Have You Noticed Those Bright Begonias?
Dawn begins with the rise of pure gold from the sea, illuminating the multicolour forests standing tall, followed by the splashes of kaleidoscopic flowers dyeing the grass and enriching the soil and finally finishes with the waking of animals from their sleep. The Earth has now risen from its slumber and awaits inspiring days.
My parents always taught me from a young age to care for the environment and the life around me. I pretended to be listening but didn’t really pay attention as I was dreaming of other lands with magical creatures and candy rain. There was no consequence for not listening, except for my mother’s disappointment. I would usually nod my head and go on to play my own games afterwards. So as the rebel I was, I never fully listened to my mother and never really cared for what she had to say.
They were always incredibly boring, and I began to fear the “Get me a pen and paper” starter, as this meant a life lesson was coming. The moral “Care for the environment” got etched in my brain, even though I never really cared to ask why.
“The Earth will always be around, so what does it matter? It’s not like it can die,” I would think naively. I was eventually forced to help my mom pick up trash in local parks, and my mother was leading by example as a volunteer helper for our local ravines, cleaning waste as best she could.
My father soon influenced my view of the environment by inviting me to the garden with him. My summer pride came from decorating the garden soil canvas with splashes of kaleidoscopic colours– unruly ferns, bright begonias, and clinging morning glories. My father and I would invest hours and hours of hard work to make our garden the most inviting, the most beautiful and the most spectacular on the street. Our garden was unmatched by any other, and I cherished the idea of creating beauty from nature. It was me and dad against the world during these hours.
It was this newfound activity that finally broke through to me and got me to care for the environment. I developed an outdoor personality, so when given the choice I would usually spend my time outside. I learned to care for the environment and for its creatures, without even knowing the consequence when we do not.
It was only in the sixth grade that I learned a new and alarming fact. Human activities are hurting the planet. If we do not start caring for the environment right this moment, there will be nothing to care for in a few decades. Global warming will make Earth uninhabitable.
These little clips of time during my life really opened my mind to care for our planet Earth. I try to learn as much as I can by watching documentaries like A Life on Our Planet and looking up to young role models like Greta Thunberg. I am conscious of my carbon footprint, and partner with my mom to make sustainable lifestyle choices. Planting just one flower with my dad taught me of the value of caring for the environment, and I can see now that I’ve grown as a caring human being– just like the morning glories that spend the summer slowly climbing up the fence in my backyard.