Thursday, March 13, 2014

Provide For Yourself Without Diminishing The World

Oh, the joys of Spring.  They're here.  Each day I notice at least one new sign of Spring.  And it brings joy to my heart.  


{My daylilies are working hard to bust up out of the ground!}


{The peach tree is sending out its first blooms.}


{The violas came alive again.  The colors went from a little dull to totally vibrant overnight.}


{All the birds are active.  And this bluebird visits every day now.}

Still, here in Charlotte, we're riding the roller coaster that is our current weather pattern.  75 degrees one day and 42 the next.  You just never know what you'll wake up to.  Forrest Gump might say that our weather pattern is like a box of chocolates.  On those days that the sun shines down on us and keeps us warm, we're outside every spare moment, SOAKING IT UP!


{I laughed when the "littles" got tired of taking turns in the Jeep and piled in on top of one another!}


{And Soph, the little girl who always looked exactly like Dad to me, seems to look more and more like me every day.  Some days I look at her and I'm stunned. It's like looking at myself.}

And the sidewalk drawings just keep getting better!


{When I told Soph she couldn't have a lemonade stand, she drew one.}


{I was a little sad when the rain washed the mermaid away!}


{The little faces peering out of the rocket ship windows just kill me!}

Alain and I were riding in the car on Tuesday and the DJ on the radio said, "I hope Mother Nature decides to be nice and give us some warm weather today."  I don't really know why but that comment made me angry. I said out loud, "Really, what have you done for Mother Nature lately?".  Alain, who knows me so well, knew I was talking to the DJ and only grunted in agreement with me.  No other words were necessary.  One of only many reasons why I love this guy so.  But seriously, it did make me upset. Too many of us expect so much of Mother Nature yet we give next to nothing in return.  It's a relationship of take, take, take.  So I was pleased, no....more than pleased, to come across this article by Michael Pollan today (via Rhonda's awesome blog).  I hope you might take a few minutes to read it too. (My post title came from the closing of the article.) I wasn't looking for inspiration or motivation to do more but I was still happy to find it.
  
During Dr. Seuss week at school, I was a Mystery Reader in Soph's class.  I had to read my favorite Seuss book.  Well, it should be pretty clear what my favorite is.  The Lorax.  And as I read to all those eager faces, I was particularly moved by my favorite line:

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better.  It's not."

Amen to that.  That Dr. Seuss....he was pretty brilliant, no?
(And can I just say that the kids thought it the coolest thing ever that my name is Audrey, the same as the treehugger teen in The Lorax movie? They used to call me "Sophie's Mom" but now they all call me Audrey.  I love that!)

Hope you're all well and enjoying a beautiful week!
XOXO

11 comments:

  1. Such a good point!! When we begin treating Mother Nature with more respect, maybe she'll be a little nicer to us :)

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  2. Hi Audrey! I've been away for a little while but I'm happily catching up with your posts. I'm a huge Dr. Seuss fan and I agree about the one way street people want from our beautiful Earth. If I really give it a lot of thought I can really get depressed, but burying my head in the sand isn't good either. It's just important to be mindful of these things and do more than I do now. On another note, I wanted to personally let you know that I am moving my blog. You and Kay have been such faithful blogging friends that it's important to me that you come along, too. I took an online blogging class and have made the move from Blogger to WordPress.org. It has been a HUGE challenge, but I'm starting to get settled in. The Drowsy Bee will still be there but I won't be posting there anymore. My new home is www.myyondermountain.com and I hope you'll come for a visit. Maybe yo, kay, and I can actually meet in person someday (I think you and Kay already know each other?) See you soon. Jeanette

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    1. I love your new blog. I tried to comment but still not sure if it went through. I know Kay had a similar problem. So please know I'm visiting and will try to comment again very soon.... Kay & I have never met, by the way.....although we hope to one my next trip to ATL....whenever that will be! :-)

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  3. I love this post!
    You have our weather exactly, the up and down, it's hard to believe!
    And our violas are gorgeous too, almost overnight. Do you notice that people will look at you like you are crazy when you call them that? They tell you that they are pansies, and of course, they are the same family, but they are smaller, just look at them people, I want to say back!!
    And I was a mystery reader for Christopher too! I was Mrs.G. or Christopher's Mom! And you must know that The Lorax is one of my favorites too. Dr. Seuss is my hero, I read his ABC book endlessly to C. when he was a wee baby!
    Your girls are growing up so fast! Love the chalk drawings, so glad that you took photos of them! Hope you enjoy this Spring, once it ever gets here! LOL!

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    1. Yes, pansies are much larger.....big difference! Today, the 1st official day of Spring, was BEAUTIFUL. Leaves me feeling hopeful. I don't know if I've ever been this ready for Spring! :-)

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  4. Oh, and I read the article. "A question of character", I agree. It reminds me of the starfish story that I wrote about on my blog, remember it?
    And I just read Jeannette's post! We have never met, have we, Audrey? We are good blogging friends though! And yes, I would love for all 3 of us to get together!!
    I tried to go to her blog but I couldn't figure out how to leave a comment!

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    1. I couldn't comment either.....at least I don't think it went through. Pooh. ONE DAY I will get back to ATL.....I hope....and then maybe we can FINALLY meet.

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    2. Hi Audrey and Kay. I am still working on my new blog so this is good to know. Did you click on the post title? That takes you too the individual post page and that's where the comment box is, at the bottom. If you get a chance to try it that would be great. I tried to put directions on my sidebar but I don't even know if that works? Thanks for helping me try this out!

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  5. Such a great post, Audrey! It's true - we seem to have a mentality that the earth just owes us something and have no regard for how we are using her up. Shame on humans!

    I absolutely adore Sophie's artwork! Those lemonade glasses are so adorable! And that Dr. Seuss quote is one of my favorites too!

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    1. Thanks, Deb! I was a big fan of those lemonade glasses too. So, so cute....and made me want a big cold glass of lemonade. She'll need to draw them again when/if we do have a real stand!!! Ha!

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