To Do

I like to make lists. I make grocery lists, lists of school assignment due dates, lists of what to pack on a trip. I write lists on paper and now have free apps on my phone that let me make lists digitally. Lists keep me organized and help me to ensure that I don't forget anything important. Lists can be a wonderful thing.

But sometimes I feel as though I'm living my life like it's a list. I start to view everything in my day as just another item to be accomplished and checked off so that I can move on to the next. Things I love to do start to be framed in my mind as just another item on the day's list. I have woken up on a day off thinking, "Ok, first I need to take a walk. Next I need to play with the dogs before I bake chocolate chip cookies. Then I want to read at least three chapters of this novel that I am reading purely for pleasure." This frame of mind can really suck the joy out of life.

Yesterday I woke up to one of these days. It was a beautiful, sunny day with a slight breeze so it wasn't too hot. I dutifully got dressed and went outside to take a walk, not because I was excited to move around in the lovely weather, but because it was the first thing on my mental list for the day. I don't remember much about the first half mile or so of the walk. My mind was absorbed in all of the other things I *had* to do that day, which led to the list for the next day, which led to the next...

A turkey brought me back to noticing what is important.

Turkeys are big, funny-looking birds. I think they are one of the animals that can be pointed to when people want to show God's sense of humor. And there, in my neighborhood, just wandering along, was a turkey. I stopped walking and watched it as it meandered across the road, through someone's yard, and out of sight. As I resumed my walk I started to notice other creatures - several types of birds, a few squirrels. I saw the trees and flowers in all of the yards along the street. I felt the warm sun on my face and cool breeze on my skin. I noticed the houses and thought about how blessed we are to have safe homes with running water, electricity, and climate control. One positive thought lead to another just as my stressful thoughts had just moments before.

Joy, hope, beauty, peace - they're all around us. My prayer is that I slow down enough and look outside myself enough to see, and truly embrace them.

P.S. Brought to you by Patrick on Spongebob Squarepants.

Get Out!

This is my article for the October edition of my church's newsletter, the Spire.

I recently checked out a book from the public library called Get Out! 150 Easy Ways for Kids and Grown-Ups to Get into Nature and Build a Greener Future by Judy Molland. It is a short, easy read for adults who care for children. Experiencing nature is important for children’s physical, cognitive, social, and spiritual development, and this book helps adults to nurture children’s interaction with nature.

Get Out! has five sections, and below is one of my favorite ideas from each.

Get Started: Cool Ways to Embrace Nature Today

15: Get to know local trees. Autumn is the perfect time to observe the trees in your yard or local park. Go on a walk with your child and pick up leaves as you go. Ask your child to compare the leaves’ colors and shapes, and learn what type of tree they came from.

Go Further: Projects, Plans, and Outings

52: Take nature and wildlife photography. Molland says that “everyone from small children to adults can do this, and it will develop the habit of looking closely at the world.” This is a great way to explore God’s earth with your child, and the photos can be family mementos.

Get Smart: Be Green Consumers—and Eaters!

75: Donate and purchase used clothes. The church rummage sale is the perfect place to teach your children about the environmental and economical benefits of recycling clothing. Help them to pick some of their old clothes to donate, and then take them to the rummage sale to buy a new item that they need.

Get Active: More than Just the 3 Rs

102: Make art. Molland suggests that you “see what you and your kids can make with old bottle caps, old wrappers, ribbons, bows, milk cartons, and toilet paper rolls.” Children are naturally creative and can make beautiful art out of common items that we might usually take for garbage. As I child, I loved creating crafts from bits of things that I found around the house.

Get Involved: Take a Green Stand

140: Defend an endangered species. Help your children learn about endangered species (on websites for Kid’s Planet, World Wildlife Fund, or the National Wildlife Federation) and then choose one to help protect. By making a small donation, you can adopt an endangered animal. The money goes to help protect the species, and your children usually receive additional information and a picture of their animal.

Get Out! provides fun ideas to help adults bond with their children and learn about the environment. As we help children to grow closer with nature, we are also helping them to grow closer to God.

Going Green/Back to School

This is my article for the September issue of my church's newsletter, the Spire. I should have posted it here sooner.

A new school year is about to begin – new teachers, new experiences, and, a chance to take a few new steps to care for God’s creation.

For many, the back-to-school season means one thing: shopping. The average family with school-aged children will spend almost $600 on back-to-school purchases this year. I admit that in K-12 I looked forward to new clothes and school supplies each year (especially the school supplies, a love I inherited from my dad). I’m not saying that you shouldn’t purchase anything in preparation for a new school year, but consider being conscious of the impact that your purchases can have on the earth. Try to buy school supplies (pens, pencils, etc.) made from recycled materials, especially notebook paper. Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. (And don’t forget to recycle your old paper in the bin in our north parking lot!)

