Earth Day Inside Our Homes

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Celebrate Earth Day

It’s April 22 and today we celebrate Earth Day! Except this year, much of it will be spent inside or practicing our new activity of social distancing, so gathering together for Earth Day events won’t be quite the same of past years.

We Belong To The Earth

We are reminded in this quote that our human lives are tied to our planet. Even if you succeeded at living on Mars, you would not just run out the door of your house for a walk in the park. Firstly, you’d need to climb into your spacesuit that would provide oxygen. And heaven help you if your unit failed.

No oxygen? It will only take a couple of minutes for that to no longer be a problem. As in, you will have expired and oxygen will no longer be needed for your lifeless body.

Well, on that cheery note, let us give a moment of thanks to our trees and plants that contribute oxygen to this planet.

Oxygen = breath = life. Our precious breath that allows us to be here. It’s the cry of a newborn baby as his lungs fill with life-sustaining air. It’s our breath in our meditations. Our lifeline to this planet is our breath. We are deeply connected to our precious earth.

Ideas For A Locked-Down Earth Day

Rainier Fruit from Washington State put together some ideas for creating Earth Day habits that we can do at home and that extend throughout the year. Because, truly, Earth Day is not just a day. It’s a way of life.

Rainier’s ideas are easily translated into our daily lives. Do you remember your parents telling you to turn off the lights if you’re not in the room? That’s an easy one.

Leftovers are a great way to decrease waste and to help your budget. Make an initial investment in some reusable containers to store leftover foods in the refrigerator. Glass is great for tomato or oily based foods. For plastic containers, make sure they are BPA-free.

Can’t stand eating the same meal two days in a row? Make use of your freezer. Divide leftover meals into single-serve containers. Let them defrost in the refrigerator and voilà, a meal you can enjoy a week, or even a month, later.

Eating-up your leftovers has the added benefit of decreasing your time spent cooking. A little reheat on a stovetop or in a microwave makes a quick and satisfying meal.

Just say NO to plastic, one-time use water bottles. Klean Kanteen is my go-to for sustainable bottles, but there are a lot of different companies that fulfill this purpose. You can also get reusable, insulated containers for when you visit your favorite coffee shop. Decrease your use of single-use coffee cups.

I carry my 8-ounce coffee container into Starbucks (double espresso, touch of milk) and have never had a problem with them taking it. I even get a 5¢ discount for using my own container. Hey, every little bit helps!

If you like big coffee drinks, hot or cold, the insulated mugs come in all sizes to accommodate various caffeine-concoctions.

In Touch With Nature

For those of us stuck in small apartments where it’s difficult to get out, our need for nature looms more strongly than we ever realized. It’s easy to take nature for granted until we can’t be in it.

Given how much our planet sustains us, we want to make sure it’s cared for in a responsible way. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming. This big planet – I’m just a small human, what can *I* do to help?

Each of us can help in very small ways. If you never leave a piece of trash on the highway or in the park, that is one less piece of trash. If you put into practice just a couple ideas this year, and then add to that next year, and so on, when it’s all added together, we begin to make a difference.

Enjoy and connect to Planet Earth today and every day!

Throw Open Wide Your Window

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Nature Beckons

It's March. The sky is filled with grey pillows, weighing down into the tops of tall firs that stretch heavenwards to touch the clouds.

Throw Open Your Window

It's still o-dark-hundred. I throw open the window for fresh air into the bedroom, then jump back under the covers on the bed to move through the positions of TRT® hands-on of The Radiance Technique®.

It's my idea of an ideal "camping out" situation. The comfort of my own bed with heavy, warm blankets accompanied by the fresh air and sounds of nature.

 

The joy of listening to a Pileated Woodpecker drumming on the trees.
An owl, staying up late, chimes in with soft hooting.
It's Sunday – no construction guys to compete with unnatural noise.
Who needs a TV in times like these?

Outer And Inner Light

I close my eyes and move through TRT® hands-on positions, drinking in the light of spirit, drinking in the sounds of nature.

Cold air sneaks in the window and swirls above my covers, but I'm tucked in – safe and warm. 

What a grateful way to begin a morning. 

Pileated Woodpecker

Great Horned Owl

 

 

 

Seattle And Puget Sound

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Get Your Rain Coat

Seattle is known for its rain and cloudy weather. If you live here, you learn to carry on in spite of it.

One of the first things to do is invest in a waterproof rain coat. A rain coat makes everything possible and you feel invincible.

Then off you go. Because you never know when sun breaks will shine through.

Especially at this time of year, with fall moving into winter, changes of sun, rain, mist, and clouds are mercurial. 

This rain coat is from an Eddie Bauer outlet store. When you're on the ferry, the wind blows your hair everywhere in the obligatory photo-op with the Seattle Space Needle in the background.

Puget Sound

 
“In geography, a sound is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord; or a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land.”
— Wikipedia
 

Seattle sits next to the large body of water known as Puget Sound.

Interesting facts from Explore The Sound:

  • Puget Sound covers 1.6 million acres and has 2,500 miles of shoreline.

  • The region’s 2.1 million acres of state-owned submerged saltwater lands are home to 211 fish species, 100 sea bird species and 13 types of marine mammals.

  • There are 68 state parks and 3 national parks, as well as wildlife refuges, national forests and other public lands that border Puget Sound.

  • The Sound helps drive $20 billion of economic activity in Washington State.

  • The Puget Sound region encompasses 12 counties populated by approximately 4.3 million people.

  • Ninety cities and towns border the Sound.

  • There are 19 major watersheds in the Puget Sound region.

Out On The Water

The deep, salt-water of Puget Sound laps at the shore of Seattle. While it's wondrous to observe from land, it's even more satisfying to be out on it.

On this day, we headed out on a private boat. Although the forecast called for rain, we were lucky to have none during our time on the water. Just another example of making your plans and seeing where they take you.

We encountered powerful waves due to a strong wind. Our boat rocked up and down and we imagined ourselves as pirates on a wild sea. 

The boat captain adeptly navigated the waves that tossed us like a bucking bronco and he maneuvered our boat into calmer waters. The sun glistened and danced across the water in happy delight.

Being In Nature

Students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) can expand their connection with nature through their use of TRT® hands-on while they are outside, be it on land or water. When we access universal energy, we begin to see the inter-connections between man and animals and all that exists. 

Atoms hum together whether they be liquid, vapor or solid. The song spins out loving threads binding us in a tapestry that sparkles in the firmaments of the heavens.

Being in nature uplifts our hearts and the Seattle area provides ample opportunity to be outdoors.