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When I was very young, (before I became a vegetarian) I was an avid fisherman. I loved fishing tremendously; being out there, with nature, was a large part of it (and was very special). There was a manmade lake that I would often fish at that was fairly new; adjacent to it, and connected to it by a narrow channel, was a huge, shallow swamp area (that was nearly as big as the lake itself). Most people who fished at the lake didn’t know about the swamp area; it was a superb area that contained many fish, many of which would go there to spawn and lay eggs. All kinds of other wildlife were there. There was a large factory not far from the swamp, however, and each year the swamp would get more and more slime and oily residue floating at the surface, much of which was undoubtedly due to pollution from the factory and from the industrial environment. Each year would be exponentially worse than the next. There would be less and less fish each year and more and more noxious algae and scummy debris. Back then, as a kid, I felt that what was going on in the swamp was a precursor to what would be going on for our entire planet; I deeply felt that often.
Now scientists are saying that we don’t have much time left (before it’s too late) to “get it right” with changing things for the better with regard to the environment. The permafrost of the globe is melting rapidly, and they say it will get exponentially worse each year, which will affect our environment in drastic ways. Our weather is getting more and more erratic and violent and the coral reefs are rapidly dwindling. Please try to do something more green; please try to use fossil fuel planes and automobiles less frequently and please recycle and look into using alternative energy forms that don’t leave as big of a carbon footprint. Our human population, additionally, needs to be regulated more and intelligently diminished; an aquarium with too many fish within it cannot adequately recycle the waste and remain balanced. Each one of us is highly responsible and must do our part.
(This won’t fit under a rug; it’s our planet.)
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Fly-catching. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Fly-catching. (2) (Digital Crayon). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
Great post Tom!
Thank you, Silvia!
Love the article.Interesting thoughts
Much appreciated, Doc.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. It is not too late to start being more responsible and every person doing something, such as recycling and generally being less wasteful, will make a difference.
I like your photo 🙂 Frogs are so sensitive to environment changes that they will be the first to go and numbers have already dropped alarmingly.
If people only had two children, the world population would level off and eventually decrease. Unfortunately, and mostly in poorer countries, people have way more than two kids. When my kids were young I was chatting to a black woman at the park. She had eight children! The culture here being that your children will provide for you in your old age; never mind that you cannot provide for them now!
On an unrelated note, I appreciate that you publish your posts in bold print. Yours is the easiest of all blogs to read, thank you 🙂
Yes, frogs are super sensitive… and are like canaries in the underground mines. Their numbers are seriously going down and many are now extinct or about to become extinct.
We didn’t have any kids… preferring to have nieces and nephews over (on the weekends) back when we were younger.
Great post Tom! I realize that there is so much we can do and if I look at myself I can admit that I’ve made some good changes (not eating meat) and yet I also see that there is still so much more I can do. So I see this post as a good reminder to remain mindful of what is happening on small and big scale!
Not eating meat helps a lot, Pieter. It takes 10 times more land (and a lot more energy) to produce a pound of meat rather than a pound of vegetable protein.
I’m retired now, but when I was much younger there were a whole lot more insects and critters to admire and see.
Thnx for the heads up Tom.
In my surroundings I have seen a decrease in nature/green, but not too much since its one of the attractions of the place where I live. But in general a lot more buildings and less diversity
Well said, Tom! I agree!
Excellent that you see that!
Well, Tom, I think that we in Europe do a little more for our environment than you in the States. We always recycle paper, glass, we use our car scarcely, I go shopping with my bike, we always close the light when we leave a room, etc. I feel that everybody has to do something because I want to keep this world for our grandchildren. But when you have neighbours that always leave the light on, have (3) cars that need 22 l gasoline for 100 km, then you get desperate sometimes. I also would like to address to my Greek compatriots not to use so many plastic bags and not to throw them in the sea or the beautiful nature. We always use cotton bags that I sew myself. But you are completely right, Tom. By the way I love this wonderful frog, regards Mitza
We have the reusable cloth Walmart bags, Mitza. A lot of our neighbors leave the lights on too… and have vehicles that are huge (usually to transport just one person). Nutty!
They always forget that they don’t own the world, but that they are only guests, and a guest should always leave everything clean. But today everything is only for commerce, they don’t care for environment, they only want to increase their profit. Do you remember the “Doors”, they sang: “What have they done to the earth, our mother, ravaged and plundered her….” Unfortunately the nutty people rule. Brain is something that nobody appreciates. 😦
Great topic Tom. I love the frog picture. For some reason the bull frogs around here are camera shy IF I happen to see one it is after they jump.
Some bullfrogs jumped away from me just today… so I know what you mean all too well! 🙂
Great post, Tom. I often feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of what we’re doing to Mother Earth. I try to be conscientious and make better choices – and in part I grew up that way – being frugal and not using or taking more than I needed. But as I observe so many people being wasteful and selfish about living, I feel like I’m one of a few people trying to do better. I suppose it will be as it often has to be – we will suffer by our own hands before we realize what we’ve done.
There’s just too many ignorant people out there (and big oil companies and corporations that have money-control over the many politicians); it’s truly sad and crazy.