In times of planetary crisis, it becomes easier for us to ignore the spectacular planet we call home. Under lockdown and stay-home orders, many of us pine for the great outdoors. We suddenly have so much time and too little to fill it with.
Even if you have not experienced the pleasure or misfortune of working from home, you must have met the ramifications and silver-linings head on. We are driving less, polluting less, and littering less, while spending more time (perhaps in some cases too much) with family. If you are working from home, get up occasionally and walk over to the window.
In the 1976 film Network, broadcaster Howard Beale prods his listeners to “…get up out of your chair, go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell ‘I’m a mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’” While ranting about crime, poverty, oppression, and the Russians, Beale not only delivered a line that has lived on in the annals of film, he dispensed solid advice.
In times of stress, it can be healthy to get up, and stretch your legs. This year, stick your head out the window and proclaim your love for our Earth. It is a wonderful place and worth protecting.
This year, we are being told to stay home. Troubling as it may seem, we are asked to put that hiking trip on hold, reschedule the campout, and talk to your local fish about biting later in the year. We must celebrate Earth Day 2020 by staying at home. Luckily, there are some fabulous television programs about our home that can get you through the day (or the week, or the month), if you want to set down that book you are reading!
Let me compile a list of what I think are the best movies and series in commemoration of Earth Day.
–Decoding the Weather Machine shows us how weather patterns affect our climate and vice-versa. In revealing how we combine with nature and other animal species, the program details how we contribute to climate change and what we can do to mitigate its toll.
-Our Planet exposes nature like we’ve never seen it before. It follows events in the animal kingdom from the big to the small. It tickles our collective cute animal fetish and provides memorable and sad moments in nature.
-One Strange Rock, Narrated by action star Will Smith, offers a unique perspective on our experience as citizens of Earth. It is a beautiful, weird world unlike any mankind has discovered and we all experience and interact with it differently. This show chronicles the human interface with our awe-inspiring planet.
-Before the Flood packs an emotional punch as swoon-magnet Leonardo DiCaprio explains his youth and implores us to treat our world better. It warns of the dangers of climate change and plastic pollution. Be warned that this show dabbles a bit in politics.
Before I leave you with your thoughts, please allow me to offer mine.
I grew up in the Boy Scouts and spent my young years in a troop whose logo presents the majesty of the Teton Mountains, for which nearly every business in East Idaho is named. Our access to quality outdoors experiences led us on some breathtaking adventures from week-long camping retreats to epic hikes to fishing extravaganzas.
On one such retreat, our troop spent a week outdoors. We joined in campfires each night after sundown to contemplate the Earth we enjoy, the cosmos that captivates us, and the religions that define us. The only food we ate is what we could pack with us. One afternoon, four or five of us were invited to embark on an unforgettable excursion into wild backcountry. We packed our backpacks lightly and hiked more than a mile from our base campground to spend twenty-four hours with only nature. Sleeping under the stars and creating an inferno of a bonfire with close friends was an experience I will never forget.
In East Idaho, the Boy Scouts did so much more than educated its young on the outdoors. It immersed them in it.
Though time and fitness constrains me from doing all I want to do, I remain fascinated and engrossed in our environment. I consider myself lucky to reside in a state that touts more activity than almost every other state. I want to live it fully.
This Earth Day, we should all do the same. Celebrate our rare gem of a home while practicing safe social distancing.