Earth Day

We went to Earth Day at Centre Park on Sunday, between rain showers. It wasn't as well attended as I recall in the past. Partly the threat of rain, but there was also a lot of competition from the live Obama appearance at the high school at the same time. The kids found it boring - the face painting was lame, and there were not enough activities for the number of kids there. The whole event needs refreshing. It has turned into a series of tents with petitions for adults to sign.

They had recycling bins next to all the trash cans - but people didn't pay any attention. There as mixed trash and recyclables in both. We need a return to the basic messages about littering and recycling - and it need to tie into city living more. City gardening - container gardening, environmental issues in the city.

I thought the live raptors were cool - there was a booth with a live turkey vulture, a horned owl, and a red-tailed hawk.

We got two tiny lilac bushes Miss Kim, supplied by the Henry company, who makes the recycled molded-paper pots they came in. Miss Kim is supposed to have a smaller habit, more disease resistance, and less tendency to form suckers. Reported to have very fragrant flowers. But they are only 6" tall at this point!

We also scored a violet plant - which we didn't really need, and some sunflower seeds in newspaper pots. We will plant the lilacs and violets in Mom's yard today. We are going to go do some work this afternoon. I guess that's our Earth Day commitment this year - we are working steadily on cleaning up Mom's back yard and returning it to use as a productive vegetable garden.