We have so many big problems that need solutions. We have War, Poverty, Hunger, and Disease. We have huge environmental issues such as Global Warming, the Energy Crisis, Pollution, and Animal Extinctions. We also have large political disputes over things like GMO's, Fracking, Solar Power, Gun Control, Medical Care, Equal Rights and Immigration.
Many groups concerned with Earth's ecology and the political policies which govern it, have attempted to change the way we do things - with minimal success. The latest crusade-of-the-moment gets press for awhile and then quickly fades into obscurity - replaced by the next "great campaign." Leaders arise, spout their rhetoric and make solemn promises for change that they can't begin to deliver.
It won't emerge via committee decision. It is more likely that such transformation in the way we run things - if it ever happens - will come about unexpectedly with the force of an explosion!
But, this will only take place AFTER a series of disasters arouses public fury. Only then, will world governments begin to work together to solve problems. Only then, because adopting new policies is the only way those in power will survive, will solutions be actively sought. People have to be forced to change.
I'd like to believe that everything will eventually work out the way it's supposed to, but I can't think like that. That's not even really thinking - it's wishing. I'm too old and jaded to trust that what is good, and what is right ,will always win out in the end.
So, what can one person do? Do we give up? Do we simply put our hearts in a blender and watch the world spin around into a beautiful oblivion? The correct answer is: NO
I believe that even though we may not see evidence of our impact on the world in newpaper headlines, it doesn't make our individual influence any less. We come into contact with many people and are part of events every day. Everything is connected. The way we act causes little ripples in the universe.
We can choose to cause good ripples by treating others with kindness and acting responsibly, or bad ripples by being greedy, selfish jerks. It's up to us to at set the example. We can either be a good role model, or serve as a horrible warning.
Are you
wondering why you haven’t done this before?
Bits and
pieces of your wardrobe scattered on the floor-
Camouflaged inside an old summer frock, (Deconstructed) awaits a puzzle
to unlock.
Each piece reassembled to make something new,
Fortunately, Pinterest can show you what to do!
Old Frock Deconstructed
Cut off the bottom of T-shirt, add material strips
Gather old clothing and take a second look.
Help yourself to the buttons, ribbons and hooks.
In every item there is something to cull,
Just make selections that aren’t faded or dull.
Knit, cotton, corduroy, denim – or whatever you choose.
Look at the fabrics; there’s no way you can lose!
Cast Offs
Master the urge to just go out and buy.
No one else has your creativity – don’t be shy.
Originality is only imagination that you let out!
Purge your closet and discover a different route.
Quit procrastinating!
Recycle! Why are you waiting?
Crochet thread & Lace for modest neckline
Sew something pretty and make something new.
Treasures are buried right in front of you!
Unique as you are, it’s bound to be great.
Variety is the spice that opens the gate!
Shorten maxi skirt & make cap sleeves with the fabric
Wear it with
pride, whatever you construct. Xeroxed fashion is for
indiscriminate “others”
Yummy one-of-kind, hand-made is my druther.
Zillion points awarded for being FREE!
My Mother used to wake me up on school mornings by sitting on the edge of my bed and stroking my forehead while she sang "Birdie, birdie with the yellow bill - hopped upon my window sill - cocked his shiny eye and said - get out of bed you sleepy head!" I later learned that this was from a poem Time to Rise by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Fabric Brooches
I hated that yellow bird! I didn't even appreciate my Mother's gentleness, which was a far cry from my Father's method - which was to (jokingly) mutter threats while dangling a glass of cold water over your head!
Yellow Leaf
My Mother read to us, taught us rhymes, poems and little songs like this one:
"Sing a song of sixpence, a pocketful of rye, four and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie. When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing. Now wasn't that a dainty dish to set before a king? The king was in his counting house counting out his money; the queen was in the parlor eating bread and honey. The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes, when along came a blackbird and snipped off her nose!"
