οἶκος is the Greek word from which we get the words “ecology” and “economy.” In the New Testament, the word usually translated as “house” is οἶκος. The oikos is our house and habitation. I wanted to name this blog “little blue house” but there’s some cheesy women’s junk store in Texas that already had the name and URL. We need to see the Earth as our house and habitation. If we fail to care for it, we will suffer. We may even cease to exist. I don’t want a Mad Max apocalypse for my grandchildren, so we must act now. So, my category for my green ecological stuff is the “oikos” which is an English transliteration of the Greek.
“That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives…the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known”
– Carl Sagan
The “small blue marble” comes from the famous Apollo 17 shot of the Earth as the spacecraft sped away from Earth toward the Moon. The astronauts remarked that the Earth looked like a small blue marble against the inky, empty black of space.
Taking care of our planet, is a matter of looking after our own home. We can no longer exploit the earth’s resources—the trees, water, air and minerals—with no care for the coming generations. I support young people’s protests at governments’ inaction over the climate crisis.
Dalai Lama
December 7, 1972: The Blue Marble Photographer: “Jack” Schmitt Apollo 17 “I’ll tell you, if there ever was a fragile-appearing piece of blue in space, it’s the Earth right now.” apollo17.org/?t=005:49:47
appollo17.org (This is a very cool website that you should check out.)
The picture I am using here was shot later than the original blue marble photograph. The photo I’m using is a from a mission in 2012.
A Small Blue Marble 
Where did you get this image? The “Blue Marble” picture shows Africa: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Marble
This image is distorting the Earth to overstate North America’s side. Not sure if it was intentional.
Regardless, I like the sentiment of your post!
LikeLike
You are correct. The original “Blue Marble” shot featured Africa. If memory serves, this one is from 2012 and features the US. It’s not photoshopped.
LikeLiked by 2 people
They must have done it optically, using panoramic photography or a lens. The continent just doesn’t take up that much space on the hemisphere. That perspective would place South America over the south pole. 😄
LikeLike
I loved this post!
@Sapling-> https://phys.org/news/2012-01-blue-marble-amazing-high-definition.html
LikeLike
[…] sustain my interest and that of my readers? The idea which kept coming back to my mind was the “oikos,” our home, environment, cosmos, world, mind, self, street where we live. That was an idea broad […]
LikeLike
I feel like learning some Greek after reading this
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s painful 😣
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybejust the alphabet!
LikeLiked by 1 person