like millions of others across america for the past 4+ decades, the lorax has been a big part of our home. it holds a special place in my heart in regards to darla’s upbringing thus far. i like trees and everyone likes trees and dr. seuss did our society a great service by writing the story of the lorax.

i took darla to see the new lorax movie this morning. it just so happened that we were the only viewers in the theater so we got to enjoy the movie in a special more loud and interactive way. this simply means i didn’t have to worry about reminding darla to be quiet during the film. the universe knew what it was doing once again because, to my delight, darla often spoke lines from the original movie and book throughout the movie. the current movie is loosely based on the original and doesn’t rely heavily on rhyme.  i was very happy that she remembered such lines. Upon the first introduction of the once-ler she hopped out of her seat, put her hands on her hip and said “he’s crazy with greed” at the movie screen. ohhhh how i love her.

unsurprisingly, i prefer the original versions but i think this one did a good job of building on top of something that was already pretty great. I’m glad we went to be reminded by a couple of things by our old pal, The Lorax. the first being: “a tree falls the way it leans. be careful of the way you lean.”  the second line that got to me (that’s code for made me cry, again. for about the 4th time in the movie) was “it doesn’t matter what it is. it only matters what it could become.” i hope to hold these new lines as dearly to me as the tried and true “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better. it’s not.”

it really is a goal of mine this year to make our household further the steps toward earth friendliness. i hope to get my little sapling more involved with learning about trees, plants and all growing things. i need to do more than just show her videos and read her books. i need to make sure we plant and sow and tend. it has to happen. new goal for the year: plant a tree with darla.