In his distinctive voice, he sings about all the little things that we should appreciate, from the flowers to the trees to the sky to clouds and rainbows — and people.

“I see friends shaking hands, saying, “How do you do?” the song goes. “They’re really saying I love you.”

Much has been written and discussed about the recent journey of NASA’s recent Artemis II test flight around the moon. My favorite part (as was the case for so many) was seeing the images sent back from the spacecraft of the planet we call Earth, either sitting starkly blue, white and green against the backdrop of the blackness of space or peeking out from behind the moon.

I’ve thought about how the four-astronaut crew set a record for the furthest distance humans had ever been from our world, setting the mark at 252,756 miles. Since the diameter of Earth is just 7,926 miles, that means you could’ve placed 31 planets the size of Earth side by side and still not quite reached the point where Artemis II was furthest from the surface of Earth.

Those simple calculations remind me that while this world may seem unfathomably large to my human eyes, it is miniscule in terms of the vastness of our solar system — let alone of the universe as whole.

But it’s all we’ve got.

I think that simple fact is a very good reason for all of us to take time to appreciate its the amazing beauty and value.

It’s what I love about Earth Day, which is coming up next week. It’s a time set aside to think about what it means to do our part to take care of this planet.

What does that mean?

I think there are many valid viewpoints in how best to approach such an objective. I have my opinions but I also acknowledge that they are limited in scope and perspective.

I sometimes think about how, for all its beauty, our world is not always a nice place. There are many inherent violent natural occurrences, from lightning-sparked fires to devastating storms to changing landscape with shifting tectonic plates. The surface itself is just a relatively thin shield from the churning molten core, which pushes to the surface with volcanic activity.

And if those local possibilities weren’t enough, there are always potential external impacts from solar storms from the sun and extraterrestrial debris in the form of asteroids and comets.

All of those are realities that could change our planet dramatically in a relatively short period of time — and has in the past.

But life has adapted and flourished anyway. From the depths of the ocean to the hot deserts to the high mountains and the frozen tundra, life has found ways to thrive.

It’s not always pretty to see what it takes to survive. The natural world can be a very harsh, cruel place as plants, animals and insects struggle for existence. It can be cruel, ruthless and unforgiving.

We as people certainly aren’t immune to those necessities and fears. We see brutality and strife in ourselves all too often.

But we also can rise above it, increase our knowledge and — even more importantly — choose to care.

Armstrong sang in the song: “I hear babies cry. I watch them grow. They’ll learn much more. Than I’ll ever know.”

I believe in that ability to grove and learn. I believe we can do our part to make this Earth a better place, to take better care of this home we rely on.

With an estimated 8.3 billion people now living on this planet, it may seem like my contribution won’t do much in the grand scheme of things. That’s a lot of people who have their own needs and wants, and who may make choices that won’t be beneficial to Earth.

But, to me, that’s just an excuse. I get to control what I control.

So I can plant a garden and nourish a tree and be more conscious of what I discard and drive less.

Will that change the world for everyone? Not directly, no.

Will it make a difference for me? Absolutely.

This week, I challenge you to spend some time doing something nice for the Earth. Maybe it is just taking time to appreciate what we have.

Whatever you do, I think you’ll be glad you did.

And then you can do what Armstrong said he did in the final words of the song: “And I think to myself what a wonderful world. Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world. Oh, yeah.”

Jared Lloyd is the managing editor of the Daily Herald and can be reached at jlloyd@standard.net.