The List.

I don't think this post requires any explanation. Dream it. Live it. What's on your list?

Break into an insane asylum. / Stand in Red Square. / Walk among the ghosts of Auschwitz. / Get in the habit of grand, loving gestures. / Sail across the Atlantic, like my ancestors. / Write a novel. / Visit ancestral homes in Canada, England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany. / Light sparklers on a snowy evening. / Participate in a food fight. / Pretend for an evening the power went out. / Have a portrait done of myself in the style of my grandmother’s portrait. / Wear a large hat to a sporting event and get kicked out for it. / Walk the streets of Havana. / Use my work to improve lives. / Participate in a march on Washington DC. / Sip lemonade in a rocking chair on the front porch. / Live in another country for a year. / Write a children’s book.  / Learn to speak Italian. / Write a screenplay. / Visit all 50 states. / Read every book on my bookshelf AGAIN. / Win the Lottery. / Drive the length of old Route 66. / Leave a dollar with my dad’s name on it at the Badland’s Inland Bar. / Hold my first grandchild. / Do two pull-ups. / Eat an ice cream cone with my children. / Stand inside the Taj Mahal. / Blow bubbles with a few dozen friends on the Mackinac Bridge. / Have a croissant at a French café. / Cross the Canadian border. / See the pyramids at sunset. / Ride a camel in the desert. / Visit Italy. / Drink more vino. / Develop the practice of walking. / Create a photo-studio. / Go a day without speaking. / Finish the projects I’ve started. / Pitch the projects I’ve started. / Learn the discipline of practicing gratitude. / Study Yoga. / Start a meditation practice. / Wake each day with a smile. / Spend more time with my family. / See all the castles of Europe. / Laugh as much as possible EVERY day. / Stand upon the Great Wall of China. / Love with all my heart. / Find beauty in each day. / Remember to breathe. 

Not so PURE Michigan.

"If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it."
–President Lyndon B. Johnson, on the signing of the Wilderness Act of 1964



I know that the purpose of this blog is to write about the good things in life. The meaning of this journey we are on, etc. But sometimes that feels like I'm just burying my head in the sand. And, it feels almost selfish to ignore the things that are happening in this world, that will ultimately effect the journey through life of future generations. So, yes, once in awhile I feel the need to vent. This is one of those times. 


This past week was a harsh lesson in reality.
The gas companies have come knockin' in our small communities. 
We are losing the fight. 


Since June, after watching a terrifying documentary called "Gasland" (See HERE) I've been struggling to come to terms with this inevitable new reality. (HERE). Yet, since it seemed so far away, and was happening elsewhere, I've continued to hope for a miracle. (And, yes, others have prayed, but that hasn't worked either).


In July, I even used the Kid Rock card. (HERE). But, since no one reads this blog, the only one comforted was me. But others with much larger audiences have written (HERE). Still nothing. It is if no one was reading. No one was listening. And no one was asking questions. But still I held out hope. 


Until last week, when it landed in our small communities in Central Michigan. And no one seems to care. And that is the most frightening. Some of us send them emails with the links to articles on what others have experienced, no response. Others put up signs, and people seem to drive right by. It is a hard fight with neighbors, and friends. And no matter how hard you try, it usually boils into a political argument. The information, no matter how truthful, is dismissed as left-wing hysteria or, my favorite, mainstream media garbage. And then I'm left to wonder, now who is burying their head in the sand?


I'm on the losing side of the argument because their is no financial reward for them to agree with me. The dollars are too tempting, I understand the economic times we are in. So, do the gas companies who are preying on these folks.


But, sadly, everyone will eventually lose here.  My neighbor's decision based on their own short-term financial needs will not only effect the long term health of their children, but mine. They are willing to trade the possibility of contaminating their wells and exposure to cancer causing agents for the sake of a few thousand dollars now. Those same agents, can slowly leak into my water supply as well. They can be consumed by the wildlife that we all hunt and they can enter the plants in the gardens we grow. Many of my neighbors are cattle ranchers, farmers and dairies. Will I be able to trust the word "organic" again?


These companies have already bought off the Michigan state legislature, and the Federal Government. The company sales people aren't going to tell you about "fracking" and what it will do to our water supplies, to our wildlife, to our children and to our future. And, these are the same companies that will continue to pour money into elections and groups like the Tea Party HERE. This chaos and bickering will continue to keep our eye off the ball and their profits will continue to pour in. A vicious circle with the Oil and Gas companies laughing all the way to the bank, and small town, middle America poisoned and dying.

How representatives from these companies mislead home howners:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/18/post_676_n_850425.html 

Carcinogens injected into wells:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/17/fracking-report-carcinogens-water-wells_n_850159.html

Big Sky MICHIGAN

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back 

and realize they were the big things.” 

- Robert Brault

I wonder how many days in my lifetime I've forgotten to look up? 

Thinking about little trivial things, and missing the big ones. 

Feeling Inspired?

One Day on Earth - Original Trailer from One Day On Earth on Vimeo.

I get goosebumps every time I watch this. The immense reality of how big this world is sinks in and I think about how many extraordinary things happen every second of every minute of every hour of every day here on this spinning blue globe. 


At the same time, I'm overwhelmed with how small our world really is and the commonalities we share. Every living creature experiences something in each second in our world: Joy, sorrow, hatred, exhilaration, heartache, love, laughter,hope, fear, loss, birth and death. Nothing is ordinary and every day is a miracle. 


I've signed up to participate. How about you? Are you feeling moved?

Think Warm Thoughts

The end of summer seems to be upon us, 

the days are getting cold. 

But for a moment it seemed warmer 

standing in this field of gold.

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. 
It's what sunflowers do." 
- Helen Keller