Earth Hour Follow-up

Earth Hour is over. It was intimately fun, globally exciting, but quite frankly a little anti-climactic here in Ottawa.

So now what?

I enjoyed my Earth Hour. The timing was perfect: dinner was ready at 19:59, lights were out at 20:00. We celebrated with a candlelight dinner and a bottle of Chardonnay. We even continued the theme well past the hour, curling up on the couch by candlelight to watch the John Wayne flick we’d rented.

So now what.

Now that I’ve marked the cause by shutting down for 60 minutes, what am I ready to do for the remainder of the year? What are you ready to do?

Skeptics complain that an hour filled with hoopla, hype and parties won’t save the day – I agree. Saturday’s Earth Hour was not a magic fix for our broken environment; it was a campaign to increase awareness. It gave us an excellent, perhaps much needed excuse to shut down, be still and reflect. But it was not a fix. The fix will come from us and the choices we make every hour of every day.

I’m hoping that in a year from now I’ll be marking my second Earth Hour with a candlelight potluck party, discussing earth-friendly lifestyles changes that stemmed from this one. Anyone care to join me?

Is It Hiking Season Yet?

I'm pumped. D. signed us up as members of the Rideau Trail Association and bought the Guidebook. I've spent the past two mornings engrossed in detailed descriptions of each section, tracing each one on the map that accompanies it. Three hundred and five kilometres later, I'm done reading the book.

I can't wait to meander, climb, and work up a sweat under the sun; to reflect, discover, and bask in the beauty of Mother Nature.

We're toying with the idea of becoming end-to-enders this year - hiking the entire distance between Kingston and Ottawa. Because it's a hefty commitment (305km divided by approx. 15km/hike = approx. 20 hikes) and we expect this year's hiking season to be shorter than usual due to the snow, we've decided to work towards it but not let it become an obsession. I'm totally pumped at the possibility of completing this though; in January it became an item on my Mondo Beyondo list.

On a related but slightly different note, this morning I was reminded that Mother Nature is ever present in the city right here, right now. From the comfort of my sunroom I heard and/or watched Black-capped Chickadees, Blue Jays, a Cardinal, a Downy Woodpecker, and what I think was a Dark Eyed Junco. I am blessed.

Earth Hour 2008

Did you sign up yet? It's not too late!

Earth Hour North America

See you on the dark side. Tonight. Eight pm. Be there.

35 Years, 35 Gratefuls

I'm 35 today. To mark the occasion I thought I'd share 35 things for which I am grateful. Some are seemingly simple, some are grandiose. They're all significant.

1. the sun, the moon and the stars
2. this past weekend's getaway to Toronto with D.
3. being born in Canada
4. my books
5. music
6. being born in a musical family
7. my job, bosses and colleagues
8. my health
9. my car and my ability to drive it
10. my past marriage - for its joys and lessons learned
11. my computer
12. Bridgehead coffee
13. my friends
14. coloured pens and blank journals
15. birdsongs
16. the proximity of many good, challenging hiking trails to Ottawa
17. last year's trip to Grand Manan, NB
18. fresh flowers
19. the 11-month sabbatical I took in 2006-2007
20. my spacious, light-filled home
21. the bamboo curtain hanging in the sunroom
22. classic movies
23. Web sites, stories, and people that inspire me
24. my family - immediate and extended, cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws, those here now and those who came before me
25. my creative source and spirit
26. colour
27. dreams and intuition
28. my urban living experiment on Elgin Street
29. my Writer's Group
30. my burgundy, faux snakeskin kick-ass boots
31. old family photos and documents
32. my vintage red enamel ring
33. D. and Cassie
34. my age
35. being off on my birthday so I can write this while sipping coffee in my home office

What are your gratefuls? Can you come up with a list equal to your age? If so, please send me a sample in the comments. I'd love to hear about them.

Craving Creative Community

Lately I've been craving a creative community and today, I put this craving out to the Universe. I'm not sure how and I'm not sure in what form, but when it manifests itself, whether with a bang or through a series of quiet opportunities over time, I will know.

I also know I have a responsibility to put myself out there and recognize these opportunities when they occur. One day at a time, I have a responsibility to create, to reach out, and to nurture my connection to my Higher Power - the source of my creativity.

I will not force it; I trust that if it is meant to happen it will. The first step is to recognize the craving and ask for help. The second, is to take appropriate personal action and let go of the outcome.

On Being Alive ...

"The purpose of life is to be alive. Not to gather objects, achieve, accumulate successes, or forge your body to fit a mold. it's simply to be alive. To touch, feel, sense, hear, see, and live in a dynamic flow of whatever arises in the moment; to accept the wild and crazy thoughts that go through your mind, your animal nature, your wisdom, the fears that arise and grip your chest, the laughter that brings tears, and the joy that takes you beyond yourself. To be alive is to meet and accept every part of yourself - the scuzzy, sweet, passionate, talented, or slow."
- Charlotte Kasl, If the Buddha Got Stuck

I stumbled upon Charlotte Kasl's book yesterday and bought it for 50 cents. Lucky me.

Regular Reads

I've updated my list of links to include the favourites I enjoy reading - many of them on a daily basis (see right-hand side).

It's a mish-mash of sites with a wide range of subjects, but each one inspires or entertains me in its own way. For too long I've been accessing these sites through other blogrolls or lists; it's time I created my own.

Enjoy.

On the Upswing

I am itching to write. I have been for a while, but my body seems to balk at hauling my butt to the computer to type anything. Between moving, digging myself out of a bad case of the winter blahs, and recuperating from a cold, I've been tired.

But I'm on the mend. The tide has turned. The sparrow has sung.

Bless that sparrow.

Reconnected

snow diamonds and shadows

We finally got our home Internet connection. Hurray! After almost three weeks away it feels good to be back. I'm tired tonight though and not particularly inspired to write so I'll keep it short. I just had to post on my first night back so I thought I'd share a favourite photo from a sunny Sunday morning spent discovering a nearby park.

See you soon.