and built a walkout basement with the two-story log home atop.
A decade after signing the contract for the land in Idaho, by Earth Day of 1984, we abandoned the idea of self-sufficient living on a small farm. But never once have I ever regretted that decade of living on the land and giving our children those years living so close to Mother Earth.
I’ll never forget the first winter we lived in West Virgina and had two baby lambs living in our bedroom because they had pneumonia. Heather and Justin thought it was the coolest thing ever! Or the spring in Minnesota when Heather went out into the sled dog lot and crawled into the doghouse where our Siberian Husky named Natashia had newborn puppies. Or letting a three-year-old Justin forage for berries for breakfast, once running back to the house with the report that a copperhead was wrapped around the raspberry bush. Was I a negligent mother because I let my children have these freedoms? I don’t think so, even though it is chilling for me to think about what could have happened. I’ll have to ask them what they think.
Well, on this Earth Day, a full 52 years after signing the contract for those 10 acres in northern Idaho, that daughter of mine launched a new podcast for Woodwell Climate called “Not a Climate Scientist.” In these podcasts, she is giving voice to common people who are acutely aware that climate change is a real thing. They are collecting data, just not scientifically ‘approved’ empirical data. They are reporting what they are experiencing. I am brand new as podcast subscriber, but I just Googled ‘YouTube Not a Climate Scientist’ and her first three podcasts came up—a conversation with a rancher, a fire chief, and a climate therapist. Check it out.
So back to Earth Day 2026 … I attended a climate strike on Main Street. It was organized by a young woman named Madison and Indivisible Falmouth put our support behind her. It was disappointing how few people were there, but I was so happy that my friends Karen and Peter Baranowski braved the truly chilly weather to join us. I hope Madison will not be deterred by the low turnout. She is doing good work and we will just have to persist. Then tonight I attended a film screening of Leslie Jonas’ new film, Climate Voices. Heather was one of the voices in the film and I watched with pride. Both of my children have a deep connection to the land, both in different ways, but both dedicated to doing what they can to improve our time on this precious planet Earth. That makes me a very happy mama on Earth Day 2026.
