WTF?

I went shopping today with a friend at IKEA and as I was picking up stuff and looking at labels I couldn't help but notice that they have stuff in that store that is MADE IN CHINA! Wow, I guess I'm that naive. I figured since the store was a Swedish one, it wouldn't have so many China imports, if any.

Why oh why can't I get away from China made stuff! I hate that I have little choice in the matter. Practically everything over here is imported from China. I thought I would be safe in an IKEA you know? I figured it would be blissful shopping there and I'd have no worries about Chinese imported products. China doesn't care about their own people much less ours, so I really do try to make an effort to boycott when I can.

If I'm gonna buy imported stuff I'll take French, Swedish, or German made products over China imports any day. Of course I would much prefer USA made products when it comes to certain items, but more and more these days they are hard to come by.

Some Pondering About Things that Trouble Me

I only have so much time before it's all gone, or either I die, to roam this earth on foot and soak up the natural medicine that fills me with something I need deep down. It's a strong force that speaks to me in primitive ways that I cannot explain in words. It is a feeling that only others who seek it and truly experience it understand, which is ironic because religious people say the very same thing, and as everyone knows, I don't have a religious bone in my body. But if there is spirituality or something like it in us, I'd say the outdoors is about as close as it gets for me.

What I'm talking about has nothing to do with any kind of religious belief, however I'm sure many who seek what I seek are of all walks of life, including the religious amongst us. I'm fine with that of course. Anyone who is a friend of nature and our planet has my respect. For that matter any decent human being who cares about humanity has my respect. But I think I'm digressing a tiny bit.

I'll continue. Natural things in outdoor settings is where it's at for me. It is what I need to feel whole and connected to the universe of which I'm made of. I can think of nothing more natural and powerful than the forces of our ever changing universe at work and how it affects all life as we know it and how it affects me personally.

But I'm deeply troubled. The balance of things is way out of whack, which is blatantly evident. Species all over the planet are going extinct at alarming rates, oceans are becoming depleted and dying from over fishing and pollutants of all kinds, including very dangerous toxins that do untold damage to marine life.

Plastics are a problem because they pollute the waters with poisonous particles that are starting to out number the plankton in a large chunk of ocean. I just learned that by the way watching a documentary and was astounded by it. I've always known that without plankton in healthy numbers, the ocean will deteriorate until there is only a vast uninhabitable wasteland of water. But I didn't know that plastics played a huge role in that deterioration. How long will it take to saturate the whole ocean with our pollutants? Without the oceans, most everything on this planet will go extinct including humans.

Not only are our oceans a huge concern, other ecosystems are failing as well. Our fragile lives hang in the balance. Not just our lives, but every living thing, or mostly everything. Cock roaches may very well survive when nothing is left and I'm sure the planet will survive as well, as it has for billions of years. And other life will probably remain, such as microbes and extremephiles in particular. But life as we know and want it, will be gone. It's already slipping from our grasp second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, year by year...

The question is will we be able to do enough globally to buy us more time and possibly even reverse the damage being done? I implore people to really think this over if they are not doing so already. For the sake of generations to come, this is the most important problem the people of earth need to be concerned with.

You know about all those damned stupid religious wars over in the middle east and the ones here at home. You know about the endless wars fought due to cultural differences. You know about the conflicts of all sorts in different societies, anything from race issues to abortion. I could go on and on about problems that plague us all, but the thing most people seem to fail to realize, is none of it is going to matter if something isn't done about the planet that sustains each of us, because we simply won't be here anymore, which frankly I think sucks.

I fear my children will see in their lifetimes our ecosystems rapidly disintegrating, which will result in horrible famines the likes of which none have ever seen, terrible violence too close to home because of very scarce rescorces available, and panicked people, etc... If people all over this planet don't take heed of the evidence everywhere that our species is in trouble, we are doomed to see major upheaval and collapse. I don't want my children to have to live through that horror.

Make no mistake. This isn't end of the world prophecy bullshit, this is humankind pushing the limits and racing towards destroying itself because of competition and selfish consumption. For that matter, I think all the religious nuts in the world are trying their best to make things happen to fit their mystical prophecies of doom for the people of earth. They are so determined to be right about their beliefs they will throw the baby out with the bathwater. Dumb asses.

I hope it's not too late and that we will prevail to save our planet. I try not to dwell too much on it, but I have to get on my soap box every once in a while to hopefully reach some and it turn into a ripple effect.

Now I'm in no way perfect. I'm trying to practice what I preach. I could consume less and am making an effort to do so. I use energy efficient light bulbs. I save water as much as possible and don't water in the summer even though the yard really needs it. I turn off lights constantly, and try to use as less energy as possible heating and cooling the house. I compost as much material as I can and recycle many things, often turning them into some kind of art project. I've found all kinds of useful things that don't need to be in the landfills sitting by curb sides and various places that can be refurbished or somehow recycled. So I think I'm off to a good start.

How about you?

Been Doing Some Cleaning

I dropped the outside projects for a while in favor of doing some indoor projects such as sprucing up, rearranging furniture, cleaning out closets, drawers, etc... Here are some pictures of my bathroom. Believe me, it's rarely this spic and span. Our home is very lived in.