Paper Collage
We learned the song easily, but then she ruined the fun by saying, "Did you know that this song is about a evil English King, Henry VIII? The Queen was his first wife Catherine of Aragon, who he divorced. The maid that got her nose snipped off by the birds was really his second wife Anne Boleyn, whose head got chopped off!" Thereby, what started as a happy little tune became a gruesome lesson. Then you'd begin to examine the words of that song...how did 24 birds survive being baked in the oven? Grown-ups never made any sense.
Found Object Bird
The only song my Dad ever sang to us was "Jolie Blonde", but he was quite popular with the neighborhood kids because he could do magic tricks. This one about birds was the first one I learned.
Only he said "Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill. One named Jack and one named Jill. Fly away Jack, fly away Jill. Come back Jack, come back Jill." I'd be ashamed to tell you how long it took me to figure out how those little pieces of paper kept reappearing!
Parakeet
When I was in first grade, my sister was given a green parakeet named Chiquita – pronounced CHEE KEE TA - like the banana. It's a Spanish word meaning "little girl". [Alas, the bird was a boy.] This bird never sang - it screeched. It never talked, despite years of us mouthing the words "Pretty bird" as it scattered seeds, shed feathers and pecked our fingers. Once, it escaped its cage and flew outside! My Dad cheered "FINALLY!"
Fabric Birds
My Uncle Calvin, who lived next door, heard us kids crying and ran outside and threw his jacket high up into the trees. When it came down, the bird was trapped underneath. He had about two seconds to feel like a hero - with us kids cheering and hugging him - and then he turned around to see my Father's face. "Calvin, I ought to kill you." my father sighed.
My Mother was a great fan of Emily Dickenson. One of the first poems she read to me was:
A Bird Came Down The Walk
A Bird came down the Walk
He did not know I saw
He bit an Angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.
And then he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass.
He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all around
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought.
He stirred his Velvet Head
Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb.
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home
Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam.
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon
Leap, plashless as they swim.
Bird Art
You could just picture a little bird hopping around -like a movie in your head - when you heard the words. I thought it was beautiful. Emily Dickenson must have been very fond of birds, for she compared them to "Hope".
Hope is the Thing with Feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm,
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Fabric and Buttons
There are other birds, I am sure, that inspire such thoughts of majesty; but there are just as many that arouse laughter. Chickens, for instance.
Rooster Warhol
Have you ever heard this poem about Chickens?
LAST NIGHT I DREAMED OF CHICKENS
by Jack Prelutsky
Last night I dreamed of chickens,
there were chickens everywhere,
they were standing on my stomach,
they were nesting in my hair,
they were pecking at my pillow,
they were hopping on my head,
they were ruffling up their feathers
as they raced about my bed.
They were on the chairs and tables,
they were on the chandeliers,
they were roostin in the corners,
they were clucking in my ears.
There were chickens, chickens, chickens
for as far as I could see...
When I woke up today, I noticed
there were eggs on top of me.
When I first heard that poem, I thought of the chickens my Mother kept after she retired. When my daughter was about 4, she handed her a little fluffy baby chick and asked "What do you think we should name it?" My daughter answered, "I think I'll call her SERENITY". This is not a word that immediately comes to most minds when thinking of chickens! No sirree. [No sirree bob tail.]
For proof of this read Quite A Year For Plums by Bailey White It had a hilarious chapter in it about a woman who painted chickens. (Well, not the chickens themselves, you know, but pictures of chickens!) I think you will like it.
Meanwhile, keep busy turning your flotsome into some pretty birds - or into something useful for the birds!
Someone (who shall remain nameless for their own protection) once asked me in all seriousness why we don’t just send all our garbage into outer space! Guess what? We have.Well, not ALL of it…but, a lot. There’s enough trash out there for scientists to have stuck a name to the [prophetic] scenario wherein the amount of debris orbiting the Earth would prevent us from launching satellites into orbit. It’s called Kessler’s Syndrome.
And the really bad thing about Kessler's Syndrome is the part where it explains that the impact between two objects would create more debris.This debris would then hit other objects, creating even more trash.It just gets worse as the pieces of rubble get smaller and smaller! The more pieces there are out there, the greater the chances of another impact.
