This photo is from this afternoon’s walk at Tryon Creek State Natural Area in Portland, Oregon, USA. I’m so lucky to have had this place in my life since forever. I still have my “Bluebirds” club notebook in which we made bird and plant sketches. At Tryon, we learned about forest ecosystems and bird habitat when my elementary school troupe visited the park during field trips. It’s basically my back yard now because I live in an apartment nearby & it’s close enough that I can drop by for a trail run or a photo walk or even just stand in a sunbeam or a rainshower & watch the leaves flutter for a few minutes. It never needs mowing. It always gives me peace. Tryon is the only Oregon State Park located within a major metropolitan area. Thanks to conservation efforts, salmon and even lamprey eels are back in Tryon Creek.

The park was saved from destruction thanks to a group of local women who began raising money on the first Earth Day in 1970 to ensure its protection.

Thank you, ladies. I pulled some ivy from the trunks of those beautiful old trees today — and am ever grateful for every leaf, branch, needle and breath of clean air.

Celebate birth of Friends of Tryon Creek on first Earth Day by volunteering on Earth Day

SOUTHWEST PORTLAND — On the first Earth Day in 1970, 310 women from Southwest Portland and Lake Oswego went door-to-door, raising $27,000 to save Tryon Creek Canyon from development. “It was a kitchen counter effort,” says Lucille (Lu) Beck on preservation of Tryon canyon. “It was led by women.”