Celebrating Our Earth

I wish Mother Nature had been a bit more pleasant-looking for Earth Day when I awoke this morning. I ignored the gloomy clouds and celebrated the day with a first-season episode of Sailor Moon. "Usagi's Panic: Rei's First Date" has Usagi in a flutter because Rei netted a day out with Mamoru. Usagi grabs nerdy Umino and follows them out to a local park. Ami is also at the park, trying to figure out the strange behavior of her friend, an old gardener who is about to lose his job when the park closes. When the animals of the park attack the people involved in demolishing it, Ami and Luna begin to suspect a Negaverse plot.

Work was busy for most of the day, a lot busier than it's been since before Easter. The lines were long for most of the morning. We're still shorthanded. I ended up in the register around 11:30 so another cashier could go on break. Pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon bagging. I picked up a few things I forgot when I went shopping yesterday after I finished - skim milk, an onion, and toothbrushes.

My schedule for this week is pretty much what it's been for the past few months. I wish I could have kept those extra hours. Otherwise, one relatively late day on Monday, Tuesday and Friday off, Tuesday for counseling.

It rained lightly for most of the day, including when I got to work. Thankfully, by the time I was heading home, the rain was just ending. It would continue to shower lightly off and on for the rest of the afternoon.

I spent that time inside, working on my story. Henry invites Leia and Aunt Breha to go sightseeing in Naboo with him, Charles, and Luke the next day. Leia and Breha both think this is a wonderful idea. Leia especially - it's a great way to keep an eye on them.

Leia asks Luke how he came to live with Henry. Luke tearfully explains how he'd grown up in Tatoonie, the corrupt badlands on the border of Naboo, on a grain farm run by his Aunt Berta and Uncle Owen. One day, he'd come home after chasing a dog to the home of hermit Ben Kenton. They found the farm burned to the ground and its owners shot dead. Luke suspected they'd been killed for failure to pay taxes, but Ben said it may have been the Coruscant Empire coming after Luke.

Broke around 6 to have the last of the turkey-noodle casserole for dinner. Did a couple of cartoons themed around keeping our Earth safe and clean while I ate. The Lorax is a little orange fellow who speaks for the truffula trees. The greedy Onceler only sees the profit he can make from their leaves, not what cutting them down and destroying their habitat is doing to the animals they support and the land they were on. The Lorax tries to reason with the Onceler...but by the time he finally does, it's too late. When the last tree is gone, both learn a sad lesson in the damage unchecked progress can cause.

Two episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures from the first season covered the damage being done to the Earth, and how to do something about it. "Pollution Solution" is a trio of tales about cleaning up both the Earth and our own back yards. Plucky teaches Elmyra about recycling in "No Deposit, No Return of the Trash Bag Dispenser." Babs and Buster land in a "Jungle Bungle" when they have to stop an obnoxious businessman from destroying the rain forests to build his backyard. GoGo the Dodo finds himself "Waste Deep In Wackyland" after Montana Max empties the backwash from his new factory into his home. GoGo and the other residents of Wackyland find a way to take their revenge.

"Whale's Tale" is another Buster and Babs story. This time, they rescue from the clutches of a smothering Elmyra and release him back into the ocean. He won't leave them. He needs help. His mother is in the clutches of Gotcha Grabmore, who wants to turn her into cosmetics.

Made Apple Muffins from a modified recipe in my 50's Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. Replaced the melted shortening with canola oil. I haven't tried them yet, but they smelled divine in the oven.

Finished out the night with one of the stranger episodes from the third season of Wonder Woman. There were some pretty bizarre plots on this show from time to time, but "Formicida" takes the wooden cake. Formicida is a scientist who has created a formula that can not only allow her to control ants, but gives her their strengths. She wants to force a businessman to stop the manufacture of a pesticide that could become toxic not only to plants and animals, but humans, too. He's thrown too much money into its creation and insists on releasing it to the public no matter what. Formicida releases ants to destroy his buildings. Wonder Woman is just as determined to prove to both that two wrongs don't make a right...and you can't save the Earth by hurting others.