Too ‘Hot’ a Solitude

LA people wake up in a blurry and smoky Wednesday morning. The San Gabriel Canyon wildfire scorched 750 acres of forest. Ashes drifting in the air travel overnight from the mountains then rest on our house, car, pool, hair and shoulders. The smell of the burnt, the condolence to acres of nature turned into ashes. Every bit of moist in the air dissolved in the heat, Los Angeles is even drier. The earth is now at least 750 acres of forest less then yesterday. My mind settles on a deep solitude, pondering upon the ultimate cause of frequent occurrence of wildfire, typhoon, flood, earthquake and disease while driving to work under a ashes filled canopy. God is too good to cast disaster on us with no reason; He is too kind to withheld mercy. Human must have done something wrong.


Green is a color on the spectrum. It is as well a word often used recently in our daily life, together with ‘global warming’ and ‘greenhouse effect’, greening our lives is not an issue to be omitted. We must ‘green’ our lives! Arctic ice is disappearing, polar bear and the arctic inhabitants are suffering from the sea-ice loss. Glaciers and mountains snow are melting and sea level rising. Strong hurricanes (Taiwan 88 typhoon, New Orleans Katrina attack), heat wave (France record high temperature), wildfires (California, the Athens wildfire couple days ago) and earthquake (almost occur once or twice weekly worldwide) are the outcome of the global warming. Human contributes majority if not all of the cause of these disaster by pouring excessive carbon dioxide into the atmosphere more than the plants and trees can absorb.

It is very saddening to learn the cruel facts of how we, human, have been destroying this beautiful earth by living such a selfish life at the cost of environmental lost and these lost are irreversible. The lost of able to sit on a green pasture to watch the cloud change shape. The lost of enjoying the sun without putting on UV protection. The lost of enjoying a family wild camp in the forest. The lost of enjoy an outdoor solitude because it’s too hot. Polar bears and many arctic inhabitants become homeless, school of whales stranded and various species face extinction.

We are small but we can gather up our power to slow down the earth from warming. The macro-issue can be managed in a micro manner. Each one of us, as an individual, can pick up a greening habit. My parents start to save water by collecting water in a buckle after washing vegetables and use it to water plants. I started to use less plastic bags and print on recycle papers for non-official reports. Each of our little effort will make a difference and the world will be a better place.

Let’s start ‘greening’ today!