Happy Earth Day!

I'm glad the sky is painted blue,

And the earth is painted green,

With such a lot of nice fresh air

All sandwiched in between.

        ~ Anonymous

A few things to check out on this lovely Earth Day 2006:

1. a wonderful website on Catholic conservation
2. a thoughtful post by Theresa at Lapaz Farm Home Learning (I couldn't have said it better!)
3. a thought-provoking book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
4. an inspiring thread on environmental stewardship at the 4Real Forums
5. an enlightening Ecological Footprint quiz ~ thanks to Jennifer at the Forums
6. some yummy recipes for homemade herbal cleaners here, here and here.

St. Francis, a well-known and much beloved saint, is our family patron as well as the patron saint of the environment, and so I turn to his words today ...

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men." ~ St. Francis of Assisi

* illustration by Mary Engelbreit from the Oh-So-Breit 2006 page-a-day calendar