A Cleaner World

Who would have thought that it would snow in Arizona in late May?  I remember sitting in the nurse’s office at school with my friend Pam on Monday laughing that some fool at weather.com had transposed the forecasted temperature for Thursday.  There was no way it would be only 78.  In fact, yesterday, I don’t think it got into the 70s.  Today is also cold and it is our third straight day with off and on rain. 

Bruce and I are attending a retreat this weekend.  I vacillate between thinking retreats are hokey and stupid to wondering why they aren’t required parts of the life curriculum.  Last night we learned some lessons for life that I think are note-worthy:

1. Pay attention.
2. Be astonished.
3. Tell others.

This summer when I am taking a few months off to recharge my batteries, I hope that I remember to pay attention, be astonished and tell others.  He also said “Gratitude is action, not a feeling.”  I hope I remember to wash the dishes next time I feel grateful.

Meanwhile, the air smells sweetly of creosote, as the desert always does after a rain.  my run this morning, that seemed impossible as I lay in bed at 4:38 AM thinking about it, was enjoyable.  The squash in the garden seem to have grown a foot since Tuesday.  And I am grateful for this day, but not so much that I will wash the dishes.

Breathing in Phoenix

Am I the only one breathing here?  Doesn’t anybody else care about <<cough>> how difficult it is to breath?

We had a pollution advisory in Phoenix today.  I saw it on the morning news.  And it was bad.  “Unhealthy for active children”.  http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.showlocal&CityID=186  I was worried about PE at school (coupled with the 107 degrees today).  Turns out, there is NO OFFICIAL WARNING SYSTEM to alert schools to alter their outdoor activities.  The American Lung Association recently gave Phoenix an “F” for air quality. http://lungaction.org/reports/sota07_county.html  And in an effort to combat this, Phoenix has passed a law demanding that anyone who uses a gas powered leaf blower get training.  Like THAT’S going to help!  How about outlawing them?  Use a broom or a rake, for crying out loud. 

Sometimes I feel like no one else gives a crap about the air we breathe.

Joy of Running

What she said.

 

Grandparent Dispatch

I was going to send this out via email, but out of respect for those who don’t like pictures in their email, I am posting here.  Here is a picture of Charlie playing in his piano recital last month:

Here is a picture of Charlie’s interpretation of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.  This was all done free hand, but each item she ate was painted separately.  Note the detail.  I thought he just colored a pre-printed picture.  Wow.

 

For the next Grandparent Dispatch, I will try to use each of Mary’s current 20 vocabulary words in my post. 

Cory has a baseball game tomorrow night.  They lost last week. 

Gatorade

Yesterday I ran 20+ of the 19 miles on my training plan.  I have been slacking off lately and when I got out of bed yesterday, I swore I was done with marathons and I really couldn’t do this any more.  Nevertheless, I laced up my shoes and headed out the door wondering how far my “mental toughness” or lack thereof, would take me.  I slogged through the first 9 miles or so with Bruce and then I met up with Karen and Stacey for the last 10 or so.  I had not brought any Gu or Sports Beans or anything like that.  They were starting to question my sanity when I helped them by removing all doubt.  I am convinced that sports drinks are now made in a Chinese plastics factory so i don’t want to use them any more.  I told them I was trying to train my body to go without.  Stacey gave me some Sports Beans, which gave me quite a boost and then she asked me where they made Sports Beans.  I told her in a well-lighted clean factory with happy workers in California.

Still, they ran longer than they had planned and even did extra hills with me.  You couldn’t pay for friends this good.