Without being cute or hyperbolic, *every* day at Rosslyn is Earth Day. Healthy, sustainable, holistic practice — from construction and gardening to eating and personal wellness, responsible land stewardship to ecological wildlife guardianship — was fundamental to the lifestyle changes we made two decades ago when we exited life in Manhattan and started fresh on the Adirondack Coast. Today we’re even more committed to an intentional, accountable lifestyle.
A space for living,
a living space
a rooted embrace,
nurtured, reclaimed,
adapted, reused…
a vestige reborn.
I’ve only just begun this daily dispatch, and yet I’ve already made a couple of sweeping claims. Overzealous or hubristic, I’d better recalibrate. I’d better reboot.
Let’s restart with some clarity about what I mean by Earth Day, whether in April 2024 or back in 2005 when we purchased the Lapine House (or 2006 when we purchased Rosslyn). First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day is an annual day of observance focused on our planet’s health and sustainability, on increasing public awareness of climate change and other perils, and on inspiring support for environmental protection. Although Susan and I are deeply invested in all of these aspects of Earth Day, it’s primarily our planet’s wellbeing and longevity that I’m referring to when I claim that every day is Earth Day at Rosslyn.
Rosslyn on Earth Day
Today
to every day,
we contemplate
our place, our pace,
we scrutinize
our pacts, our impacts.
From afar wanders
to local wonders,
from hammocking treads
to time trialed canopies,
a second chance
for hearth, for earth.
Time to renew
a fixer-upper,
restore habitat,
an old home
by an old lake
between old mountains.
A space for living,
a living space
a rooted embrace,
nurtured, reclaimed,
adapted, reused…
a vestige reborn.
When timber and stone
recall the stories
of lives lived simply
once upon a time
we reclaim the past
to heal the future.
Scraps compost
into fertile soil
where seeds sleep, wake,
where roots reach deep,
where history blooms,
where tomorrow fruits.
With curious care
and humble purpose
we gradually mend
what time has weathered,
broken, forgotten,
yet’s still durable.
For the dirt’s future
is our future,
blessings and burdens
a shared destiny
as entwined as
nature and home.
When Brash and Verse Fall Short…
Sometimes bold claims and rough draft verses are too preliminary. Precocious.
This is one of those times. So I’ll abbreviate the verbiage and conclude with a question: might we try to make every day Earth Day?
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