LIVING THE GREEN LIFE 24/7

Solar Powered Homes in Stelle

Today is Earth Day and much has been written and shown in the Media about how we can be greener. I think we gardeners are among the most environmentally aware people on earth but the story that impressed me the most is about the little town of Stelle, Illinois that is only one and a half hours drive from Chicago.

Back in the early'70's being green wasn't a big priority and was looked on as something odd. That's when some Chicago ex-pats decided to create their own sustainable living community in Stelle with solar panels and bales of straw. They also went native with the plants and grew their own food. Imagine that. Pretty amazing to most people in this day and time but it was a lot like the life I had growing up.

Stelle is having it's own Earth Day Open House because people have become curious and wanted to visit the self-sustaining community. They'll have tours of their orchard, sheep farm and straw-bale houses, hands-on workshops, and a l restaurant's menu will feature food from local farmers and growers.

You can visit these real eco-pioneers at centerforsustainablecommunity.org.

FAREWELL AND THANKS

" Where Flowers Bloom, So Does Hope " - Lady Bird Johnson
( Dec. 22, 1913-July 11, 2007 )

Every time I see a wildflower I will think of Lady Bird Johnson, our former First Lady who passed away July 11 . She was an environmentalist before the word was even discovered. The highways and byways of Texas are filled with living tributes to her-beautiful Gallardia, Texas Bluebonnets, and thousands of varieties of wildflowers.

The bible says that " Not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of the lilies of the field. "

Farewell, Lady Bird. You've brought such beauty into our world.

LADYBIRD

Ladybird! Ladybird ! fly away home;
The field mouse is gone to her nest
The daisies have shut up their sleepy red eyes,
And the birds and the bees are at rest.

Ladybird! Ladybird !
The glowworm is lighting her lamp,
The dew's falling fast, and her fine speckled wings
Will flag with the close-clinging damp.

Ladybird! Ladybird ! fly away home;
To your house in the old hollow tree,
Where your children so dear have invited the ant
and a few cozy neighbors to tea.

Ladybird ! Ladybird ! fly away home;
The fairy bells tinkle afar;
make haste, or they'll catch you and harness you fast
With a cobweb of Oberon's car.

Ladybird ! Ladybird ! fly away home ;
Good luck if you reach it at last !
The owl's come abroad, and the bee's on the roam,
Sharp-set from their diurnal fast.

-Caroline B. Southey