I'M ALIVE! Yes, I live. The reasons for not blogging are a) extreme business and b) really terrible internet connections. Like...really terrible. I can't promise more or less posting this summer, I'm still living in the woods and am now in charge of training, feeding, and generally caring for a lot more birds now that everyone else is gone. But I'm still journalling and taking pictures, and one day I'll be able to share. Right now it's a Sunday afternoon, I'm in my jim jams on my bed with both windows open, a candle lit, and a really good book to read. Life is good.
Happy Summer
(p.s. check out the supermoon tonight, it's going to be at its peak! I'm going night canoeing and plan on howling at it)
I LOVE having people come visit me. My parents visited me, my bestie Alice from high school visited me, and then my dad came and visited me AGAIN! Alice (or Alibus, as I frequently call her) visited while it was still the dead of winter (though to be honest, it isn't QUITE real spring yet), so here are a few shots I snapped while exploring the center property and Banning State Park.
winter attempted to make sure ALL GREEN WAS COVERED, but winter FAILED
have you ever read a more intense, beautifully written opening paragraph to a park interpretive sign?
I took this for my yellow compilation
And some extras...
stars in her eyesss
"Welcome to Staples, may I help you?"
All of the pictures taken in Banning State Park were done on Aperture priority mode. I'm taking a step toward shooting primarily in Manual! I'M DOING IT! And I'm pretty proud of those pictures, too!
I had so much fun with Alice, we had dance parties in the climbing wall, went owling in Duluth, drank beer and ate wild rice burgers at Fitger's, had movie nights, went cross country skiing, explored rivers, and went on night-time woodland adventures (what we do best). I'm so happy she came and visited me (even though it was like, two months ago...)
I'm also uploading pictures from the two days we had of spring when my Dad was here tonight. I WILL MAKE TIME TO BLOG.
All of my charm necklaces in our shop have sold! YAYYYY! I'm so excited that a goal I had for myself this year has come into fruition, and with awesome results! (so many exclamation points...)
It's made me realize how far I've come in my craft, and it rekindles my fire to create even MORE miniature creatures. I'm going to focus my energy on our shop here, since I don't have to deal with shipping, BUT there are still a few small pokemans in my shop without a home, and there's always the custom option. I am always open for custom charms, just message me on etsy and I will respond right away.
I went to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN in February, which was a definite eagle-filled experience and all around good time! I guess it's about time I shared pictures of things that happened TWO MONTHS AGO.
This weekend I was busy participating in my second to last class to obtain my graduate environmental educator's teaching certificate, Sustainable Foods and Energy.
I'm a...passionate person, to say the least (aka loud and angry about many topics, especially when they have to do with the environment and conservation). We watched Food Inc. tonight and it opened my eyes to a lot of wrongdoings that I had an inkling were occurring, but didn't truly know the full extent of. Vegetarians and vegans who abide by the laws of PETA and who don't eat meat because of the cute piglets and brown-eyed cow babies that get slaughtered for meat consumption are being vegetarians for the wrong reason (to be harsh). I completely disagree with the thought process that meat should not be consumed because it is unethical to eat another animal; animals have eaten other animals for centuries. Omnivores, carnivores, and sometimes even accidentally by other herbivores, animals have become food for others. I disagree with our meat consumption because it is terrible the way animal are treated in the meat processing industry; it is completely and totally unethical. It is also destroying the environment. To eat a plant-based diet would mean to cut down on two and a half TONS of CO2 emissions that would otherwise be derived from cows, their unnatural corn-based diet, and transportation of the entire industry. THAT'S the right reason to eat a plant-based diet.
However, there are those of us (such as me) who still really like meat and would enjoy continuing to eat it, though I do not actually consume it all that much. In that case, it's important to NOT SUPPORT THESE COMPANIES. The companies that pack in animals, feed them antibiotics because of their corn-based diets, which make them sick, inject with rBTG, a growth hormone that has been clinically proven to cause young girls to enter puberty early (that's just scary), and then kill in inhumane ways and package in unsafe conditions, causing illness. Instead, we need to support grass-fed, local beef as much as possible, as well as free-range chickens (truly free-range). A couple of years ago, my dad saw Food Inc. and decided that from then on, we needed to buy organic animal products. At first I complained about the inconvenience, and I'm completely ashamed at how I reacted now. I am my father's daughter, raged at Food Inc, and thought about my role in helping to choke this inhumane, un-environmental industry. Now I want to make some changes in my eating and food intake, which I'll describe now to hold me semi-accountable for it.
1) About a year ago, I decided I wanted to only eat beef once a month, if at all, in order to not support the beef industry in all its corn-growing, cattle pushing glory. However, I pretty much failed since hamburgers are delicious and I am weak in that aspect. Now I realize that I am not eating beef very often, living at an environmental education center. I'm attempting to only eat beef once a week now (giving myself a little more leeway), and if I do eat beef then it should be organic and grass-fed if possible.
