Drink wine...and be a tree

Saturdays, the ones where I get to stay at home and dictate how I spend my time, are when I try to catch up on my reading. And today I was reading The green lantern column on Slate, and there was an article about Beer vs. Wine. Which is actually better for the planet? The columnist was having a dinner party, and wanted to make the least negative impact on the environment.

The differences in use of green house gases were minimal, but ultimately it is better for the environment to drink wine, because it doesn't use as much refrigeration (unless you are my parents, who drink red wine out of the fridge...yuck). But the thing I found interesting about this entire column is that the author is obsessively dedicated to causing the least amount of personal damage to the planet. Its an honorable endeavor, to be sure, but almost absurd to think that one person can do so much to ruin things. But individually, we do a lot of damage to the earth... in the US they calculated that a person accumulates 1600 pounds of trash a year. That sucks.

One person can screw a lot of things up. But can one person, like this columnist, really do that much to fix things? I've been thinking about this a lot since my Skeyse told me she has decided what tattoo she wants to get. Personally, I'm not a big tattoo fan--I probably just can't shake my dad's influence on this point-- I don't think that I would ever get one. But Skeyse says she thinks she wants to get one of the Lorax, with the word "unless." I had forgotten this book, except for its famed "truffula trees"-- I always LOVED that word as a kid... truffula. But I went back and read it, and her tattoo idea comes from a quote at the end of the book:

"And all that the Lorax left with me in this mess, was one single word, UNLESS.
UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not."

That Theo Geisel was a smart dude.. And the Green Lantern columnist probably really loved The Lorax. --If I could be allowed one tangent thought here: one of my co-workers told me that I looked like a tree-hugger once. Images of "Superstar" instantly came to mind. But I asked him what he meant by that, and he said that I just looked like one. I informed him that I was not, in whole or in a part, nor have I ever been, one to hug trees. But I have planted them. And I recycle.--

But this column as a whole, and Skeyse' idea for her sweet new tatt got me thinking. How much are we supposed to care? And could this lesson about caring for our environment apply to other areas in my life?

And then I remembered... one of the best lessons I ever heard Brad teach. It was also probably one of the first he ever taught me. God wants us to be like a tree. Quick biology lesson for you (my dad would be so proud right now) trees take in carbon dioxide, which is poisonous to humans, and turn it into life-giving oxygen. They are essentially on this earth to give us life. So beautiful. I used to have a favorite tree. It was a sycamore that I planted in our yard in Vevay. Each third-grader was sent home with a sapling, and I was so proud that mine was thriving. My best friend Trisha Allen's dad accidentally ran over hers with the lawn mower. I really did love my tree. It's gone now... the family that moved into our old house took it down a few years ago. Over the years I really haven't gone back to our old town much... but last summer I made it down there...and the yard looked kind of sad without my tree.

If I did my part... and cared enough... if I were not a tree-hugger but the tree itself... what would that look like? If I had to use one word to describe the journey that I'm on right now... it would be searching. I think I'm searching for something to do with my life... for a way to give my life away... in a sense. And I think I am just looking for my way to be a tree... maybe one like my sycamore, which brought so much joy into my small, 8 year-old life.

What would that even look like...?

Plans

I had a really busy summer. Too many weddings, too many wedding showers, too many plans. And it was a lot of fun, my summer. But it was too much stuff piled into too short a time period. And then August ended, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Because at the end of Sarah and Ross' wedding weekend, I had no plans set until the holidays. It was freeing...I daydreamed at work about the Saturday mornings I would wake up at ten and read a book on the back porch while I ate breakfast. Maybe I'd go to the movies, or go on a walk, or take a nap. My weekends would be free for all of these things. With no plans, I wouldn't have to miss a Sunday at Exodus, and I haven't been this excited about going to church in a long time.

But as it happens with best laid plans, my plan to make no plans is no more. This weekend, Indy Irish Fest with the Blakely's. The next weekend, Joanna is coming down to stay for her nephew's football game. Then we're into October, and Ross and Sarah are finally coming down to stay with me. And before I know it, I'm going to be gearing up for the vacation time I'm taking from work, which will culminate into the Swell Season concert I'm going to see with Tab the first week of November. And then comes the whirlwind of the holidays.

I just want to slow down. Slow things down. Campus Life starts this week, and having that commitment on Wednesday nights always seems to make my week go faster. Which, with my semi-monotonous job, would seem like a blessing. And it is... but if my week goes fast... then all the weeks are going to go fast, and the months and before you know it... it will be freaking New Year's and I will be wondering where '09 went.