Btw, remember that big announcement? I'm still working on the details but hope to be able to spill the secret soon. I don't want to say a word about it though if things don't work out. But I should mention that I don't want anyone to think it's a huge deal, because to many it might not be, but to me it's a big deal. I hope things work out.

Ok, so back to those pictures I was talking about...

Tub Area

My make up. Takes a lot to improve my mug! ;) Seriously I don't wear all of this at once.

wide shot

Promised Photos...Just Random Stuff...

Part of my back yard. I've been tearing it up for a while now. I want to take all of these rocks out and start over with garden plots, pathways, etc... I need a new fence. In a couple of weeks I'll be calling a fencing company to get the bad parts replaced. The whole back panel is rotted.

A friend keeping me company while I spruced up its home.

Lola loves to climb up this little bush and act like she's a jungle cat. Show off!

Friends walking towards me. I somehow managed to take consecutive shots, or rather the camera did. I have no clue how I did this, but I love this last shot. Click on the picture to see it bigger. The expression on Brom's face is great. He is Jen's youngest son.

Just foolin around with new camera. This was our junk food pile. :) Actually we did have some healthy food somewhere around there.

Ben enjoys a healthy version of fruit roll ups.

Well I wanted to upload more, but blogger is acting up right at this moment. I'll have to come back and post more later. Hope everyone is some what satisfied now. ;)

I'm Still Alive...

There have been so many projects around the house with the garden, dealing with pest control people, tree trimming people, and fence people, that I've not been in front of my computer in days.
So I'm popping in to say hi to anyone left reading this thing lol.

I have so many pictures too that I want to share. I've managed to upload them to the computer. I simply need to find time to post them here. Lynn I know you in particular have been after me to post pics, I'll try for you. :)

So all is well and I'm happier than I've been in some time. Meds are working, and Russell and I are getting along better. As some of you know, we've been going through some rough times over the last couple of years, (with the stress of school and me being depressed), but things are starting to turn the corner finally.

Canyon of the Eagles

I camped last weekend with a group of my friends. Canyon of the Eagles is a gorgeous place with plenty of hiking trails and things to do. I organized the trip originally for myself...thinking I'd be doing another solo...but when a few of my friends discovered where I was going they were all over it and wanted to come along.

It turned out to be five of us altogether including myself. Jen, Roland, Ram, and Windy were my camp mates. I went early in the am to grab a camping spot and set up camp while they got the troops together and what little gear they could scrounge up to bring(they are not regular campers). I brought tents, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, lanterns, tons of food, charcoal, mosquito repellent, water, back packs, etc... They show up with beer, smores stuff, pillows and blankets, and a cd player that stopped working after ten minutes. :)

We had an absolutely great time! At first I wasn't feeling well because a migraine settled in and wouldn't go away for several hours, but thanks to the beer and a couple of aspirins, it finally relinquished and I was able to enjoy myself.

BUSY!

I have ignored my blog for a while(surprise surprise), because I've been busy doing stuff that keeps me away from the computer for days at a time. One of the things I've been doing is gardening, and re-landscaping, which of course is hard labor and very time consuming. Most people pay for the kind of stuff I've been doing, which includes a team of "laborers" to come out and tear the yard up and put it all back together in a pleasing way. What takes them maybe two days, takes me a few weeks.

My ankle is still a mess, so this is about as much outdoor fun as it gets for now, but none the less I've had to be very careful just working in my own yard. I've been doing a ton of heavy lifting...big rocks, large tree branches, heavy loads of grass and weeds, and moving a lot of earth around. But the garden really did need the attention and is coming along. I still have much landscaping to do but it is actually therapeutic and I've come across much of my own backyard nature!

I've seen geckos, anoles, and spiders galore. I came across a female earwig curled around a clutch of little cream colored eggs...about 60 or so of them, and have found many different types of cocoons of moths, butterflies, and who knows what else. I've got a cocoon in a jar right now, because I have no clue what it is and hope something cool pops out!

We would have gone car camping this weekend as a family, but I didn't take time out to make reservations anywhere, which was a mistake. Any place suitable for family style camping is booked up. But if my ankle were healed up, I'd be out on the trail somewhere by now on a backpacking trip, instead of writing this update. Oh well, updates need to be written or else there is no point in keeping a blog really. And truth be told, the injury has forced me to do much needed house maintenance as well. So everything seems to have a way of somehow working out.

My sister has been bugging me for days now to keep my blog current and to post more pictures and stuff. So for you Lynn, and anyone else that could be lurking around, here ya go. Here is my update. I don't have any new pics uploaded to the desktop yet, but have been taking a lot of pictures while I learn how to use my new camera. This thing is complicated and I feel like I need a photography class! Anyway, I'm slowly learning all the advanced stuff. But soon I will post some of the pics I've been taking. It's not just point and click anymore for this gal...it's time to get serious now that I have a semi-professional camera.

Well, that's it for now. I do have some really BIG news, but want to wait before I make that announcement. I need to be sure it's all still a go before I open my mouth. Needless to say though, it's really exciting stuff and I do hope I'll be writing all about it as I know more!! Stay tuned folks. I might disappear for a little while, but I always come back to say hello and write more about my life. Big hugs to all!

Ginny Under a Leaf