This past Thursday, our planet celebrated its very own holiday. Perhaps the most widely observed secular holiday across the globe, Earth Day takes place each year on April 22. According to the Earth Day Initiative, a New York City-based non-profit group, Earth Day is an event "celebrated around the world when people take time to appreciate humankind's connection to the Earth and to raise awareness of our environmental challenges."

As green whispers its way back into North Central Montana with the greening of grass and the budding of trees, we also see other signs of renewal: calves cavorting in the fields, dandelions blooming, insects returning, and garden seeds showing up in local stores. In agricultural communities like those on the Hi-Line, nature, plants, and the land are integral to our own health and to the livelihoods of many residents.

In celebration, Earth had her own fireworks display in the form of shooting stars. After a four-month lull, the Lyrid meteor shower put on a bit of a light show, with its peak occurring in the predawn hours of Earth Day when a few shooting stars were observed streaking across the sky-their trains observable for several seconds.

According to NASA, the Lyrids are pieces of debris from the Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. In mid-April of each year, the Earth runs into the stream of debris from the comet, causing the meteor shower. The Lyrids are known for their fast and bright meteors, and they frequently leave glowing dust trains behind them as they streak through the Earth's atmosphere.

From Wednesday, April 21, through Saturday, April 24, NASA also hosted a virtual Earth Day event focused on how to live more sustainably on our home planet and how to adapt to natural and human-caused changes. The program explored the Earth's atmosphere, water cycle, forests, fields, cities, ice caps, and climate. The program, called #ConnectedByEarth, featured live presentations by NASA scientists, conversations with astronauts and scientists working in space, videos, interactive science content, a youth-friendly fun zone, a scavenger hunt, hundreds of downloadable resources, and additional highlights. Anyone who missed it can view archived details at http://www.nasa.gov/earth-day-2021.

One of those topics shared was information about NASA's Vegetable Production System, known as Veggie. A space garden residing on the space station, Veggie's purpose is to help NASA study plant growth in microgravity, while adding fresh food to the astronauts' diet and enhancing well-being on the orbiting laboratory.

A fact sheet describes the Veggie garden as about the size of a carry-on piece of luggage and typically holding six plants. Each plant grows in a "pillow" filled with a clay-based growth media and fertilizer. The pillows are important to help distribute water, nutrients, and air in a healthy balance around the roots. Otherwise, the roots would either drown in water or be engulfed by air because of the way fluids in space tend to form bubbles.

"This Earth Day, we encourage you to start your own garden – be it in a plot of Earth or a pot full of earth – using seeds similar to those grown on the International Space Station. This can include romaine lettuce, radishes, mustard, and more. Share photos on social media as your garden comes to life through the spring and summer with #GrowForLaunch," a NASA spokesperson stated.

The editors of The Old Farmer's Almanac echoed the notion of planting a garden, calling it "a method for passing down a love of nature and plants to kids." They also encouraged celebration of Earth Day-"Whether it's a walk through the woods, picking up litter, buying more Earth-friendly products, or looking skyward to view the meteor shower."

Since its inception in 1970, Earth Day continues to grow as a worldwide phenomenon focused on promoting a healthy, sustainable habitat for people and wildlife alike. Celebrating Earth Day serves as a conscious reminder of how important it is to protect our planet every day.

In honor of Earth Day, Ms. Jones' second graders and Mrs. Davies' third graders at Meadowlark Elementary School picked up garbage around the city park and the school grounds. Both teachers also conducted special Earth Day projects.

Mrs. Davies challenged her students to find a piece of "garbage" and turn it into something new and usable. "This was an open ended project, and I will see what the results are on Monday," she said.

To help her students understand where major land masses and bodies of water are located on Earth-as well as to learn about recycling-Ms. Jones invited her students recycle newspapers to make paper mache models of Earth. These came complete with all seven continents and four major oceans.