TToT: Stormy Skies Over Soft Summer Sunlight – Where’s the yellow? #10Thankful

“Here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

—The Little Prince

I like alliteration in my titles and I like this time of year. I am busy during the days and try not to think too much, about those things that keep me up at night.

Ten Things of Thankful

I’m thankful my family and I are safe and far from natural disasters and that my friends are safe too.

Here in Ontario we get tornados sometimes, but we aren’t out west where the fires are, nor are we by the coast where the flooding happens.

Then I woke to the notification of a strong earthquake in Mexico and I feared for my friends living there.

Mexico is big enough that those I care about weren’t touched, but these natural disasters seem to be everywhere lately.

Just not here. Our weather has been beautiful, if not a little cool for this time of year, but I am loving it.

I’m thankful for such a fun and energizing writing group.

A pack of three crayons (red/blue/green) were brought in for the mystery object, those packs you find at a restaurant, to keep the kids entertained. Well, I love crayons, but many of us in the group wondered and commented on the lack of a yellow crayon.

Our group was larger than usual and I liked the energy each person added. I was entirely entertained, myself, by everyone in that room.

The stories were diverse and all about crayons. Ah, the life of a crayon.

There were two new people there and they were both J names. This, somehow, had its own influence on someone’s story. I hope they both come back.

I’m thankful my brother had his adventure and made it safely home from Iceland.

I’m thankful he returned to his radio show.

He is getting better and more comfortable, every time he does it.

I’m thankful for a another Saturday family day.

The guys went to a baseball game and us girls and Max stayed home.

There were family photos taken out in the back yard.

I’m thankful Saturday family day spilled over to Sunday.

It was a lovely afternoon spent sitting in a circle in the yard, with beers, wine, and snacks.

My family are some of the most interesting people I know.

I’m thankful a piece I’ve been working on (from pitch to publication) is finally out, starting all the way back last May.

Lost, and Then Found Once More: On Traveling Alone without Sight – Catapult

Read to the end and the part about the drumsticks.

This is a prelude to my audio piece for SiriusXM.

I’m thankful for two more “acceptances” and for the fear that’s accompanying both.

I wasn’t expecting it, in a way, and I am back to square one. I must come up with a piece of writing that they will want to publish. I worry about not coming up with anything and instead letting them and myself down.

The excitement is there too though. I am honoured, after ending last week with a rejection email to a pitch, to hear anything at all to start off a new one.

I’m thankful to have an available store full of food to shop in.

As I meandered through the isles, the shelves, and the freezer section and prepared foods, I know not everyone has such choice right there in front of them. It felt like a lot, but it is an abundance I am thankful for.

I’m thankful for pumpkin spiced latte.

Enough said.

Thunder and Lightning, Scars and Bruises, and Inconvenient Truths #JusJoJan

Today’s timely topic is brought to you by the

Top of JC’s Mind.

There is so much talk about a change in

climate,

but I am not a scientist and I don’t understand most of what is being discussed.

I do know what an amazing place our planet is. I do know I love nature and the earth. I do know it will likely be here long after I am gone, long after we’re all gone in all likelihood, but what if, maybe just maybe, we are messing it up through our carelessness and our actions.

I know things change. I just know humans are experts in screwing things up and making them worse, for what we want in the present, without really taking into consideration what the future could look like.

I did learn about science in school. I just don’t know much about fossil fuels and carbon emissions. I know big business is all about the money. Oil has been necessary, but there’s got to be a better way. I don’t think I am the one to find it, but I can still care, can’t I?

I feel like I lack much of substance to add to a discussion on climate change. I won’t just add to the debate over whether climate change is a real thing, really going on. I know the world is going to do what it’s going to do, but with a little help or a lot, it may not come out on the other side without a lot of scars and bruises.

Whether God created earth or some giant astronomical event is of little concern to me. I still have a hard time believing the earth is not flat, but that has very little to do with religion. It’s all just so huge and unbelievable, hard for me to wrap my brain around.

I am sick of the tired fighting going on. This has become some battle between religion and science and I don’t get that. I guess, if you believe God is going to be your salvation, you may not care much about this world, once you think you won’t need it anymore. I know science can become rather full of itself at times, with activism taking on a life of its own. I want to put both these things aside and hope that we all just care, when it comes down to it.

A strong wind can nearly knock me off my feet. Lots of rain or snow coming at me, in my face, blinds me even more than I already am.

🙂

When it’s the dead of winter and so bone-chillingly cold, I wish for the heat of summer. When those blisteringly humid temps arrive, I pray for winter again.

All that thunder and lightening across the sky, and imagining it out over the ocean is wild to me.

I know there is great power and fierceness in the storms and severe weather that we experience. Earthquakes, tornados, flooding, and I am glad I’ve stayed out of all that so far. I don’t know what we’re really doing to bring these events into people’s lives.

I imagine all those majestic creatures out there in the ocean. I want to protect the climate so they can go on living, those sharks who’ve lived since the dinosaurs. Wait, that’s right isn’t it? Too tired to Google to confirm.

Yes, that should show just how unqualified I am to be offering up about climate change, other than to say I want to not destroy the planet for the next generation.

So a conference on the state of climate change took place recently. Canada’s new prime minister was there. Does he care about the planet, enough to do what a prime minster has the power to do? Is that much at all?

Will the world really step up to the plate here, actually come together, work together, to work toward a common goal, for once? Is it in everyone’s best interest? Should I continue to ramble on a subject I don’t understand by far, if I am not likely going to offer up any suggestions for us to do better?

I need a comfortable climate in life. I am not about to become one of those storm chasers. I don’t even watch Discovery Channel.

There is a program about global warming and the environment on as I type this. I am really trying to pay attention, to possibly, hopefully learn something. I watch nature documentaries with Sir David Attenborough. I watched that one with Al Gore and was bored out of my mind. That’s likely not the way to reach today’s youth, but it could have been all me on that one.

Truths are often inconvenient, so I do, upon suddenly recalling the title of that doc, approve of what Al decided to call the thing. It’s inconvenient to have to care so much about the planet, but I don’t see how we can ignore what’s staring us all right in the face everyday.

JustJot It January, #JusJoJan

And, once again, the rules are right

HERE.