Silence is not an Option

 

Black Lives Matter and silence is not an option.

 

 

 

 

Social distancing in America

When I first decided that I was going to stay at home and practice social distancing, it was a decision I made with complete clarity, and one that felt almost patriotic. I had been reading about the alarming aspects of the spread of the novel coronavirus and of course its high mortality rates. But, it was the news out of Italy that was most sobering. The news that the current medical infrastructure in any country would be, as it was in China’s and Northern Italy’s cases, unable to keep up with the number of infected people needing care at the height of the outbreak. That was eye opening and mindset changing for me. It meant that the most important thing that I could do and must do was to stay at home and reduce my exposure to people.

My first act as a social distancer was to inform my husband that I would not be going to the Lyric for the Beatles tribute band concert, but he was free to go if he wanted to go. He was very supportive. A little surprised, but supportive. He ended up giving the tickets away to someone in his office, who had a great time. My next efforts were not so clear cut or successful. I am a U.S. Masters Swimmer and belong to the Columbia Masters group. We swim mostly at the Swim Center. I knew that given the schedules of my “lane mates,” I would be swimming in a lane by myself at the next practice I would normally attend. Swimming is my sanity. So, how could I stay home when I figured I’d be social distanced enough…

Indoor Pool

Well, I was so conflicted it hurt. I did end up swimming. In a lane by myself. Social distance seemed to be achieved. But I did not feel great about being out. Next up, another opportunity to social distance. I attend a weekly meeting that is also not overcrowded and opportunities to space myself away from others are available. I ended up going there too. But, by now, I am racked with guilt. And shame. I was not being very good at sticking to my decision to stay at home. Then, just to put the icing on the cake, well-meaning folks were all over social media talking about still going to restaurants and making sure they lend a hand of support to small business. My husband came home from work and said, “Let’s grab something to eat out somewhere.” I knew that was not what I wanted to do, because that was not social distancing. It was  going into a group of people, who had been going about their business and not staying at home. So, the final test failure of the day was going to dinner at Chipotle. In my mind I was thinking that, “OK, this means that my 10-14 day isolation to make sure I’m not carrying the virus has now been set back the whole day, and I’m not being a very good citizen.”

Meanwhile, I am still reading reports of the spread of the virus and efforts being made overseas to stem that spread. It is very clear that the best way to do that is to keep people from being around other people. When I woke up the following morning I was in an uncluttered mental place with the staying at home decision. And, thankfully, it was one that was unencumbered by opportunities to undertake the bartering and justifying I had done the previous day. In fact, I was almost giddy at the opportunity to do my part, which still seems woefully small and insignificant in the face of the trials facing many Europeans and a small number of Americans now. However, I know from all the reading I’m doing it is not insignificant. It’s lifesaving and hopefully catastrophe-saving.

What Can You do to Reinforce your Personal Brand as a Climate Action Advocate?

What can you do to reinforce your personal brand or identity as a climate advocate? You can begin by thinking about what’s important to you and about those climate advocates that you see every day. You are probably not going to set out to achieve the name recognition of a Greta Thunberg or Al Gore and that is fine. In fact, that is more than fine, since there is already one of each of them. And we need as many diverse voices as we can get. Finding your stride and developing your advocacy style will happen as you better define your area of interest and passion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking small steps, bigger ones, and very big steps are all part of the way we begin to brand ourselves as climate advocates. Whether your advocacy stems from horror at seeing floating islands of plastic pollution in our oceans; trash and debris entering and ringing our waterways; ocean creatures with plastic straws in their snouts; alarm over rising sea levels; devastation of Brazilian rainforests; raging bush fires in Australia, or ecosystem collapse in a number of areas, you are on board for climate action. Welcome! We need you and we’re glad you’re here! For those seeking to amplify the collective voice seeking bold climate action at the level of local, state, and national policies that will work to stem the grim march the world is making toward irreversible climate impacts, here are several ways you can not only reinforce your personal brand as a climate advocate, but can move you toward recognition as a climate action ambassador. An informal but highly important position that one takes to increase the number of people taking those very small, medium and big climate actions from which all change is rooted.

Some examples of small actions that can be taken easily, quickly and without cost:

* Sign up to receive emails from groups already taking action, like Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, National Audubon Society, National   Wildlife Federation, Arbor Day Foundation and the like.

* Join local climate action groups.

* Attend forums, seminars, and talks about climate matters of interest and concern to you.