2) Go meatless at least once a week, more if possible! I tried going vegetarian when I was in middle school and after a week I was cranky, sick, and tired. That's because I was eating absolutely no protein AKA I was only eating pasta. So even though things haven't really changed that much, I'm still never going to be a completely plant-based diet person. Well, maybe someday. But not now. So in order to cut down on some CO2 emissions, I'm going meatless at least once a week.
3) One of the points made in my class for creating a cleaner world was to dedicate a larger portion of your paycheck to food. I don't often have to buy my own food, but when I do I have the luxury of buying items that are better for the Earth. Even though I'm dirt poor, I still need to attempt to buy organic, in season, and maybe even non corn-based. This will be a tough road, but I'm going to start the walk. There's an organic store in town (surprisingly), so I believe I'll see what prices of milk is there and go from there. I can buy fruits and vegetables that are in season, and if I ever buy meat for myself (which will probably never happen), then I'll buy organic. I just learned the eggs the local grocery store supplies comes from a chicken farm with terrible conditions that has multiple environmental issues, so I need to stop buying those. Basically, food that is treated humanely will continue to be expensive until everybody makes the decision to buy ethically treated food. That is when the change will happen.
4) Make better choices for myself and for the planet. I need to start being healthier in what I eat, what I choose to eat, and what I do. I should also probably start brushing my teeth more...
Here and here are blog posts that really encompass how I feel about the whole eating meat thing, especially the "ethical" side of it. In fact, her entire blog is great and you should probably read it.
I'm probably "preaching to the convinced", as mentioned in Food Inc., but I wanted to get this off my mind. So many people have different opinions about food in general, and I just want them to watch this documentary and make their own decisions from it. I often talk about how PETA and Greenpeace use blatant propaganda to try to sell their "product", but sometimes you do have to look at the facts, that this is real and something should be done about it. It doesn't mean stop eating burgers, it means please stop eating them as much, or try getting a grass-fed burger!
I believe the whole movie can be found on Youtube :) It's akin to a horror movie, but unlike most, this one is ACTUALLY based on true events. Even the soundtrack of this documentary had a definite horror theme chill to it, an eerie combination with scenes of acres and acres of miserable feed lots packed with cattle.
But don't let that discourage you, it really is a great documentary, and really helped me open my eyes.
I almost forgot Easter was this weekend, but remembered when I paused to reflect on why everyone seemed to be going home for the weekend. That left just the kids who couldn't catch a plane ride home for just two days, so we had our own Easter celebration!
We dyed Easter eggs, I wore my pretty new dress (even though I had to feed my owl in it and tromp through lake-like puddles), had FOUR egg hunts inside our house (all of which started off violently as we attempted to thwart other people's egg search), made ham and risotto for dinner, got drunk off of the wine we made risotto with, played picture telephone, made sugar cookies, and I chatted with my family on skype. It was a really awesome day.
Fun Fact:
-last year for Easter, my Oma and Opa set up a huge Easter egg hunt for my brother and I that included money eggs. They asked if we wanted to split the money evenly after we'd both found all the eggs, or if the eggs we found were the money (or no money) we got. My brother scoffed and boasted that he would find them all anyway, so to keep it "fair" he would split it. I agreed and we set off to find the eggs. We were ALMOST even, but I found a couple more than him that just so happened to have ALL the money in them. So it's lucky for him we decided to split the monies. THE END.
I know I've gone back to being a bad blogger. It's getting to be our busy teaching season again, but I do really want to share photos from these past few months, so we'll see what happens posting-wise.
See you soon, raccoons!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
I've finally uploaded and edited all of the pictures on my camera from the past several months and have them ready for blogging and overall sharing of them via the Internet. Unfortunately, my Internet is being a dick right now (what? Huh? No, I didn't say that...) so basically I am DONE attempting to do anything more complicated than just writing this post and going to bed.
Here are some things I've done this past week:
-took Tim Tam Slams on the living room floor
-used a heat gun to melt caulk off of wooden frames
-made a lot of sexual inuendos while melting said caulk off of the wooden frames (my favorite quote from Jeff, "That's good caulk")
-waited patiently for an uncooperative owl to step onto my glove
-did most of my taxes (actually, my dad basically did them for me. THANK YOU, DAD!)
-studied owl calls on a Saturday night
-created a big cats only zoo on Zoo Tycoon called "No Dawgs Allowed"
-Traveled to Eagle Bluff and met cool new peeps
-Helped flight train a kestrel (one of the best moments of my life)
-Leapt off of a platform forty feet in the air (it was a zip-line. A terrifying zip-line)
-recovered from multiple wounds and a nasty hangover from our St. Patrick's Day party
-sold one of my charm necklaces in our gift store!
Writing it all down makes me realize that I have a pretty good life.
