Lost an Hour, Maybe More

I had decided to start reading more than just the daily newspaper and work related materials and came upon this book - Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution- and How it Can Renew America. This book is so thought provoking, informative, Scary! The main focus of the book is climate change, energy poverty, petrodictatorship, and biodiversity loss. If watching An Inconvenient Truth made you stop and think, then reading this book will make you think harder!

CO2 emissions are the tip of the iceberg and more complex than vehicle exhaust and coal burning power plants. For example, as the planet warms plant material in previously frozen permafrost begins to decay releasing copious amounts of CO2. Cows due to their digestive system pass methane gas, another green house gas. Even smoking a cigarette contributes to climate change!

The author prefers the term Climate Change as opposed to global warming since as the planet warms, oceans warm causing jet stream patterns that drive the weather to change and therefor the climate of Earth is impacted.

Many are concerned about the deforestation of the rain forest and the author drives the point home in discussing Indonesia. "Though covering only 1.3% of earth's land surface, Indonesia's forest represent 10% of all the world's tropical forest cover and are home to 20% of all the world's species of flora and fauna, 17% of the world's bird species, and more than 25% of the world's fish species. Just 10 hectares in the Indonesian island of Borneo contains more different tree species than are in all of North America-" The author points out a dubious fact, "...Indonesia had been entered into Guinness World Records for having the fastest rate of deforestation in the world."

I urge you to visit your library or bookstore, read this book, and make changes in your life. We may have lost an hour this weekend, but humanity may loose so much more!

Campus Visit - Wyotech

We visited the Wyotech campus and I must say I'm impressed. The Blairsville campus opened in 2002 and is very modern. The apartments are not all that large, but Garret will only have to share his bathroom with one other person and his bedroom seems bigger than his at home. It was beautiful weather with sunny skies and temps reaching 70. From Brookville to about 10 miles away the drive was on meandering roads through the mountains. I would like to find an alternate route since in bad weather it could be quite the harrowing drive.

Can't believe in less than 4 weeks he'll be gone. So much to do!

Painted Sky

Summer sky I long for you - the winter chill just lingers

No Bull I'm Going Bananas!

I've been wanting to post to my blog, but have had no time whatsoever to do so. Kaylee's art is piling up around her room, so I thought I'd take a couple of pics since it only takes a minute and that's about all the time I have these days.

Out of Tragedy Something Good

Today I signed a permission slip from school like no other. The permission slip's letterhead was from the District Attorney's office and it was asking permission to allow students to view a video on underage drinking. Sounds common enough for high school students to view such a video until you know the specifics. Ian McCloskey was a BAHS student who died in an automobile accident that was the result of an underage drunk driver trying to pass another car of friends. The car went off the road, struck several trees, and then caught fire. What was supposed to be a night of teenagers having fun was tragic in so many ways. Friends trying to save friends, but couldn't and a boy starting his life as a man by being convicted of homicide by motor vehicle and DUI. At sentencing hearings victims are permitted to make a victim's impact statement. Ian's mother, Nadine Staiger, used a video to document her loss. According to the DA's office this video was so moving they developed an anti-DUI program that includes the video.

This accident occurred when my daughter and I were staying in the Buffalo area for a soccer tournament. Because of cell phones the news spread like wildfire throughout the hotel within hours of the crash. Instead of kids running amok and having a blast there was crying and consoling and disbelief. The news sent chills down my spine. I did not know the boys involved, but as a mother- a mother whose son was life-flighted to ECMC while we staying at the same hotel a year earlier- my heart ached for his family. My son fell asleep at the wheel about a half mile from home and I'll never forget the phone call. Seat belts saved his life and I make a point to tell kids that along with the fact that driving drowsy almost killed my son.

My son will never become lax at wearing his seat belt and will never drive exhausted again - he learned a lot the hard way. I hope the kids who see this presentation learn from it, if not for their own sake, then for those who love them.

A Little of This and a Little of That

Holy cow I thought the cold would never end! One week ago school was canceled due to extreme cold and today the glorious sun warmed the Earth to a pleasant 44 degrees. This winter has been more like the ones I remember as a child with snow that doesn't turn to slush and disappear within a day. It had been snowing quite often as of late and I can't remember the last time deep snow has lasted so long. Last Saturday I woke to -15 degree temperatures and baked a pie with the last of my frozen blueberries. I lost track of time and my pie was a little crispy around the edges, but who eats that part anyhow! With only a quart of blackberries left in the freezer I hope this summers a better season than last.











Garret was getting some love from Shannon on his 20th birthday on the 13th (and yes he was a Friday the 13th baby). He has received his acceptance letter and informational binder from Wyotech. To see him so excited is a simple pleasure money just can't buy (if only the same could be said about tuition!) This weekend I'll be dealing with the FASFA and come to find out he threw out his taxes because I didn't tell him to save them so why would he (Argh!).

I'm still trying to figure this blogging out. For example my "Holy cow" is underlined but i don't know why and have been unsuccessful at getting rid of it. At least I now know that the last picture loaded is the first one to appear. My previews never look like my published blog so my posts don't look like I want. I don't have time to learn how to edit HTML so, until they upgrade how you produce a post or I become a millonaire and therefore have lots of time on my hands it will just have to do. I wish by blogs were visually more appealing (I'm in awe of some of the blogs i've seen). I also find the voyer aspect quite strange. I'm pretty confident that the only people who look at my blog are my family - after all my blogs are just snippets of my family - I have no niche to write specifically about, no captivating stories to tell, or beautiful photos. I slap my blog together and there it is. Kaylee's art (see cow above, ha-ha) would probably be a blog that strangers would peruse, but i can't even keep up with my own let alone make one of her art. It will probably be funny to look at old blogs after I've done this for awhile.

Hodgepodge

Garret applied to go to tech school for automotive repair and is so excited. Hopefully everything will fall into place and he'll start in April. The financial commitment is very daunting, but I don't want him stuck in a dead end jobs all his life.
Chris and I traveled to Erie to see the orthopedic surgeon. February 3 is the big day for surgery number 2. Hopefully the scar tissue from the first operation won't impede the surgeon from being able to repair the shoulder. Chris is anxious- not looking forward to surgery, but tired of being in pain and wanting to be able to live his life without limitations.
Chris thought it was a little dreary and brought home some sunshine. Several inches of snow have paid us a visit and frigid weather is on the way. I look forward to spring and the longer days, but will enjoy these until then.