I was thinking about my new grandson with a smile on my face ear to ear. I thought about how I would like to share my experiences with him. So I started to write a daily diary for him for his first year of life. Filled with a piece of daily advice from Papa and other tidbits of his first year and along with the experiences and trials of his brand new parents.
Then I got to thinking about how to leave him and my granddaughter a better world to live in. That is a lot more complicated and difficult. Probably something I should have been working a lot harder on for a long time. The world is a big place so I think I need to break that one down a bit and just do my best in as many areas as I can for as long as I can. And try to think about new ways or solutions to resolve larger issues confronting us all on another day.
If everyone started thinking small and acting daily we could make a difference. How can I reduce my footprint and consumption? I started doing something a few weeks ago where I use about half the water I used to, for a shower.
I’m going to try to start drinking fewer cokes which mean fewer plastic bottles. I’ll get a water jug, or whatever the kids and every other human being but me seem to be carrying around. I’m going to try to figure out how to use plastic bottles in some kind of sculpture. Whatever little I can think of and do each day.
We use the condensation from the AC and water plants with that. I’m mowing the lawn a little less often. I don’t use lighter fluid to start the grill. Little stuff helps. How warm or cool you can tolerate in your home depending on the season is also a great way to conserve. Turn a few lights off and see if you can live with less. But watch your toes.
I made a hard choice a few years ago and didn’t get the gas-guzzling Dodge Challenger with the huge HEMI and instead went with the mild-mannered Miata. Experience taught me in my younger years that gas can go up violently in cost and always has. I’ve never been a man with great amounts of disposable income and took the safe road. More mileage and fewer tickets. So now I can still go for a cruise if I feel the urge. Of course, I can’t say I don’t miss having all that horsepower with a stick shift under me.
I’m tired of being blind to the garbage footprint we put out as a family and not working or trying to reduce it isn’t acceptable any longer. Or my energy consumption and emissions. Hell, I’m even going to think about how I order stuff and see if I can combine it so an individual box for every single item isn’t needed.
Long as I got my mind open to change and consume less I’ll feel I’m doing the least I can do. Plus consuming less is good to ease the pain of whatever you purchase these days.
Random Thoughts of the Day
- A day of good hard work and watching the granddaughter for a while was my idea of a fine Friday.
- I think I’ll take an evening cruise with the top down.
- I don’t know what he is hunting around my home but a beautiful fox is outside a few times a day and it’s cool to watch the slyness of them. I think there is a groundhog out back he might be interested in but he is a big boy and my guess no easy meal.
- The older I get the bigger the yard seems to be.
- I’d be more effective at losing weight if there weren’t so many good things to eat during the summer.
