The older I get, the more I fall in love with the Earth and with how amazing she is. I don’t do as good a job of caring for her as she does for me, and doing better in this area is one of my consistent goals. I do try consistently to appreciate all the amazing things in nature–even in my own back yard or the parks I walk in.
Since we’ve been in quarantine, I have seen all these wonderful animal events happening, but I hadn’t had time to write or paint about them until now.
So, this is my Earth Day celebration one day late. All of these pictures are inspired by animal occurrences I witnessed in my own yard or in the park I walk in (but haven’t been able to lately).
Guys, I live in the suburbs, and animals still do the coolest things around my house. Miracles are all around us.

I was walking in the park the other day, and a squirrel jumped onto a tree right by my head, which scared me at the time but was pretty cool.

We have this groundhog that visits our back yard sometimes. I have never seen him in the front yard until the other day when we were about a week or so into quarantine. He was sitting in our front yard, on his back legs, looking around–like he couldn’t figure out why everything was so quiet.
We’ve lived in our house for a long time, but in the last few years, we have started having all these wild bunnies visit our yard. The other day, I looked into out backyard, and there were these two bunnies playing. One of the bunnies jumped at the other bunny, and the other bunny jumped straight up in the air about two feet. They were having a grand time.
I was digging in the dirt in my back yard the other day, planting my flower garden, and I ran into these guys. Okay, to be fair, the worms in my yard don’t wear hats. Neither do the beetles. But I like to imagine them engaging in friendly repartee from time to time.
Thank you, Earth, for all the beautiful and special gifts you give us.
*****
If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing on social media.
Published by shellypruittjohnson
My name is Shelly Johnson, and I am a writer and philosopher with a Ph.D. in philosophy. One of my primary personal and philosophical interests is how we can learn to love ourselves and each other better in order to cultivate personal and political resilience. I teach ethics and a variety of other courses at a local college. I am the author of the blog Love is Stronger. I am also the author of three logic and critical thinking books for high school and middle school: _Argument Builder_, _Discovery of Deduction_ (co-author), and _Everyday Debate_, published by Classical Academic Press. You can reach me at shellypruittjohnson@gmail.com.
View all posts by shellypruittjohnson
You’re very fortunate to have these animals in your yard (must be a big yard?). Your whimsical paintings capture, and communicate, the joy you felt on encountering them. And I totally agree with the message of your final painting: every day is, indeed, Earth Day. Hope you have a great, critter-filled day today!
This is so kind, Platypus Man. Our yard is fairly large. We live in the suburbs, but we have a lot of foliage and plants, and it seems to have been attracting more and more animals in recent years. Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
Your paintings are absolutely charming! The squirrel reminded me of a time a saw one playing – zooming around the way a cat does when it gets excited and playful. It was very funny to watch. (And every day is Earth Day for me too! š )
Thank you so much, Ann! Yes, squirrels are delightful and do the funniest things.
Iām excited to hear about your flower garden, Shelly! What are you planting?
When I am doing everyday garden jobs like wedding, it is the time I really notice all the life around me: bees, birds, ants, worms. It is a really busy place!
I am so excited about it, Ali! We just planted sunflowers an zinnias this year. I love the colors and textures of those flowers together, and I am trying an experiment this year. I hope to branch out in future years.
And I love that description of the life you notice in your garden. I notice that, too. The other day I was weeding and planting, and I saw all sorts of worms and beetles, and it made me really happy.
That sounds gorgeous! One of my most memorable garden visits last year was to the Lost Gardens of Helligan, in Cornwall. There were rows of zinnias and they were covered with butterflies. It was incredible.
Oh my word! That sounds incredible. Butterflies are definitely one of the reasons I have planted zinnias. In the past, my zinnias have brought all the butterflies to the yard!
Dear Shelly and Ali,
As gardeners, we can definitely appreciate the wonders of nature and plants more. Apart from my main blog, I also maintain several horticultural and gardening websites.
Indeed, Earth Day is so special and important that everyday is Earth Day because we are so dependent on Mother Earth and owe her everything. Thank you for sharing and reminding us of this special day with the contents of your post. What a lovely way to celebrate it with watercolour paintings!
I have also taken the opportunity to improve and update my expansive multimedia post about Earth Day at https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/soundeagle-in-earth-day/
The said post is best viewed on a large screen of a desktop or laptop computer, since it could be too powerful and feature-rich for iPad, iPhone, tablet or other portable devices to handle properly or adequately.
Please enjoy!
I love, love, love this. The birds are my special delight, I speak with them often. Also, I go to the woods and lay among the trees, I listen as they speak, as the wind moves them. I love my Mother, the Earth ?.
Maggie, I love this! In the past few years, I have gained such a special peace by spending time in the forest and making friends with her and all her creatures. The Earth truly is our mother.
Also, a huge butterfly presence this Spring, my flower beds are blooming and the butterflies are everywhere!
I feel like you and I must have the same back yard. I love spending time with butterflies in our flower garden. I wrote about post last year about it called Butterfly Meditating.
https://shellypruittjohnson.wordpress.com/2019/09/05/butterfly-meditating-a-contemplative-practice/?fbclid=IwAR0-zWRrtGK_c-77t8D8qrS06m5wauw4Q9Hw1R4ul0ywAWGHOkC0IQvpuFA
So kind, Friend! Thank you.