NORAD acts as a kind of air traffic controller for everyone by keeping track of all this floating junk so that there are no collisions. We need to protect our satellites. Without them, we wouldn’t have the Internet or GPS navigation.We wouldn’t be able to forecast the weather, or watch TV, or spy on our neighbors. Without them, we'd have to forget space travel altogether---forever!
I don't know about you, but I'd like to think that even though we have polluted our own planet, we aren't so irresponsible that we've screwed up our escape plan too! It's the only other alternative if we can't fix Earth. If the trash orbiting our planet gets any deeper, humanity is well and truly stuck here on this planet for eternity.
Of course, "ETERNITY" - for us - might not be that long.
Scientist are working on ways to clean up this mess. Clean Up link
Here is a link about the IMAX documentary movie. SPACE JUNK 3D
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For myself, I have renewed my efforts to create something from my own stash of trash which I have called The Flotsam Project. [see sidebar]
I can't clean up Outer Space and I can't clean up the Earth, but maybe I can clean up around my house? Or at the very, very least - around my desk.
Just how much
junk do you have laying around? If you are at work, just take a look in that
bottom desk drawer.
Yes, the deep one where you removed the old file folders, scanned the contents and stored the info "in the cloud" and now use as a place to hide your secret stash of Little Debbie Cakes.
What else is
in there?
Could you
make someone a valentine gift using the contents?
geek love from computer part
floppy disc planter
necklace from marker caps
You couldn’t? Why? Oh,
because you are very neat and orderly at work?
Like I believe that, but ...wHaTeVeR!
How about at
home? I bet you could open up that kitchen cabinet under the sink and come up with
something clever?
For Example:
plastic bag wreath
plastic cleaning bottle
junk drawer bracelet
Your kitchen is TOTALLY organized?
You say you’ve spent a lot of time on Pinterest and -unlike the rest of us -you
haven’t just been pinning, you have actually put those ideas into practice?
Are you, like ...you know...OCD or something?
Messy
Organized
What about that closet? Got
any junk in there that you could get rid of without shedding tears?
Before
I bet you could repurpose some stuff into cute little valentines!
T-shirt rug
blue jean earrings
sweater heart
Oh, let me guess. You just
took a load of stuff to Goodwill and then had Closet Factory come to your home
and systemize your entire wardrobe?
After
You know, I'm beginning to like you less and less.
Hey, I know….step out into
the garage! I’ll bet your husband/brother/son has a bunk of “man junk” out
there you could use to make some pretty UNUSUAL valentines! It doesn’t matter
if you don’t know what half that stuff is even used for. I’m betting he won’t
even miss it!
hex nut and leather men's braclet
gear heart pendant
wire and burlap wreath
Say what? Your
husband/brother/son is as neat as a pin and there is absolutely nothing in your
garage that doesn’t have a purpose.
Okay, now I KNOW you're lying!
Unless it has already been REpurposed - that's okay!
paint a wood spool pink
paint can art (I love this!)
Well, what about your
children’s bedrooms? If you’ve got a small child, I KNOW you have debris! And
if you have a TEENAGER [OMG!] you
have even more! And if you have a FEMALE teenager…well, you have hit the junk
motherlode!
Nothing there? Okay, well,
you must not have children. Or ever had children. Because when they leave the
nest, they leave stuff behind. [Stuff
that they expect you to hang on to for years and years. And they think that
their old room should be kept as it was when they lived there too! Kind of like
a shrine.]
If you never had kids, or
if the kids are long gone and you’ve dismantled the shrine, then I’m guessing
that the hobby/craft room that you’ve been dreaming of for years is fully
operational now, right?
Well,
enjoy it while you can, because once the grandchildren arrive it will become a
spare bedroom again to accommodate random sleepovers when their parents (your
grown kids) need a break.
Meanwhile …JACKPOT! I’m
sure there is more than enough beads, yarn, fabric, buttons, paper,
watercolors, and other odds-n-ends to make some beautiful recycled valentines.
You better get busy!
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