Good News Tuesday: Students Rising Above & Helpers in New Zealand

8 Year Old Refugee Living in a Homeless Shelter wins NY Chess Championship

Eight year old Tanitoluwa Adewumi, who goes by Tani, won the New York state championship for his age level. He started playing chess about a year ago in school. Tani and his parents are refugees from Nigeria and live in a homeless shelter in New York. Both of his parents are now working, and one of Tani’s chess coaches has started a gofundme page to help them get a house.  You can read more about Tani and his family here.

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Students Strike for the Planet

I’m filled with hope by so many young people around the world striking on behalf of the planet this past Friday. The first video is an in depth report from Australia. The second is more of an overview.

16 Year Old Planet Activist Nominated for Nobel Prize

Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old activist from Sweden has inspired thousands of students around the world to strike for the planet, has been nominated for the Nobel Prize. In August of 2018, Greta started the first school strike for climate. In December, she addressed the UN Climate Change Conference. Recently, Greta became the youngest person to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Until I watched her Ted Talk, I didn’t know she has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. She is intensely honest. Greta plans to strike from school “every Friday until Sweden is in line with the Paris Agreement.” Personally, she has stopped flying, stopped eating meat and dairy, and she does not buy new things unless it’s absolutely necessary

“The one thing we need more than hope is action. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere.” __ Greta Thunberg

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Look for the Helpers

The news from Christchurch New Zealand was horrible.  My goal is to remember those 50 people who lost their lives, find a way to honor them, and recognize those who’ve come to help. In my Goodnewsletter this morning, I found 12 stories of hope about the helpers – people who have rallied to help the victims of this tragedy.  Here are a few of those stories:

More than $3.5 million donated in 24 hours to help Christchurch shooting victims

Within hours of the Christchurch mosque attacks, people of various faiths rallied around Muslims

New Zealand will pay for Christchurch victims’ funerals regardless of immigration status
Survivor says ‘hero’ stopped New Zealand massacre by tackling shooter

You can sign up for the Goodnewsletter here.

#GoodNewsTuesday seeds to bring balance to media – One Tuesday at a time.

Got good news? Please share in the comments!

 

It Aint Over Yet. I still have my Eco shirt.

Did you ever have a piece of clothing that means the world to you? Something from long ago that says who you are? Something you love so much you want to be buried in it?

I’m not a materialistic person, but I love this material. I got this shirt in the seventies, when the ecology movement started. I was green before green was cool. In my senior year, everything I wore was green. I was gonna save the world, I was. I was gonna save the whales.

Over the years, I think I’ve done my share. Nothing dramatic, but then, you never know what I might do as an old lady in sneakers and an ecology T shirt. It aint over til it’s over.

I’m still a compulsive recycler. I still eat low on the food chain. I still buy most of my clothes and furniture second-hand. I still have an urban forest in my back yard. But there’s still something more I might do. Not sure what it is. But I’m hoping I can wear this T shirt when I do it.

But this issue is much bigger than a T shirt. Our planet earth is a gift. And as much as I love Star Trek, we might not get another planet. Even if we do get another planet, Earth is our mother, a treasure.  Her ecosystem was designed perfectly and has everything we need.

I know I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. I’ll say it till the cows come home and sing because we are not eating them anymore. We must protect the Earth in all her blue and greenery if we are to live a life worth living.

So if you see an old lady on TV wearing an old raggedy ecology flag T shirt doing something crazy to save the planet. It might just be Joanna of the Forest.

 

Thanks, Linda Hill, for today’s Stream of Consciousness/Jusjojan prompt:
“Eco”

For more information on #SoCS and Just Jot it January, visit Linda at:

https://lindaghill.com/2018/01/05/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-6th-2018/

Here are the SOCS rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

 

Awesome Stories 333

Here are 4 awesome stories about planet-friendly food, hemp cars, valuing people in business, and meeting death, brought to us by Brad, at “Writing to Freedom.” I’m looking forward to trying “Sunfed foods.” The more plant-based protein options we have, the better for our planet – especially for the animals.

writing to freedom

This week Awesome Stories brings you meat-free meat, better business, hemp cars, and meeting death.

Meat-free Meat 

Sunfed Foods wants to change the way we think about meat and maybe save the planet. Inventor Shama Sukul Lee saw the big environmental impact of meat as a protein source and decided to create a better meat. Sunfed meats aim to look, taste, and cook just like meat, but are derived from pea and other plant proteins. Besides being much better for the planet, they are healthier for people too with less fat, and more zinc, iron, and protein, all while using fewer resources. The chicken variety recently launched in New Zealand and immediately sold out in local stores. Kudos Shama!

Better Business

This article highlights King Arthur Flour and other companies who choose differents ways of doing business that value people as well as profits. King Arthur believes that treating their employees as family…

View original post 267 more words

Cherish this Planet

“I perceive the universe as a cosmic temple and planet earth as a sanctuary in that temple.”

__Natalie Scarberry

I read the words above, in Natalie’s post, the evening after watching the movie The Martian, a gripping story about a man left for dead on Mars. He must learn to survive on a barren, inhospitable planet, not meant for human habitation. Mars is full of rocks and dirt, and freezing cold temperatures. The Martian air is not fit to breathe.

It got me thinking about how perfectly created our planet earth is.  It seems the earth is well suited for us, more than we are for the earth.

I’m ambivalent about spending so much money on space exploration when our own planet needs so much help. I want to believe we can explore the universe AND save Earth.

