Earth Day and Effort

Like many people, I'm tired of plastic bags that fly into the tree tops, clutter the streams, and pollute the ocean. It's the everyday things that add up over time. A plastic bag to carry home the gallon of milk, the carrots, the apples. A plastic bag to carry home the book from the bookstore. To carry home the pair of socks, the bottle of wine, these all add up to an enormous amount of waste. It just takes a little more effort, to find alternatives. I've been using the "store" bags for awhile (but they can't be washed), the bulky canvas bag (take up a lot of room when not in use), but recently I found these bags at a small shop in Leavenworth. It rolls up into a little pouch that is easy to carry around with me, it's comfortable to carry over the shoulder even when it's full. All in all, a great little bag to prevent more plastic bag spawn in the world. You can have one too: EnVbags. They come in different colors if truffle isn't your flavor.

Sure, it takes a bit of effort to buy and plan to have your bags with you when you shop. But do you know about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch where plastic is taking over the ocean, swirling together in a vast mire of tangles? The Smithsonian magazine awhile back had a photograph of a sea bird's dissected body that was stuffed with plastic that it had mistook for sea life. The bird had starved to death because the digestive track was blocked with our wastefulness, because we use up and throw away and don't look back. If you don't want to buy a bag, specially, then reuse the next bag that you're handed. Every time we reuse one bag, we reduce the demand for them. Think of it this way:

1. It's easy to say "no thank you" to a bag at the counter. In the long run, it's good for the stores too to not have to pay as much for your shopping bag. Even if it's a fraction of a cent, they'll keep more profit on the sale, which should make stores happy too.
2. Even if you return your bags to a recycle center, every extra use of a bag saves energy on the cost of transporting the recycled material and saves the environmental impact of the re-creation of a new bag.
3. If you know you're going to the store, grab the bags. No room in the house? That's great. Store the bags in the trunk of your car. Then even if you're just dropping in for an after work snack, you still have a bag at hand.
4. The more people who make an effort, the more people will make an effort. The normal thing should be for us to provide our own, reusable, cartons and boxes for our purchases.
5. Why not try? So we can't all be perfect, we might sometimes still end up at the end of the day with an extra plastic bag, but if everyone tries, it will start to add up. One step at a time.

There are many poets who write about the environment. Try this essay from Gary Snyder or read some of his poems. I hope that we have a reason to write nature poetry for generations to come. Hopefully the image of the plastic bag in the treetop will be an image of our lifetime alone.

More on Gratitude

I'm subscribed to Zen Habits, a blog that is probably best classified as a part of the "slow movement." Today's post is about incorporating gratitude in one's life. The post also is a challenge, which they ask the readers to share, so I'm sharing with you.

Characteristics of a Grateful Life

A life of gratitude is composed of three parts that combine to make a whole.

1. A sense of purpose in our lives

2. An appreciation for the lives of those around us

3. A willingness to take action to show the gratitude we feel

I think as a poet, I do pay attention and appreciate my life and the lives of others. I don't know that paying attention, alone, is enough. One of my shortcomings, I feel, is that I don't incorporate enough of the third characteristic in my life. Writing is often the most comfortable response; writing, though, is not always the most helpful response.


The challenge is expressed in practical (practicable) form:

* Spend three minutes every morning writing down a few things you are grateful for that day
* Devote a full morning or afternoon to composing a more detailed gratefulness list. (One tip: think both about what you are grateful for and also how you can show that gratitude)
* Make it a habit to encourage at least one person every day
* Review your finances to make sure they are in order and aligned with your values
* Plan something fun, like a trip to somewhere you’ve never been
* For one day (or more), say something positive to every person you meet

So, I'll start by adding three things I'm grateful (beyond my family-which of course tops my list each and every day) for this morning and I challenge you to do the same here in the comments section--or wherever you blog (leave a comment with a link).


1. Being able to wake up at an early hour without an alarm. For many years, I've been a night owl while my husband wakes up chipper each day. After a lot of practice and self enforced earlier bed-times, I'm able to wake up and spend a few moments over coffee with my husband before the day's concerns start to intrude.

2. Fresh fruit and vegetables. What a luxury to have strawberries and apples and bananas at my fingertips most every day. I keep a tray of fruit on the counter, often the basic apples and oranges, but their color brightens my day. And I know that my kids have healthy food at hand.

3. My silly dogs. I've learned much about love and trust from our two Italian Greyhounds. They make us laugh, too. During my chemo last summer, they sat by my side and kept me company. There were weeks when the only time I saw my husband's true smile was when the dogs greeted him at the door. They are so pleased to please.


There is always something to learn and always work to do.
Be blessed where you are, and bless others in return.

Tomorrow's Cleanup Information

Continuing Volunteer Cleanup Efforts

Via email from the Sunset Zoo list Serve:

All volunteers wanting to assist with the continuing cleanup from the recent weather event should report to the northwest corner of the Bill Snyder Family Stadium parking lot (near the corner of Kimball and College Avenues) between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Friday, June 13. Those volunteers should dress appropriately (long pants and shirts, work gloves if available) and will be transported to the affected areas.


