The Heat Is On

Tonight Joel and I finally turned our heat on. I can't remember what's normal, but it feels early in mid October. In one of my little attempts to be more 'green' I was trying to leave it off as long as possible, but tonight we caved. Who knew 17 degrees celcius would feel so cold? Last night I wore my toque in an attempt to stay warm while watching TV. Maybe that was a sign. The cold house brought back interesting memories from our experience of winter in Zimbabwe. It got really cold at night and our house wasn't insulated. Add that to the concrete floors and we were freezing. Nights would be spent as close to the fire as possible and we would go to bed wearing hats and fleeces piled with as many blankets as we could find and hot water bottles to warm our feet. Not really the image you normally get in your mind while thinking about Africa. I am still amazed that people survive in huts sleeping on the bare ground with little to no covering. We're keeping the temperature lower than we did last year, but I'm grateful for the option to press a button to warm my home.

Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty

I just found out that today is blog action day....when "thousands of bloggers will unnite to discuss a single issue." This year it's poverty. Visuals seem to help when talking about poverty. There are thousands to choose from but I thought this video was good.



The very last line keeps ringing in my head. "I didn't forget." I'm one of the few who has seen real poverty and have good friends who live with its challenges daily, but I still forget. I think we all do. So, what are some of the things you do to remember the poor? One of the things I really want to be more intentional about is living a life of simplicity. It involves a hundred and one daily choices and in our culture it's easy to choose excess. What are some things you've done to live a simple life? Is poverty something you even care about or does it seem too big and too hard to solve? Let's get the dialogue going... thousands are joining us today!

Vote for Environment

I have virtually no interest in Canadian politics. Due to my lack of knowledge and to be honest, lack of actually caring, I was originally not going to vote. I know, I know... if I don't vote, I have no right to complain about the government (I don't think I ever have), I'm not using the right that women fought so hard for me to have, etc. etc. Valid points. I tried watching the leaders debate, but was quickly bored and flipping to the American one. A few weeks ago my cousin, an occasional reader of this blog, sent me a link I found interesting. It's basically a site to help you vote strategically for the environment and apparently I live in a "red hot riding" that can make a difference. Of all the issues, I think the environment is a significant one and one I'm willing to throw my support behind. So if you haven't made up your mind yet, I suggest you check out "Vote for Environment".

Young at Heart

I cried a little. I laughed a lot. You should see this movie.