Monday, April 23, 2007

Earth day is EVERY day...

...but it was nice to celebrate it "officially" at Balboa Park in San Diego on Sunday. Lots of peeps, myriad environmentalist-run tables offering info on everything from tree planting to vegetable oil-run Mercedez Benz cars...

There was an area where there were Hare Krsnas chanting, a place where there was Mexican wrestling, more peeps, great booths from Last Chance for Animals and Farm Sanctuary (which i "worked" last year!) and some vegan food (not enough!).

There were voter registration booths (including one touting a grass-roots presidential campaign: 'Al Gore in 2008'), a kids' area with lots of hands-on stuff for the younger set, and, did i mention?, a lot of peeps.

"San Diego Earth Fair" - http://www.earthdayweb.org/

This artist wasn't part of the official festivities, but he was not far from the fair, doing great work...


A finished mural from Saturday, done mostly by kids! Beautiful.


Recycled tires make great purses, who knew?!


Peter's half-eaten veggie burger 'n' fries (we shared the fries w/the dogs!)

Peter, a one time hard-core vegan who eats both omni & veggie, totally enjoyed that vegan Boca burger. i had one, too, and it was excellent!


If you click on the photo below, you can see Heidi & Mattie in one of his sunglasses lenses.


There were quite a few vegan choices for food, but this was the place we chose, and so did a lot of others:

They don't get points for spelling (SMOOTIES!) but they were popular! We waited 45 minutes for our burgers! i bought a big bag of kettle corn to get us by till the food was ready.

Their official Web site: http://vegnout.net/

Nice father-daughter team took orders & money:

(i traded them a bunch of $5's and $1's)


Neuter is cuter! Spay is A-OK!


Mattie cozies up to a live recycling bin.
How about those sexy, pouty pink lips & lavender eyeshadow?
**********************************************************
Heidi loves her daddy and you can see that... "down to Earth":

38 comments:

Mark Xander said...

Keep it coming, K! :) Luv the pic with Pete near the "Neuter Scooter" - hehehe! Really cracked me up. :)

Mark
markxander.blogspot.com

runswithdog said...

I love the 'feet' picture :-) What a neat event. I wish we had more like that around here.

pinknest said...

well that looks like fun! i also love the feet picture. and the recycling can!

Unknown said...

A live recycling bin, eh? Disney should get some of those!

bazu said...

Yay, earth day! Happy belated earth day. It looks like you guys had a lot of fun. It's only breakfast time, but you have me jonesing for that burger and fries. Sigh!

Michelle Ann said...

Love the picture of Maddie paw and daddy's foot... Too cute!

Anonymous said...

that looks like a great time!

Tofu Mom (AKA Tofu-n-Sprouts) said...

Cool event! I wish we had more around here, but the weather wouldn't cooperate, I'm sure!

Ironic, isn't it, that going vegan is better for th environment and has more of an impact than almost anything else we can do - yet most Earth Day celebrations completely overlook that fact.

BigFoot Marty said...

Thnaks for your comments on my Vegan runner and Big marathoner blog.
They were helpful and informatiove.
I too am I big Thai and iNdian food fan and doing a lot of xperimenting.

The marathon is over and was a success now I can focus on my own runing and training and continue to figure out how to eat for the new life and training.

Would like the moving/live recycling bin near work ,lots of people just tosing good recyclables on ground

laura k said...

What a post! You're right, Kleo--Earth Day IS every day... Still, I'm lovin' the festivities and wishin' I could have taken part! That pic of Mattie in the sunglasses reflection is too great. And I LOVE that mural--kids are so amazingly talented, eh? And tender-hearted toward the environment... Let us hope that this generation of wee ones does not lose that passion!

Theresa said...

Looks like quite the festivities. I love the doggie pictures--Matty and the wheely bin (there's a bit of Aussie lingo for ya), and the foot picture is adorable!

urban vegan said...

Great photos and great senitments, Kleo (God, you live in such a positive, earth- & animal-friendly area).

The last photo is absolutely precious! Says it all.

Unknown said...

You make me miss San Diego so bad :-(

That looked like a LOT of fun!

Anonymous said...

Hello Kleo! Belated Happy Earth Day! The pictures are so nice as if I am also there participating!

Carrie™ said...

I am loving everything about this post!! I wish we'd been there to enjoy the day too. Looks like a lot of fun. I just LOVE that mural! The picture of Peter with the dogs reflected in his sunglasses is pretty neat. So is the bit of mustard on his upper lip. :o)
You are so lucky to have all these cool veg*n restaurants where you live. I checked out the menu for Veg-N-Out and I'll have an AliBurger to go please. (They spelled Smoothies right on the menu.)
Tires made into purses? I think I heard something about this. I've seen a lot of people around here with funky purses made out of tetra-pak juice containers. They don't even try to disguise the fact that they were juice containers. They work that into the purse. They're pretty neat.
Like everyone else, I really like the picture of Heidi's paw on Peter's leg, but I also very much liked the pic of you and Mattie. Two lovely ladies enjoying the day. Looks like a great time was had by all!