In addition, all those with vehicles and equipment to use in support of the continuing cleanup effort should call 587-2489 or 587-2404 so they can be put in direct contact with those needing greater assistance. Any property owner or tenant needing this assistance from those volunteers with vehicles and equipment should call 587-2489 or 587-2404 to register for assistance.

I'm really impressed with the way the city of Manhattan has and is managing to get information out to the residents of Manhattan. My friend on the ground earlier today said that the Stadium parking lot was set up with a mobile command post. The stadium lot is about four blocks from the damaged area on campus- It is amazing to watch the community pull together to help each other.

KSU RELIEF FUND

The Ksu Foundation's Web Page with information on how you can help. They also have a media presentation and links to other stories about the June 11th tornado.

I have yet to see a specific page for the RED CROSS here in town, but I'm sure they are accepting donations as well.

Please also remember the Flint Hills Breadbasket which helps feed people in need in the Riley County area.

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The Manhattan Mercury has a SPECIAL REPORT with more photos and will update as news becomes available.

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The tornado was classified as an EF4, the second most powerful classification.

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Local Photos/ KSU Tornado

KSU RELIEF FUND The site has information about yesterday's events and a way for you to donate to KSU to help rebuild. This link is to the KSU Foundation.

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Here is a link from WIBW with viewer photos. The website also has some early video. (The following photos are embedded from that site, photo credits to Justin Weibers for the KSU photos and "Steph" for the Amhearst photos) Click to see larger photos/or to comment at that site)

Amhearst:
Amherst Area, Manhattan Damage


Amherst Area, Manhattan Damage







Photos from the Campus Area:


K-State Tornado


K-State Tornado


K-State Tornado


Amherst Area, Manhattan Damage

Here is a link to the broadcast of last night's storm at it occurred on KTKA

Cnn's coverage is spotty right now. But the I-report section has a few other photos: see here

Toyota on Seth Child:


Extensive damge to Manhattan

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A photo of "a" Tornado during a lightning strike: EDIT: Good Grief-> awesome photo of the power of nature; NOT a photo from this tornado.

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Another CNN "I-report" reporter has pictures available:

A Heart at Half Mast

During the last few weeks, I've spent a lot of time in thought grappling with the ideas of need.
The news everyday is depressing, homes lost to foreclosure, more people losing their grip and taking their lives and the lives of others, more poverty, more hunger, more environmental problems. My God, what are we doing to each other? And to this world we must live in?

I used to think that poetry *shouldn't* be political; it to quite a long time to realize how even that stance is (in fact) a political one, albeit, choosing to live with blinders in the lala land of art, rather than to take a good look around and to accept responsibility for my part, my actions, or more accurately: my lack of action. I dance with this issue, I really do: is it right for me to be sitting at my computer writing when there is always work that needs to be done? There are people that need food, not just a poem, even though I still want to hope that poems can make a difference:

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Envelop
by Amy Unsworth

Given time and distance, both between us,
how can I give what I should give:
bread, warm from the oven, crisp crust,
butter dripping with each bite? Tea and honey,
lemon for tartness, to temper the little sorrows,
the sweet to soothe, for the warmth against our palms,
the leaves swirled in the patterned cups predicting
a tomorrow we could live with and through.
But here, an envelope, lined paper, inked with words
that perhaps you can read as hope, perhaps one
as strength, and one--with time--as joy.

***

Long ago, I imagined poetry as a way of making human connection. And I think that the lack human connection is the essential problem still, and I believe that art has its place and role in making life worth living. And beauty too, essential.

But people are dying of loneliness, from lack of hope, from the lack of a neighbor who even checks to see if they are ok. (a news story a few weeks ago: a toddler starved to death in his own apartment, because his mother died and NO ONE knew, or worried about them, or cared enough to check on them.)

Because we look away, when we don't like what we see, when it makes us UN-comfortable, when it makes us feel selfish, because we don't want to feel bad. (They are eating dirt mixed with lard in the Haitian slums.)

Too bad for them, we say. Bad choices on their part, we say. They should have thought about that before they (fill in the blank) (had a baby, rented that bigger house, bought a car). It makes it easier for us to look the other way. (RJ touched on this over at Scoplaw recently)
But, it's really: There, but for the grace of God, go I.

A friend sent me to check out a web site (wishuponahero.com). People ask for socks for their kids. For help this month with this and that. But the reoccurring note that continues to surprise me: it's not the stuff (money, sock monkey, diapers) that makes the biggest difference: it is knowing that someone *out there* gives a damn.

At half-mast,
Amy

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quote from today's mail:

Action springs not from a thought,
but from a readiness for responsibility.
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Some for You, Some for the World

Try this:

http://www.freerice.com/

Poetry Month Suggestion: Grow Readers

This charity organization allows you to select what project you'd like to sponser in schools. The requests seem rather modest. Search the site for poetry projects and you'll get upwards of a hundred requests from teachers who are trying to bring poetry to the classrooms (and to the streets).

Consider these: ways to help

poetry bloggers x a bit of spare change= more fans of poetry for our future

Almost April

It's that time. . .poetry month is around the bend. What will you do to promote poetry in this great land of ours? I don't think I'll have time to write a poem a day. Maybe a poem a week would be a more realistic goal. I might read a poem a day to my students. What is your goal? Have any better ideas?

Tick Tock.