4/30/2021
My Friend & POTUS, JRB,
How was Jimmy Carter (JEC)? I saw that Rosalyn escorted you to the door yesterday, but Jimmy wasn’t with her. When you’re 96, getting up from your chair is a challenge, so I suppose he remained seated for your departure. According to the NYT, when you endorsed JEC you said, “Jimmy’s not just a bright smile.” Perhaps he returned the compliment.
I love seeing the photo that just appeared of Jill with a shovel “planting” a tree. The last POTUS “planted” a few trees in his day. On Earth Day, 2020, he & the FLOTUS planted some & became the butt of some jokes for their hypocrisy in doing so. The FLOTUS planted a clone from the “Eisenhower oak” in Aug. 2018 in honor of the “Presidential Site Summit.” That same year, Pres. Macron & his wife joined the POTUS & FLOTUS in “planting” a Sessile Oak from the Balleau Wood to honor of the US participation in WWI. They also “planted” a tree on their trip to India last Feb at the New Delhi memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.
Did you know that tree “planting” was in your job description? I put plant in quotation marks because moving one shovelful of dirt is only a small part of the process, & may not suffice for the “happy usefulness” that Sterling Morton, founder of Arbor Day envisioned.
Speaking of tree planting, I just learned about Mexican Pes. Obrador’s Sembrando Vida campaign where he hopes to employ 1.2 million laborers to plant 3 billion trees in return for visas to come to the US. I love the idea.
I hope your Amtrak celebration at 30th St Station in Philly today is fun for you. I’m all for high-speed rail & improving our train tracks. Are you sure $80 billion is enough? They have a $31 billion backlog of repairs, so adding 30 new routes sounds rather ambitious.
As you commemorate Arbor Day, spread the word that spending time around trees reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, improves mood and boosts the immune system. I hope you’ll linger amongst the trees at the WH today.
Pray for Peace in Burma,
