Let’s Take Positive Steps This Earth Day,

April 22

April 22 marks Earth Day, dedicated to celebrating, protecting and restoring our natural environment here on our life-rich planet, so far alone with sentience in the vast universe. In these early days of spring, Washingtonians and visitors from around the world flock to the nation’s capital to delight in the flowering buds of spring and glorious cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin. But each year, peak cherry blossom times fall earlier and earlier – by days and weeks –due to the effects of climate change. Extreme temperatures and moisture fluctuations combined with rising Tidal Basin levels stress the trees’ fragile nourishment systems and their continued longevity is in doubt.

Washingtonians – noted for having their eyes on the news – cannot help but see daily headlines warning of the climate catastrophe threatening the world’s ecosystems. So many deadly droughts, extreme heat events, atmospheric rivers, floods, heat domes, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires. Oceanside homes swept to sea. The Colorado River drying up. Portland reaches 116 degrees. Rainforests disappearing. Deserts encroaching. Tick-born diseases spreading. Did flooding last year really swamp one-third of Pakistan?

“Blame geography for the U.S.’s getting hit by stronger, costlier, more varied and frequent extreme weather. Then add climate change, and ‘buckle up,” warns an April 3 Associated Press story. “If air and ocean temperatures around Antarctica were to increase as projected… researchers say ice marching backward hundreds of feet in a day could trigger collapse of modern-day glaciers sooner than previously thought. That could be devastating for global sea levels,” reported The Washington Post April 6.

Instead of resigning ourselves to catastrophe, however, we suggest taking active steps, however humble, to help protect and restore our natural wonders.

Toward these ends, we feature two positive Earth Day stories this month: a profile of Virginia’s Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) and an interview with the head of the DC Department of Energy and the Environment. Happy Earth Day!

Home! Sweet Home! Thank You, Homeowners.

While many of us may be annoyed by service vans, noisy equipment, blocked streets or sidewalks as well as those dreaded dumpsters and lost parking spaces, it is time to step back and thank the property and homeowners who are essentially preserving Georgetown.

Through their time, frustrations and treasure, they not only are remaking a beautiful home for themselves but are ensuring a particular place — sometimes with quite a history — will be enjoyed by future generations.

Think back, if you will, to the time of the first years of the Georgetown House Tour 90 years ago. There were shuddered old mansions, shadows of their best days, seen by Georgetown children as haunted houses. We can be sure a few brave ones snuck into the deteriorating hulks for kicks and daring. Indeed, a few homes were only fixed up and reoccupied in the 1940s — we know of one on Prospect Street that did not receive electricity until that decade.

In fact, the author of the song, “Home! Sweet Home!,” John Howard Payne is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery on R Street — right on the front lawn with a prominent memorial stone near Renwick Chapel, which is on this year’s Georgetown House Tour. Again, history is at every turn in this town, where historic preservation is repeated and encouraged.

So, let’s have some patience and show some appreciation to those homeowners fixing up their houses — and applaud their efforts that keep Georgetown the special place it is.

Nothing good comes from guns, Whether you’re old or you’re young, So much lost, so much sadness, Every city, every town, Every day, gun violence can be found, In our churches and school grounds, There goes another deadly round, Of a mass shooter who astounds, Daily mournings so profound.

There’s no where to hide, From that monster that lurks outside, Getting harder to look into the mirror, Our denial is getting clearer, What we truly love is our cold steel guns, More than our precious daughters and sons, Are we just cowards on the run? Bullied by our politicians and the NRA, Gun manufacturers that always get their way. How many more innocent people have to die? A countless generation of stolen lives, As the victims find the courage to survive, Haunting memories that words can’t describe, What’s it going to take, To stop this endless loop of hate, Wake up America, It’s now or never, ban these assault weapons forever!

In memory of the countless lives lost from gun violence everyday in America.

Community Calendar

COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS

April 20, 10:00 a.m. 401 F. Street NW, Suite 312.

Filing deadline: April 6.

CULTURAL POWER BREAKFAST, MARK HUDSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TUDOR PLACE

April 20, 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

The Georgetowner, Four Seasons Hotel, 2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Breakfast and talk, $40. Go to Georgetowner.com to register.

CONCERT IN THE PARK AND EARTH DAY CELEBRATION

April 23, 3 - 5:00 p.m. Rose Park, 2459 P St. NW. Live entertainment, food trucks, kids’ activities and more.

EARTH DAY CLEANUP WITH WARD 2 COUNCIL MEMBER BROOKE PINTO

April 24, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Dupont Circle. Meet at the fountain.

ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION ANC 2E

May 1, 6:30 p.m.

For agenda go to anc2e.com.

OLD GEORGETOWN BOARD

May 4, 9:00 a.m.

401 F. Street NW, Suite 312.

Filing deadline: April 13.

CITIZENS OF GEORGETOWN (CAG) ANNUAL MEETING

May 9, 6 - 8:00 p.m.

Duke Ellington School, 3500 R St. NW. Open to public; voting for members only.