Happy Birthday Doctor David Suzuki!
Today is a very special day, especially in this time of human awareness about the urgency of our need for the transformation of our climate policies. To get to this point, many people in generations long before ours stood boldly in protection of the environment and brought awareness to the fact that humankind does not exist separately from nature. We are a byproduct of nature and our survival depends upon its health.
Eight-five years ago, the Earth had circled Sol, our own Sun eighty-five times less than it has currently. The Moon in turn had circled the Earth one thousand and twenty times less. We've experienced thirty one thousand and forty six transitions of day and night during that time. A lot of stuff has happened during that time. We've experienced one world ware've experienced one world war and several other regional conflicts during that time. We've seen some countries grow from vast farming communities to become world giants of industry and production. We've seen devices which first started out conceptually in the designs of Lady Ada Lovelace, the very first software programmer, and Charles Babbage, the first person to design and build a mechanical computational device capable of storage and mathematical operations known as the Difference Engine, and joining the family of such devices as the Abacus, to become a modern generation of digital computers.
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| The Aerth Mother from my own book A Lady's Prerogative II: Wounded Aerth. I created this animation for both an effort to Save Kim's Convenience and for Doctor Suzuki's Birthday |
Eighty-five years ago, a man was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that would change the way the world looks at nature. After growing up in Wesrern Canada and pursuing his education, David Suzuki started bringing his unique but much needed perspective to children's television on the show Suzuki on Science, expanding to deliver this message on a variety of radio and television shows including the world reknowned The Nature Of Things, over the last fifty years. During that time, Doctor Suzuki and few others including Doctor Jane Goodall, Sir David Attenborough and Helen Macdonald have utilized their knowledge of science and nature and the educational reach of modern media to transform our understanding of the complex relationship between our own habitats, and the natural ones from which we arose.
It is thanks to these giants, amongst which Doctor Suzuki is an inspiring part in this effort to educate us about nature. He's someone who has relentlessly pursued this goal to stave off the unsurety of the ignorance of nature, while growing our respect for her. He's at the forefront of those who've spearheaded the Global Ecological Movement and through his years of effort has guided many young minds into the fields of science and ecology.
I can personally say that the greater portion of my awareness of the natural sciences and nature has been the result of Doctor Suzuki's work in this field through shows like The Nature Of Things and his work on CBC Radio and CBC Television. I also had the good fortune of working with a team that setup the technology for one of the United Nations Ecological Summits which was held in Toronto's own Prince Hotel (now the Pan Pacific) back in 1992, where Doctor Suzuki delivered a keynote talk that I was fortunate enough to be working, monitoring that audio visual technology at that time. It was a great experience, considering that I was more active in the out of doors and familiar with nature at that time in my life. I would take part in yearly camping trips around that time, riding by bicycle to the campgrounds more than 200 km away in northern Ontario. In fact, within a few weeks of having seen Doctor Suzuki's talk, during one such voyage up north on my bicycle I encountered two bears wrestling in the woods, and was able to get within ten meters of them.
This was back in 1992 1993-ish, so there were no smartphones to capture the moment and I didn't have a camera on me. Despite the fact that this did really happen, it kind of became a big fish kind of story amongst my friends. Despite that, it was a unique moment that I shared with nature by myself, having decided that I'd accept the responsibility for the risk of getting up close to witness this spectacle. Perhaps a foolish thing at any time, it yielded no danger nonetheless and I gained a sense of kinship with nature as a result. The bears noticed me, but they seemed not to care. Actually, it was more like they were showing off. They were large enough that when they fell and rolled onto the forest floor during their wrestling, the ground actually thumped and echoed throughout the trees. They each were easily several hundred pounds, if not upwards of about four hundred.
To anyone reading this I'd highly advise you not to do such a thing yourself as there are risks, especially during the spring when such beasts have arisen from the slumber of hibernation and are looking for a quick snack. It was like Doctor Suzuki's talk. We need to both experience a reverence and a healthy respect for nature and her immense power. Not so much so that we remain in ignorance but instead learn to respect and nurture her health and safety, lest we ourselves expire as a result of the strain we impose upon her, and as a result of our neglect of her.
These are virtues present in the mind and priorities of many members of the modern generation, as a direct result of David Suzuki's having been here.
Who says birthdays aren't important, especially when a person driven by their vision and motivation to lift the veil of ignorance so that we may gain an understanding and respect for nature herself, was born all those years ago? The Earth has circled the sun 85 times. The Moon has circled the Earth one thousand and twenty times. Thirty one thousand and forty six days have passed during that time. And most importantly, Doctor David Suzuki was born.
Let the modesty of his accomplishments be his. Let this article and post be a personal thank you to him rather than any attempt by myself to take from him, any aspects of his life to wear as my own. I'm humbly grateful for your being here, Doctor Suzuki.
Happy Birthday David Suzuki, and many, many more.
Love isn't hate and hate isn't love and love isn't blood.
I'm Canadian and all, and I certainly vote, but I'm not the Prime Minister.
I'm an atheist that leans towards Buddhism and Taoism.