* Promote and participate in reduce, reuse and recycle options in your community. Can you compost food scraps?

* Call your local, state, and national-level representatives in government to tell them what climate action is important to you.

* Participate in outreach activities, clean up days, lobby days in Congress, write op-Ed’s for your local newspapers.

* Get active on social media and work to amplify the science-based climate change facts, news, victories and set backs.

Here are some bigger actions you can take for the planet:

* Donate money to climate causes you believe in.

* Buy and plant native trees and plants in your yard and garden. Encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.

* Buy secondhand or consider how important what you’re shopping for is and do you really need that thing. Visit thrift stores and consignment shops for clothes, housewares, furniture and Etc.

* Use “green” bags, utensils, straws, beverage holders lunchboxes, snack holders aka reusables for everything you can as often as you can.

* Plan travel to eliminate unnecessary waste, pollution and gas. Opt for walking, biking and public transportation as much as possible.

And finally, here are the big ticket ways you can live your climate action brand, means permitting:

* Connect to community solar or wind energy options.

* Invest in solar power for your home and business, if possible.

* Purchase an electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle.

* Look for Energy Star certified products, equipment, electronics and etc and purchase those things. This is the easiest way to ensure you are     acting as efficiently possible with regard to your energy use.

* Go back to school! Take climate change classes, climate action workshops and community sponsored training.

Become climate smart and make everyday decisions with your climate awareness glasses on.

 

The Western Maryland Rail Trail

New Post on our Bike Trail Blog!

Views and Reviews from our Bikes

The Western Maryland Rail Trail, Big Pool, MD

Bike Trail Views and Our Reviews

The Western Maryland Rail Trail, Big Pool, MD

This is a Rail Trail.

The trail begins in Big Pool, MD.  We turned off the exit and found the lot very easily.
The first thing I noticed was that the parking lot was filled with old people.. well, older people. Older than we are.  John says, “It’s Monday morning!” I have to give him that one.  It’s true.  This is our first weekday rail trail ride. As we are pulling into a space, we encounter an Amish woman on large recumbent tricycle riding through the parking lot. We also hear a rooster cocka doodle doo ing, not in the distance. Nope. Right across the street.  It’s very peaceful feeling.

Western Maryland Rail Trail: View of Rails and Water

We read a little bit about this trail before our arrival and decided to break…

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A Few Things I Picked Up in Spain

Ensalada Mixta – typical Spanish salad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post is a #MyGlobalLife Link up post.

I read the latest post by Cate (of SmallPlanetStudio.com) and once again I was transported back to my experiences of living or traveling abroad. She posed a question that acted as a nice prompt for me. Her question:

What have you incorporated into your life after living abroad?

I love this prompt. I had not thought about it too much lately, but I used to be very mindful that I was doing things I picked up from having lived in Spain. I spent my Junior year of college in Pamplona, Spain.  It was a fabulous experience.  I did indeed pick up some Spanish habits, if you will, which I brought home.  I was doing those Spain things because they not only became ingrained in me while I was there, but to remember the experience and probably as a way to hold on to it and make it last.

I think that the most significant changes to my pre-living abroad self were in my writing.

• I can’t write sevens any more without putting a cross through them the Spanish way.
• I abbreviate words using Spanish abbreviations.
• I write notes (personal and when I went back to school, and later work) in Spanish and English

However, one of the best habits I picked up was a the result of a big revelation: I had never felt so good physically and emotionally as I did when I was living in Spain. Why was this? I realized this improvement must be because of a dietary change I had made. Figuring out this riddle was the key to carrying on my feelings of physical and emotional well being when I returned home. While in Spain, I got into a habit a of eating an “ensalada mixta” every Friday night at a great pizzeria in Pamplona (that appears to no longer be there, according to a quick Google search). This salad consisted of lots of lettuce, tuna fish and hardboiled egg with an oil and vinegar dressing. It was so delicious! The restaurant (and maybe all Spanish restaurants) would put a ton of salt and olives on the salad if you didn’t request not to have it, which I did faithfully. I don’t care for olives or lots of salt in my salad. I discovered that the tuna fish I had on my salad (and probably the fact that I was eating a healthy salad,) and a healthier diet than I ate while in the U.S., lead to my feeling so good. I was able to increase the amounts of the Omega 3s in my diet by eating more tuna fish and salmon when I got home to the U.S. What a great thing to continue when I got home, no?

“Linked to the My Global Life Link-Up at SmallPlanetStudio.com”