I missed Earth Day completely

One of the things I have noticed about not having children is that our relationship with the calendar seems to be so much different from everyone around us.

First, in the big way. Days, weeks, months, years go by without any significant changes in our lives. Dogs get old & die, but that can take a decade (we are not killing them off early, most of our dogs were not puppies when they arrived). Not like kids. Ideally a kid will live more than ten years, but in any given year they will change (taller, bigger- new shoes, new clothes; schoolwork - new books; peer pressure - new gadgets, new ideas). It is easier to see the broad passage of time with more small changes in time.

Second, there is a whole host of events, holidays, call-them-what-you-will that just do not happen in a grownups-only house. The first one I remember breaking through my consciousness was "take your daughter to work day". Our office person (she hated secretary; I had once held that same job & my attitude was if what was good enough for Kissinger was good enough for me, but she did not agree) showed up one day with her elementary school aged daughter & was shocked that I did not know What Day It Was. She then had a second shock when it turned out I thought she would actually work on The Day (my argument remains if the point is to show children what work is like, shouldn't you expect to do some?). I gather other offices planned things, luncheons & balloons. As it happened, we had an special time, too. I still think of it as meet your copier repairman face-to-face & then watch him explain to your supervisor that chocolate milk in the toner is not covered by the warranty agreement day. These festivities took place a while ago & toner was not yet available in pre-packaged cartridges.

Now that you know this you will be unsurprised to learn I had no idea yesterday was Earth Day. I would like to be able to say something snotty here, like "every day is Earth Day at Useless Ranch" but that would be a lie.

Yesterday, I turned off the AC after A left in the morning. I do this most mornings NOT because I am earth-conscious or even money-conscious but because it is FREEZING. It is like the polar bear house at a tropical zoo.

I went on to burn plenty of electricity using the sewing machine, the computer, the phone. I also took digital pictures of the loquat trees. & then I drove around the neighborhood taking pictures of the wildflowers in the medians before they were mowed. Then I came home & uploaded the camera & fussed with the pictures (I am hoping to use them in a project for an upcoming quilt show).

Around 6:30 I turned the air back on so it would be nice & frigid when A got home. By then I had been pre-heating the oven for 45 minutes because he was late. I found out he was late, but forgot to turn the oven off . Then we watched TV. When I went to bed I saw the walk-in closet light had been left on all day. Also, the toilet was running.

//just to show you how clueless I am: I did not know TODAY take your D&S to work day until I looked for the link.