Also consider using reusable supplies. Mechanical pencils and refillable pens work just as well (if not better than) the disposable versions. A large amount of waste is created each year from disposable lunch packaging as well as from office supplies. Switch to reusable lunch boxes, utensils, napkins, and food and drink containers to save approximately 67 pounds of waste per student each school year.

A small step to take that can make a big impact is for students to ride the bus instead of getting a ride in a car. Though the average school bus is not good for the earth, one bus is better than the 72 cars it would take to drive each of those students individually.

These small steps may not seem like much, but Psalm 24:1 says that “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it,” and I think God appreciates every step we make to care for his world.

Free Click-to-Donate

I'm a big fan of click-to-donate websites. They are just what they sound like -- a simple click of the mouse creates donations from sponsors to organizations that support charities. You can click once each day on each cause, and it only takes a few seconds.

My favorite click-to-donate site is Care2.com. I found it sometime in the late 90s, and I've been clicking ever since. There is a lot to this site, a lot more than I've explored: news, e-cards, social networking, and easy actions that can be taken to help the world. Care2's current click to donate causes are children, rainforests, big cats, breast cancer, pets, seals, oceans, primates, global warming, stopping violence, and wolves.

A similar site is the Greater Good's Click to Give. On this site you can click to support charities related to hunger, breast cancer, literacy, child health, rainforests, and animal rescue. This site has a shop that sells clothes, jewelry, home ware, and other items. Proceeds from all purchases also go to charity. They now have an iPhone app called Touch to Give based on Click to Give.

This site lists other click-to-donate pages. They're a quick and easy way to make a difference. I try to remember to click every day. It is a small thing, but it adds up and does help to make a difference.

I've been thinking that it is time for me to do more than just the small things, though. And I think it involves a trip to Haiti....

A Walk in the Woods

I just finished re-reading one of my (many) favorite books A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering American on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson. It is categorized as travel, but it could also be classified as humor, memoir, history, and ecology. It is the retelling of Bryson's experience walking the Appalachian Trail with his comical buddy Stephen Katz, mixed with interesting history about the AT and information about ecology in the United States.

Some of the history Bryson shared broke my heart: "...the Park Service in 1957 decided to 'reclaim' Abrams Creek...for the rainbow trout, even though rainbow trout had never been native to Abrams Creek. To that end, biologists dumped several drums of poison called rotenone into fifteen miles of creek. Within hours, tens of thousands of dead fish were floating to the surface like autumn leaves." His lore about the environment of the AT amazed me: "The true creature of the Smokies, however, is the reclusive and little-appreciated salamander There are twenty-five varieties of salamander in the Smokies, more than anywhere else on earth....Most salamanders are tiny, only an inch or two long, but the rare and startlingly ugly hellbender salamander can attain lengths of over two feet." And his wit made me laugh out loud: "Hunters will tell you that a moose is a wily and ferocious forest creature. Nonsense. A moose is a cow drawn by a three-year-old." It is an informative and enjoyable read.

Adult Hellbender Salamander

A Walk in the Woods is the book this year for Allegheny County's One Book One Community. One Book aims to promote literacy, share ideas, and foster understanding and tolerance through reading. Each year there are community-wide discussions and events relating to the book.

Even if you don't want to participate in One Book events (or if you don't live in the Pittsburgh-area), read the book! I think it is best enjoyed outside in the quiet of nature.

Opposites

I am a library assistant on the children's floor of my local library, and all of the children's literature I've been reading has started to shape the way I view things. After reading news stories about two different animals I thought, opposites! If there are opposites in the animal kingdom, Einstein, the world's smallest horse, and the giant Echizen jellyfish are it. 

Einstein weighs six pounds. The Echizen jellyfish weighs up to 660 pounds. Einstein is fuzzy and lives in New Hampshire. The Echizen is decidedly not fuzzy and lives off the coast of Japan. Einstein makes envokes "awws" in small children. The Echizen evokes fear in ships' captains. Mammal, invertebrate. Land, water.


They are two incredibly different creatures, but both amaze me. How can a horse be that small? And a jellyfish that big? Einstein is meek, delicate, and still a vulnerable baby. The Echizen is giant, powerful, and deadly. I can't help but see God in both animals. Animals have always awed me -- the cute ones and the less cuddly ones. That God created so many different creatures... it just overwhelms me. This may not be the best thing for someone who just started a blog, but sometimes it leaves me speechless.