ACROSS THE MILES

EARTH DAY.......

The main topic these days is how to stop the global warming. Now that global warming is at our heels the whole world is trying to find solutions to stop this by better packaging, using solar power, , stronger fuel economy standards for vehicles and also trying to use ethanol instead of gas for cars.There have been extreme weather events all over the world , we are in the middle of April and still need to have the heater on. There has been extreme variations in temperatures. I am glad that people are finally recognizing that something is wrong. We have known for a long time that this is bound to happen, even when my daughter was in elementry school they were being made aware of the importance of recycling, and how important it was to protect the ozone layer. But we are caught up with our gas guzzlers, all the plastic we use and more recently all the electronic equipment that needs to be disposed off, our landfills are beginning to look like sky scrapers. I think it is in our interest to do everything we can to protect and preserve the earth that we enjoy, for future generations.
I want to share with you an essay written by my daughter in elementry school about the sun. I thought it would be appropriate for earth day.

IMAGINE I AM THE SUN
By Maya

I am the sun, a burning hot ball of fire. Every morning I stretch out, and peek out from behind the horizon. As soon as I am settled comfortably in my little nest among the clouds, I burst with hundreds of piercing rays. My heat sharpens the earth below, and slowly people arise. This is my daily, subtle way of telling everyone it is morning. As the day lengthens into afternoon, my heat increases and I watch happily as the rays touch the earth.

By evening my rays weaken and my strength mellows out. As dusk falls, I begin my slow journey as the earth gently turns, so I can shine my light for the other side. My best friend comes to take over for the night. My best friend is the moon. She will come out at night and light up the darkness of the vast sky. The most unique thing about the moon is its varied shapes. My favorite is when she finally takes over her full moon figure.

My other favorite pals are the bright, evershining stars. In the day they still shine, but in my vibrant sun glow, they are unseen. But when the moons pale, fluorescent light spreads over the sky, the meek little stars shine their light like never before.

Sometimes there are days when I take a break. Often the sky and clouds take a nasty turn for the worse. The sky and clouds turn an ugly grey and they move over me, so my sunshine glow is covered. Then the great sheets of rain pour down and lightning and thunder strike. Lightning and thunder are my greatest enemies and I am deathly afraid of them. But when the storm subsides, I gently peek out from behind the clouds. Nevertheless the earth below is greatly pleased and relieved, when they are recovered from the storm by my blinding sunshine.

Sometimes my rays of sun are dangerous. I did not mean for my little rays to get so powerful, but more times than I can admit , my rays have been the cause of skin cancer and other diseases. Thats why we should protect our Ozone layer. The Ozone layer is like a barrier that protects you from my ultraviolet rays, but still lets sunshine through. Protect the Ozone layer before my rays destroy us all.