Thick Skin...

One winter when I was in college there was an extremely nasty blizzard and they canceled finals. My anthropology teacher had vacation plans and called everyone in my class to see if we would still come in to take our final. I agreed since I lived on campus and was only a few blocks away from the building. I put on my scarf, hat, gloves, thick winter jacket, and some extra socks since the snow was at least two feet high. A couple of friends came with me because they were worried about me walking by myself in white-out conditions. I made it there, took the test, and walked home. No problem, just another walk to class in the snow, another winter.

The first winter I spent in California, I saw people wearing sweaters and jackets and thought they were crazy. It was so beautiful out and I was still wearing short-sleeved shirts, why were they so cold. This is my forth winter in California and I have totally lost that thick skin I developed living through freezing winters in Illinois. I walked to work this morning wearing a tank top, a long-sleeved shirt, and a jacket. Once I got there I talked with a coworker about how cold it was outside. It was sixty-five degrees! It is ridiculous to even think about, cold at sixty-five degrees! Rommel even makes fun of me when I put extra blankets on the bed because the temperature is supposed to drop below sixty.

The important question is if I can get that thick skin back. I eventually want to move back, but will I be able to make it through the winter?

Ellie, The Wonder Dog

As we made plans for our vacation, I knew that we would have to find someone to watch Ellie. My mother-in-law does a wonderful job with Sunny and Simba, but Ellie would have been a bit much for her, so Rommel's coworker was the perfect person for the job. Susan is a dog person, single, and could bring Ellie to work with her. I thought it would be really good for her too because she never adopted another dog after her last one passed away, plus she could take Ellie to the nursing home to visit her mother.

It worked out better than I could have imagined. Susan fell in love with Ellie and spoiled her beyond belief. Her mother could not wait to see Ellie, who acted like a perfect little lady at the nursing home. Her mother even began to ask when Ellie was visiting instead of Susan (not so good). But it brought a new sense of joy to their lives and also some new friends. Susan's mom is now a social butterfly at the home and Susan has play dates planned for weeks.

To make a long story short, Susan is keeping Ellie. Believe me, I desperately wanted her back, but I couldn't imagine taking her away, especially when it came to Susan's mother. And I knew it would be good for Ellie. Susan treats her unbelievably well and she gets so much love and attention. I cried for quite a while, but I knew that she belonged with Susan.

I still miss her. We only had her for a short time, but that little dog makes a big impact in people's lives. She's finally found her real home with Susan and loves her weekly visits to the nursing home.

Doom and Gloom

I had some extra time last night, so I decided to see if CNN's special "Planet in Peril" was any good. Yes, there was good information in the documentary, but it was mostly just depressing. If I was just becoming involved in environmentalism and watched that, I would be so overwhelmed with the current devastation (which I am anyway) and think what's the point of me doing anything.

I guess I'm just tired of seeing so many depressing shows and articles on global warming and the declining condition of the world. What happened to "one person can make a difference"?

I honestly think that there would be a much better response if things were presented in a more positive light. Yeah, things are headed in a bad direction, but we can change that! Use 100% post consumer recycled paper, save a tree! Change your light bulbs to CFLs and we all breath easier! They may be exagerating, but messages like that would make me want to try and do some good unlike the facts and figures of glacial melting.

It's not that those facts and figures aren't important, but taking action is more important.

Back to Reality

Our time in Illinois was so wonderful, especially spending time with family and friends. As on any vacation, I only got on the computer once or twice and rarely watched the news. But the moment we stepped off the plane at LAX, it was obvious that something was wrong. People at the airport were gathered around tv's watching CNN, whispering to each other. I glanced at the newspaper rack and saw a picture of firemen on the front page, but didn't think much of it. The first time there was a fire in the area I literally freaked out. I called Rommel, turned the news on, and stared at the smoke over the mountains. Now I have become used to hearing about fires in California, which is actually pretty sad. I was honestly more concerned with getting out of the airport and getting back to bed.

After a long nap, I turned on the news. I saw the usual pictures taken from helicopters above the fire, but then they started listing off the locations. It wasn't just Malibu; it was Malibu and San Diego and Ventura and various other places. It was obvious that things were bad and the headlines gave the impression that they would only get worse. The weather was only fueling the fire, a large number of firemen had just been laid off, people were being evacuated.

As of this afternoon there were twenty separate fires and over a million people have been evacuated from their homes. The worst part is that most of the fires were set by people intending to cause harm.

We are a safe distance from the fires, but we just have to look out the window at the smoke-filled sky to realize how close to us it really is. At least we are in the position to help those who were affected.

You can go to www.redcross.org to find out how you can help those affected by the wildfires.

Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From?

A lot of the books I have been reading lately keep talking about separation from nature and not knowing where the food we eat is coming from. I honestly didn't think much about it. I live in the city; the closest I get to where my food comes from is the local farmer's market.

And then I arrive in Illinois to visit my family. On the two hour drive from the airport to their house, I come way too close to the source of some people's food than I can stand. At first there was just corn fields, some of which were ready for winter and others that were untouched. We saw the grain bins that were so full they were overflowing and corn that was piled three stories high on the ground. Next we passed a cattle truck. You could see noses through the small holes in the metal sides. Not wanting to acknowledge where they were obviously headed, I opted to believe that they might be moving them to another farm. Lastly, we drove by two semis moving chickens. You could tell that they were still alive, but the poor things were packed so tightly. Between the lack of air, the freezing cold wind, and the fact that chickens in close quarters usually peck each other to death, the drive probably saved the slaughter house a few minutes by killing them.

And people wonder why I don't eat meat of any kind. I might tell people that one of the biggest reasons I became a vegetarian is health reasons, but if I am being completely honest, it's because I can't eat a burger without thinking about how it came to be on my plate. I can't eat a turkey sandwich without wondering how the turkey was raised and if it was treated kindly. I'm even at the point where it is difficult to eat eggs or dairy. Of course there is free range chicken, etc., but requirements for those classifications are just now starting to be strictly regulated.

I hope this doesn't sound like preaching. My husband still eats meat, most of the time I cook it for him, but that's his decision. I just can't eat it in good conscious and that was before I witnessed a very small portion of that animal's life. It wasn't how they were raised or how they died. Maybe if more people saw those sorts of things, they would reconsider what they are putting in their mouths.