The fabric of life...

I'm feeling a bit philosophical today. Turning 60 is a horrendous thing when you have basically done nothing noteworthy with your life, and have nothing going on in it in the present. Sigh, well, I had this thought in the wee hours this morning...
We worry SO much about the planet, about how we are destroying it and all. That's not strictly true. What we are doing is making it harder and harder for US to live here, that's all. The planet will go on just fine without us. Think of humankind as a giant piece of cloth that covers the Earth, and it's made of a very heavy thread count, meaning that it's rich and plush and dense. The higher the thread count on something, as anyone spoiled can tell you, the longer it lasts and the more substantial it is. Of course that makes sense, the more threads, the longer the cloth will last. Well, in terms of "since the Earth was formed", we've been here about 5 minutes, if all of time here was about an hour, BUT we have been really using that cloth hard, and harder every day. We spill on it, burn it, submerge it, shave it down...one way or another, we are constantly "pulling threads" out of this cloth by our actions. We don't care for this garment like it is of any value, we act as if when it's too used up to wear, another garment will just suddenly appear. Well, guess what? It will, BUT it may not be the sort of cloth we can wear. We could be totally allergic or otherwise unable to bear it. In fact, I practically guarantee it. This planet has worn MANY garments made from a lot of different types of cloth, and did just fine with every one. There has only been ONE that we could fit into, and we are steadily pulling out the final threads. Some, and I'm one, believe that we will have a chance at a second Eden once this ruined one has been ridden into the ground, and that's a good thing, a hopeful thing. But in the meantime, instead of continuing to rub the worn spots, shouldn't we be more concerned with patching them up? 

The planet is going to be just fine, with or without us. We can't say the same thing, can we?
Just saying'
A very old Dragonfly