Anonymous said...

looks like a great day and a wonderful way to celebrate our earth.

love that mural. just awesome!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

What an awesome E-Day post! Happy Earth Day to you, my Earth Sister! Balboa Park has got it going on for sure - maybe we can join you next year. We were there several years ago, and it was great. I clicked for the close-up of Heide & Matster and also saw some mustard around the edges! lol! Go Padres! But my favorite is of you holding Mattie - that one is for framing.

XO

Candi said...

how fun! I loved this entire post and all your photos and funny captions! The neuter-scooter photo had me laughing.

Oh yes! I see Mattie and Heidi in the sunglasses! lol! Very cute.

Oh, that recycling bin is hilarious! Mattie seems to like her! :) You look adorable, Kleo!

Oh, the photo of the paw and foot is so sweet!

Looks like you had a fun time. I wonder what the "Smooties" were like though. Lol!

Dori said...

Looks like you had a great day, what fun! The sexy recycle container is funny, but my favorite is the art mural made by kids. It makes me think of each little peice being all the children around the world saying we will do our part.

So Peter used to be vegan and now .... (gasp) has opted for more variety in his diet. Good veggie burger choice though, I'm glad it was worth the 45 minute (bigger gasp) wait.

Emmy said...

What a fun Earth Day celebration. I got a kick out of the fact there was Mexican wrestling.....just not something I would expect at an Earth Day festival. That's a great pic of you and Mattie with the recycling bin. Did the bin sing and dance too? If not, it should have. LOL That last pic is absolutely precious. Awwwww.

meesh said...

Wow - looks like you guys had a great day! I love the "neuter scooter". :)

vko said...

What a fun day! Of course I clicked on the picture to see Mattie in the sunglasses and a close-up of Boca burger sauce. Also love that pic of paws over pa, and Mattie's little belly in that pic next to Ms. Recycling Bin- was Mattie afraid of scary eyeshadow & lips?

aTxVegn said...

Looks like you all had a great time at the Earth Day Fair. You got food, art, and rubber purses!

Anonymous said...

Aww so cute! I completely forgot about Earth Day was this past Sunday
I recognize it every day it sure would have been nice to participate in some of the activities! :-)

n/a said...

That looks like a blast! I had fun leafleting on Saturday in Philly; there were a few people out and the weather was nice.

Dan said...

Great photos Kleo! I especially love the last one, with Heidi and her daddy. Oh ... and the veg burger and fries. Oh ... and you in your denim shorts. See what veganism can do for one's legs! :)

Anonymous said...

your photos are inspiring! i especially thought the sunglasses reflection was very awesome. i liked that recycling bin character, too... i hope she will come to the sin city to encourage people to recycle more!

tabitha jane said...

yay for earth day!!! i actually celebrated by taking a nap on my recycled couch (recycled as in i am it's third owner).

Dori said...

I just read your comment about having a bout with anorexia... i am sorry to hear of this. I am glad that you now have the healthy mindset of realizing when to be objective. I am glad you have chosen a healthy diet and exercise to live a healthy life.
In high school nutrition classes I always have to include info on eating disorders, so many girls get lost in the cultural icon of skin and bones.

Douglas said...

Great post, I loved all the pictures. Earth day to me is kind of ridiulous because we should me mindul of the planet every single day, not just one day of the year...

Harmonia said...

Hi! Thanks for the comment and welcome back. I've been feeling lonely lately. :) I wish I lived near you - you seem like you are always on the go and always having fun! I wish I could go to the events you go to! :(

Harmonia said...

I just read Dori's comment...about Anorexia...yest another thing we have in common. It was a struggle for 13+ years. My body isn't showing it but the thoughts are still there. I will never have a good self image. Just thought I would share.

Sara said...

Happy belated earth day! I just wanted to let everyone know about a really cool design contest that SIGG Switzerland (maker of amazing recyclable, reusable aluminum bottles)
You can find the contest at www.mysigg.com/siggart

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Sorry about Kung Food! )=

Anonymous said...

that picture of the paw on foot is seriously one of the best pictures I've ever seen. you need to submit it somewhere, like on flickr perhaps. <3

scottishvegan said...

That sounds like an amazing day. I love the photo of the two feet!

Drasch23 said...

love all the pics!

I wonder if GB will ever be that cool?

TB said...

I love Earth Day in Balboa Park! And the Neuter Scooter is such a great thing for San Diego... Yay, for low cost, mobile spaying and neutering!