But taking care of our precious home planet needs to be our first priority.

While our leaders meet in Paris, searching for ways to protect our planet, let us offer our hopes and prayers for their success.  Let us create peace in our own hearts and minds – one moment at a time – to work together.

Even with all the horrible things some humans do to our world, pockets of peace and beauty still survive. We can heal. Every patch of earth we care for is part of the healing.

 

I’m reminded of this poem I found in my Earth Prayers book.

Few things that grow here poison us.

Most of the animals are small.

Those big enough to kill us do it in a way

Easy to understand, easy to defend against.

The air here, is just what the blood needs.

We don’t use helmets or space suits.

The star here, doesn’t burn you if you

Stay outside as much as you should.

The worst of our winters is bearable.

Water, both salt and sweet, is everywhere.

The things that live in it are easily gathered.

Mostly, you can eat them raw with safety and pleasure.

Yesterday, my wife and I brought back

Shells, driftwood, stones and other curiosities

Found on the beach of the immense

Fresh-water sea we live by

She was all excited by a slender white stone which

“Exactly fits the hand!”

I couldn’t share her wonder.

Here, almost everything does.

Lew Welch

 

Photo by John Fowler via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

Wake Up Call

Summer wanes…

Rustling leaves whisper:

Change is coming…

Time to take inventory.

What do I need?

What’s most important?

What dreams can I grab by the collar,

And haul up from the depths,

To save the rest of my life?

It’s late in the game.

There’s still time left,

But the clock is ticking.

What do we need?

What’s most important?

What dreams can we weave together

In a giant safety net

To save our only planet?

To My Wayward Children

Fiercely agnostic in my twenties,
Haunted by dreams of abduction
By conservative Christians,
I’d pretend to play along
Whilst planning my escape.
They could not brainwash me!

As the years passed,
I met the Good Shepherd,
Saint Francis of Assisi,
Hildegarde of Bingen,
Teresa of Avila…

And I learned that all Christians aren’t the same
Some have minds
Gently open
Curiously listening
Loving without an agenda.

And all Buddhists aren’t the same
And all Muslims aren’t the same.
And all Pagans aren’t the same

I see the rebellious pathways
In my twenty something offspring,
Understanding, now
The fear of my mother,
The faith of my father.

I want to be a bridge.
Not a barrier.
I want you to know,
My indigo children:

I believe the Creator
Planted miracles
In this paradise planet,
Medicine in the plants,
Life in the water,
Magic in the rocks.

And all is a gift
From the Creator,
Who you may call
God
Goddess
Great Spirit
Mother
Father
Source

We may not agree, exactly
But we are more alike than different.

And I will love you forever.

 

 

Love Letters from a Sycamore Tree

The sycamore that grows in my backyard, near the house, has been leaning (away from the house) ever since a major hurricane years ago. I think it was Bertha in 1996. With each hurricane since, I go outside and give the tree a hug before things get dicey. “Hang in there,” I murmur. I think it was during Floyd in ’99 that I watched the roots heave upward a few inches with each powerful gust tugging at the branches. “Hold on,” I whispered from the back door.

The sycamore held on through the storms, through my divorce and through the raising of two teenagers. Now, a smaller trunk grows from the base of mother sycamore, leaning in the opposite direction, providing balance. The mother tree seems to be leaning less, like  maybe at a 5 degree angle instead of 20 degrees.

Some people would have cut this tree down as soon as the lean was discovered.

But not this tree hugger.

Each year the leaning tree sheds it’s bark as sycamores are known to do. This past summer, I noticed natural heart shaped holes in bark offerings. Maybe they were there before, and I just didn’t notice. I don’t know. Life is what you make it, and I like to think that maybe my old friend sent me summer valentines.

    

The wide leaves are just starting to turn brown. Soon they will begin to fall.

Trees give us shade in the summer as their leaves soak up the sun’s energy.  If you have as many trees in your yard as I do, you can save a lot of money on air conditioning.

As the weather cools, some trees let go of their leaves, letting the sun shine through to warm us in winter.

Is it a coincidence that trees benefit us this way?  Are we just lucky? Or are we blessed?

Then there’s the whole oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange thing.  Trees make the stuff we need to breathe in, and we breath out the stuff they need.

Do you ever stop and think about how amazing and wonderful this planet is?

This poem is from Earth Prayers 1991, Edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon:

Few things that grow here poison us.

Most of the animals are small.

Those big enough to kill, do it in a way

Easy to understand, easy to defend against.

The air here is just what the blood needs.

We don’t use helmets or special suits.

The star here doesn’t burn you if you

Stay outside as much as you should.

The worst of our winters is bearable.

Water, both salt and sweet, is everywhere.

The things that live in it are easily gathered.

Mostly, you can eat them raw with safety and pleasure.

Yesterday, my wife and I brought back

Shells, driftwood, stones and other curiosities

Found on the beach of the immense

Fresh-water Sea we live by.

She was all excited by a slender white stone which

“Exactly fits the hand.”

I couldn’t share her wonder.

Here, almost everything does.

                                  Lew Welch

Whether it’s luck, or the grand design of a generous Creator, we need to be more thankful for our planet, and particularly thankful for trees. If a tree’s growing in an inconvenient place, try to move it while it’s still small. Put small seedlings in  pots and give them away. Give them a chance.

What have you learned from trees or from nature?