I wish...

There are a few places I wish I was right now, this is a brief summary of places that would make this blah day so much better.

The North Shore, Temperance State Park I think, hiking is gorgeous and water is refreshing. Hiking is the perfect way to spend the day!

Levi's house with my cat Harriet. A nice nap on the couch sounds pretty good!!

Grand Marais, MN!! Love it. This picture is a great representation of one of the best days of my life. Fun had by all. Andy is the best history teachers out there. I know for a fact I have never laughed so hard and long. 

My house in Fall. I love the big trees and the way the leaves look while turning colors. Setting up the hammock and getting out a good book makes for a fantastic afternoon.

Ohhhhhhh, Steamboat Colorado how I miss you. I would give almost anything to be shredding some deep powder. What a vacation that was. 

I'm really looking forward to being able to do some hiking soon, schools almost out and I'm itching to get my boots on! There is nothing better than a thick forest, some tall mountains, and being alone for a few hours. I'm also looking forward to some canoeing pretty soon. Feels like it's been forever since I've held a paddle (although it was just a few weeks ago in Belize). 

Summer, are you here yet!!??

Talking

Here is an article on how talking affects happiness in people from the NYT. 


http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/talk-deeply-be-happy/


I found this article very interesting. I love talking. For me this article is fact. Having a deep conversation or two throughout the day will probably make me happier. I like to be stimulated to think and analyze situations whether it is healthcare or climate change. Conversations like that give me things to think over and the research. They give me ideas of what books I should read next and give me a chance to think critically. 


I'm really curious as to how many people feel better after a deep conversation. If we all started having one deep conversation a day would I wonder how our world would change. I wonder how people in our community would change. I wonder how I would change. 


Another question is what do people consider a deep conversation? A talk on a book, an issue, an idea? If you can't tell I'm highly intrigued. If you read this I'd love to hear what your thoughts are.

e e cummings - i carry your heart with me

I am a huge fan of e e cummings. I like his style, I like the content, I just like it. Here is one of his poems I ran across this morning while skimming through a book of poetry. 


You can't read poetry and stay fake.
- D. Miller

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart )

happy friday

Happy friday.

It IS a happy friday (contrary to popular belief). This weekend I get to babysit two of my favorite boys. I also get to have coffee with katy, which I'm pretty excited about (she likes REI scratch and dent sale as much as I do!). I think Levi and I will finish registering for wedding stuff. And I get to see my family from their travels to Florida. My brother (I'm SO proud of him!) made it to state level competition for the AAA award this year, it's awarded on saturday. Sunday I'm looking forward to church and a VERY FUN trip to st. cloud with the bible study gang (minus the much loved and missed Kylee!).

But right now I need to be productive on silly papers and homeworks. I kinda wish college was over. But what a blessing it is to be able to receive a higher education. Many people don't get college, or any schooling for that matter. I like to learn. I like to read. College is a privilege. And it will be over soon enough :)

Isaiah 52:7

How beautiful on the mountains
       are the feet of those who bring good news,
       who proclaim peace,
       who bring good tidings,
       who proclaim salvation,
       who say to Zion,
       "Your God reigns!"

A good vacation

I have been thinking. What is a good vacation? What do I value in a vacation? I have made 5 points that will make any vacation enjoyable (to me).

1) A group of no more that 6 people. A group of people that is very close with and you know that they will always like to do similar things. So if you decide to go hiking either everyone is in or some people decide to do something else. Esentially I just don't want complainers on a trip.

2) I like to do things on vacation. You will not catch me sitting at the campsite or the hotle more than I need to. I like to get out and go hiking, biking, canoeing, you name it. But I do NOT want to sit around.

3) I like vacations where you can continually be active. And when you want to chill there is a cute local resturant or coffee house that you can read at. I like to go to a place that has character.

4) I do not like to feel like I am going somewhere and exploiting the people that actually live there. Having an awesome vacation at their expense isn't my idea of fun.

5) I like mountains WAY better than the ocean. I like the wide open WAY better than a busy town. I like quiet time WAY better than going to a club. I like a campfire WAY better than a fancy resturant. I like to make at least two of my own meals a day and bring my own (camping, climbing, biking, canoeing) gear.

That is what makes a good vacation for me!

What do you eat?

I would like to bring to your attention the issue of agrichemicals and the dire need to bring about reform in this area. I would first like to start by telling you about the Huichols in Mexico. They work on big corporate farms and these corporate farms use lots of agrichemicals, mostly pesticides. The Huichols cannot read the bottles of pesticides to even begin to understand how severely toxic these chemicals are to they’re bodies. They are not properly equipped to spray the crop fields that they are asked to. They get these chemicals all over their bodies and into their lungs. Some Huichols even mix the pesticides by hand because they have no other tool to mix the solution up with. These people get sick from the pesticides; most cases are never reported unless the person actually dies in a clinic. These people end up blind, paralyzed, riddled with cancer, and often dead. Children that are forced to work in these fields and in these conditions are often the ones most at risk due to their low tolerance to the toxins. Neither U.S. nor Mexican government does anything to regulate the toxins that are being used to control pests. According to a film ‘Fed Up’ there are about 32 pesticides that are being used in Mexico today that have been completely banned all over the world, yet we let these pesticides back into our country when we import the produce that has the toxic residue still on it. No one is benefitting from this other than the corporations that are making and selling the agrichemicals. We as consumers are still at risk by consuming these chemicals every time we sit down to a meal. It is well known that these chemicals are toxic and deadly to anyone who touches them. To avoid liability the companies that produce them promote ‘safe use’ and 'say' they give demonstrations on how to use the chemicals properly. The problem is that many countries do not have what is needed to safely apply the chemicals. Also, many of the people who apply the chemicals are unable to even read the labels that are on the bottles and have no way of even knowing that these are highly toxic chemicals they are dealing with. 


There are also many ecological costs as well as health risks. Birds in Central America are at risk because their food source is poisoned; this poisoning affects the bird’s reproductive organs. Fish in the same area get drowned in run off poison twice a year, and cattle eat the contaminated grass and are also poisoned. The poisoning does not only affect humans, but ecosystems as well. According to the articles ‘Circle of Poison’ a worker in a developing country dies ever MINUTE due to poisoning. 20% of the pesticides exported from the U.S. have been banned in the U.S. Even after a worker has showered twice there is still enough toxic residue in their skin to kill a goldfish in a bowl of water. 


We are also robbing cultures of the ability to provide for themselves. They are in debt to pesticide companies for life because they are trying to compete with the global food system in hope of finding a better life. 


Are you aware of where your food comes from? How it's produced? Who handles it? I challenge you to really think about these things. People all around the world are suffering because we want to eat berries during the winter, because we don't eat local foods, because we want our food to look perfect. 


Buy local, eat local. Plant a garden. Eat foods in season. Learn to cook. Eat less meat. There are a billion and one things you can do to change your way of eating. Don't benefit from other peoples hardships.