Earth Day, 2011

      My father, a farmer, was respectful of our earth's resources.  Replenish what you take, he taught.   But some of us consume without replacement as if the earth is infinite in its capacities. 
     When growth is exponential, we may not see its consequences before it is too late.  (Have we already destroyed the balances of nature?)  The following 8 x 8 syllable-square poem restates a oft-used math-textbook question -- and reminds us that little time may be left to solve environmental problems.   

     Square math problem     by JoAnne Growney

     Quietly the dark creature starts--
     it drinks a quart of the water
     from our reservoir. Then each day
     it gulps twice as much as the day
     before.  If no one notices
     this monster’s thirst until one-fourth
     the water’s gone, what time is left 
     to arrest the vast consumption?

Environmental concerns also are found in these postings:  7 October 2010 and 22 April 2010.