Barbara Lawlor

It was more than just a stroll through the park. It was an immersion into how all of us can keep our park, the Earth, healthy and happy. It was an education set to music, art, crafts, animals and speeches featuring leaders in global ecology.

The 12th Annual Wild Earth Day was held in Central Park in downtown Boulder, a green lawn bordered by Boulder Creek and shaded by large trees. Tents and booths displaying almost 30 ecological issues were set up for hands on teaching about subjects ranging from worms and compost to essential oils skulls of native wildlife and Boulder County native bees.

A team from the National Center for Atmospheric Research launched a weather balloon and explained how they retrieve data on air pressure, humidity and temperature to interpret and predict changing weather patterns.

The Boulder Park bandshell began the afternoon's entertainment with the Reggae, West African sounds of Selasee-African Gate followed a long list of musicians and speaker and the emcee magic of Nederland's own Doc Murdock.

Kids climbed the rock wall of Avid4 Adventure. Even first timers were able to find a handhold or foothold and then thrill to dangling from the end of a rope.

Greg Ching brought My Terrace Farmer, a solar powered greenhouse which enables people to grow herbs, vegetables and flowers all year long, just steps away from the kitchen. A complete ecosystem, the unit has a drip irrigation system system, and may be monitored with a smart phone from anywhere in the world.

Renewable energy, reforestation, acidification and ocean conservation efforts were discussed while children danced with Wild Earth Enchanted Forest animals and played with crayfish.

It was a time for families. It was a time to teach children how they can make the world a better place. It was a great day for the Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center to bring their environmental philosophy to Boulder and plant a seed of hope for the planet we love.