Early Environmentalist

Liesl Eichler -- 1981

I call this photo "Liesl Eichler -- Early Environmentalist." Today is the Environmentalist's birthday. Born in the evening of Feb. 2 in the year of the Bicentennial, Lee came into the world during a snowy winter in Huron County. I dealt with flu and a fall on ice during the last month of my pregnancy with her. Both Ed and I were so glad to bring her home to her big brother, Will, and be done with the risks of childbearing.

When we moved to Graywood Farm, there were three bridges across the Pigeon River on Geiger Road, just beyond Pigeon River Mennonite Church. One bridge was wood, one steel, one cement. All had fallen into disrepair and the road was closed. As I remember, funding for a new bridge came through during the 1980 presidential campaign year. The old bridges were demolished, the right of way was widened, the river was straightened and a new bridge was built.

You can see from the log Liesl is sitting on that there were some mighty trees that fell in preparation for the bridge. Now Liesl's work involves green energy. She is co-founder and principal in 5 Lakes Energy, a Michigan based consulting firm. I'd like to think that this childhood experience of seeing trees felled for road construction maybe began some thoughts about the environment and better ways of using our natural resources. (Oh, so preachy!)

Back to my main point. Happy birthday, Liesl!

Last year's birthday post

Copyright 2012
Wanda Hayes Eichler