A couple of days ago my wife Linda and I were out for a walk when we passed by one of our neighbors hard at work in his yard. He was taking bedsheets and draping them over his beautiful flower beds. It wasn't that he was trying to hide them from view, rather he was seeking to protect them from the cold weather that was expected overnight. Cold, of course, is relative, but over the past week or so it has gotten down into the forties and even the thirties over night, and without the sheets, the flowers could be killed by the cold temperatures.

I am not a gardener, but I certainly enjoy the beauty that surrounds me because of folks who take the time to plant and weed and fertilize and protect bushes and flowers and trees in our neighborhood. I appreciate the fact that they are good stewards of their own plots of land.

I am also grateful, in these December days, for the many folks here on Sanibel who work to protect this island. They may not literally cover things up with sheets, but their efforts made to preserve the beauty around us is evident all over Sanibel. But it's not just about beauty--its also about survival. The various organizations dedicated to the environment here on island help us work together at the task of being good stewards of this plot of land. And just as those bedsheets make it possible for my neighbor's flowers to make it through the cold nights, so our collective efforts can make it possible for our island to survive. And beyond that, our planet.