I just want it all to slow down. Pause. Stop, even. I just want to sit here for awhile. Just like Hanson sang and I'll paraphrase... let the minutes seem like hours and the hours seem like days.

Just let me slow the eff down for awhile and let me catch my breath.

So yeah, somebody stop me the next time I say "I can't wait," or I try to hurry the day away. Just tell me to shut up and breathe.

Good vs. Evil

Things that make me happy right now:

- Our new puppy, Daisy. I think I could play frisbee with her forever. She's pretty fantastic.

- Reading the classifieds. Maybe, just maybe, my new job is out there somewhere. I'm hopeful.

- Eating dinner with my roommates.

- Laughing at people who take themselves too seriously, or have completely lost touch with reality, on "reality" tv.

- Wolf Blitzer... Oh, Wolfie, I think we could be best friends... If it weren't for the 38-year age difference and the fact that you are a television personality and I am, well... not.

- Three-day weekends... They are just like college but without the homework. Sleep, read, watch a movie.... stay up late, go to bed... wake up late.... read, watch a movie, nap, stay up late, eat a snack, fall asleep, wake up late... (you get the point)

- Seeing my most favorite and beloved journalism teacher at Marsh on Monday.

- Living in B-town, where there are actually things to do all the time... like watching Katharine Hepburn movies in the park :)

- My little sister living in B-town :) :)

- Pia visiting us from Germany... because she's the most fantastic person on the planet. And she's Amy's drinking twin. I didn't even know drinking twins existed.

- President Obama and his belief that WE ALL DESERVE a better health care system.

- The one tree on West 46 on my way to Spencer that has decided its time to change colors. Fall is coming, folks.

- Football season is starting.


Things that make me want to scream right now:

- People who think a presidential address to America's schoolchildren must be about propaganda and indoctrination.

- After hundreds of dollars, my car makes the most irritating screeching noise when I set off for work at 3 a.m.

- The fact that I have to leave for work at 3 a.m. :(

- Remember what the dentist's needle looked like going toward my mouth this afternoon. EEK.

- Seeing my most favorite and beloved journalism teacher at Marsh on Monday, and having to explain to her how much I've screwed my life up... She didn't agree, of course.

- My three-day weekend has screwed up my very delicate sleep schedule.


Overall, though, I'd say the good things outweigh the bad. Victory for the good.

the ramblings of a Wednesday night when i should be sleeping

Had our Campus Life core meeting this afternoon. I am soooo excited to hang out with these teenagers. They make me wish that I was a better student leader when I was in high school, and that I was as fun as they are when I was in that life stage. Seriously... they are interesting, and INTERESTED in things that I never concerned myself with when I was their age, i.e. fasting, politics, social justice... I think it is going to be one great year for Campus Life in the OC.

Finally got home from Spencer this evening... and we had BLT's for dinner on the back porch (aka my favorite place in the world). Jimmy brought home the bacon.... Get it? haha I'm so funny. But he really did go to the store and get some. And now I've officially beaten this into the ground.

Do I really want to go to work at 3:30 tomorrow morning? Yeah, I didn't think so either. But I should go... I could use the money to pay for the freaking fillings I have to get next week at the dentist. Is it sad that I thought, just for a moment, that I might just leave the cavities there. But I wouldn't dare skip it, or another cleaning ever again. My hygienist has me completely freaked out about getting gum disease. I've been flossing in the car during one of my breaks from work. Eeek. I should throw that old floss away at some point... Just kidding. Now, my car is dirty, but I promise I'm not that disgusting.

By the way... my parents might be getting another dog... And I have always named our pets. Because I'm the best at it. Lauren and Wes got to name the kitten that found us last summer, and they named him Gandolf the Grey... which would be a good name if we didn't always call him Gandy... I hate that. Mostly though, I call him devil kitty. But Mom's going to look at this dog, and I told her she should name her Veronica Mars, and we could call her V. But she says no way. It broke my heart. The dog already has a name... Daisy. I told her we couldn't keep it as it is because that is the name of my car, it has a theme song and everything. Yes, I know I'm being ridiculous and a control freak, and Kelli reminded me that I don't technically live with my parents anymore... so my opinion really doesn't matter anyway...

But I want to name our new dog Veronica Mars... She would be the best dog ever.