Earth Day Birth Day

Having heard his name repeated hundreds of times into his mother's belly, RAI SEQUOIA knew what he had to do. On Apr.21, like the mighty redwood after which he is named, he gave a mighty effort and broke his sack of waters. He had been very active for a few weeks already so we were not surprised to see him initiate labor 17 days before his May 7 due date.

His timing was perfectly planned: he would arrive on Apr.22, Earth Day, to show the world that he had heard his parents' message. This Earth Day Birthday was Rai's way of telling us that he was ready to fulfill the ecological mission we had established for him.

The environmental lessons we had learned during our few years of travels had, until not too long ago, convinced us that we would not add to the global population crisis. We changed our minds, but in that decision, resolved to help Rai become an agent of environmental change. That change begins with a name that will be a daily reminder for him and others around him; a daily reminder of the beauty of the natural world and the forces that are harming it. The sequoia, the redwood, the world's grandest tree, is the perfect emblem of the ecological juncture at which mankind now stands. The sequoia tree, as great and powerful as it is, is weak and threatened by an ecosystem in decline.

On Earth Day, at 6:20 p.m., following a very long and difficult labor, Rai Sequoia finally arrived. Like the redwood, he will start small, grow tall, live long, and leave a lasting impression on everyone who meets him. He will be a symbol of the grandeur of nature and the interdependence of all living things on this blue planet. For us, he is a symbol of hope and rebirth, as the birth of his namesake is for the forests of the world.