My holiday wish list....

If you like this letter, please share it.

I am asking for a gift from everyone I know, it is not a gift from a store, it is nothing you can buy. What I am asking for is for everyone I know, every friend, family member, neighbor and everyone who reads this, to help save my children and grandchildren. From those who are already working hard I am gratefully asking for even more.
Here is the beginning of the article from the Washington Post that inspired my own gift this year; "Climate researchers now predict the planet will warm by 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century even if the world's leaders fulfill their most ambitious climate pledges, a much faster and broader scale of change than forecast just two years ago, according to a report released by the United Nations Environment Program." (11-25-09) This might be one of the darker predictions but even if you don't fully trust these facts, a small percentage of a chance of this happening is too high of a risk. I personally put seat belts on my children every time we get in the car even though the chance of being in a accident it much lower. This means we have no cushion of time to act and all of our actions must be much bolder than we have as countries, communities and individuals have committed to so far. Now is our time to take our power and defend our future. The facts are scary and I will not go into them, except to say this is a future we do not want to go to. Weaning ourselves from oil and coal needs to become our primary focus. Nuclear is too dangerous to be a real alternative and until truly renewable energy in found this mean we need to safely power down. We need to step up our actions, recycling a few cans is not going to fix it, we need more.
This is as if we have gone to the Doctor and she has told us we have a terminal illness and unless we change our diet and life style drastically we have a very high chance of dieing young. We have a choice, we can become depressed and not even try, we can ignore the Dr.'s advice and keep sitting around eating junk food and then every now and then take a bit of broccoli, or we can really change our diet and get more exercise, not easy, but doable and in the long run more enjoyable. The big difference is that it is not just our own lives we are talking about but that of our children and grandchildren. It is also something we can not do alone. It does not matter what I do if others do not change also and if we allow corporations and governments to go on with business as usual. We must all work and change together.
We need not think of this as a sacrifice because really we can make our community better as we do this. We can have fun, have better connections with our families and neighbors, better health, and more beauty around us.
For my best friends wedding gift I decided not to fly to her wedding in Florida but to give and her future children the gift of working my hardest to save this beautiful planet and all of our grand children. For my own children's gift I have recommitted myself to spreading the word on why we need to change, how now is the time, and changing myself.
I recently heard an essay about Hope, in which it was said that hope is for things we do not have power over. On my way home in the evening I do not "hope" I will make dinner. I say "I am going to go home and make dinner." Scientists agree that Global Climate change is happening and is caused mostly by human activity, that means we can influence it, we have power. We do not need to "hope" that we stop climate change. We can simply say "we will stop climate change."
So again what am I really asking for, for Christmas? That you talk to everyone you know about global warming and how we can slow it. If you have not already joined in the efforts, research what needs to be done and join others that are already working. Demand from our politicians much higher carbon emissions standards and energy efficiency standards. Demand we take away corporate "person hood." Help take back our food system, get out of your car, don't buy stuff, buy local. Hold businesses accountable. Hold each other accountable. Hold me accountable. Support each other, take care of what we have, repair, reuse, relearn...... Let the momma and papa bear that is inside of you out and do whatever you can to protect the future of all of our children...... Blessings and may you enjoy all the gifts you have today.

http://permaculture.tv/wake-up-and-freak-out/ So well done
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE6Kdo1AQmY simple funny but right on
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/24/AR2009092402602.html

my first power down day

I posted this on the Trasition web site too but since i have this blog i thought I would keep it up to date!

A few weeks ago Xav Leplae brought up the idea of an off the grid or power down week with me. which I love and am very excited about us possibly doing in Riverwest in the spring. But then as I talked with others and we batted around the idea on the Transition yahoo group I heard about the idea of power down days. So I started inviting others to pick a day with me. The idea as I see it is that every family or individual can choose what power down means to them. If that means a day with out the radio and that is all you feel comfortable and ready for than take that first step and try just that. The idea is not to be uncomfortable but to learn for ourselves what what we truly need to be comfortable, happy and healthy. The biggest thing for me about this day is that although I may do it with just my family we are are not doing it alone, but we are doing it with a community. with the in put of a few friends I picked Saturdays for the power down days in Milwaukee's Riverwest but now I have friends Madison and other places that are doing it too.

For my first day I set using no electric beside my fridge, ( I also left my phone and answering machine on and answered the phone a few times. ) I turned the heat down to 55. I planned on turning my hot water off but didn't get to doing that. I also did not use my car at all even though I had a job across the city.

highlight of my power down day:
one of the best things about this day is that it forced me to not turn on the radio or computer leaving me much more available for my children, a perfect reason to do it on the weekend. Being off the Grid in this way is weird at first if you are used to being able to hook in when ever you want. I have been pushing myself on this before this power down day and it has been so nice for me that I have been inspired to turn them on less on other days and already I am getting used to being less plugged in.

I turned the heat down to 55 but it stayed warmer because it was so mild out and we baked bread to warm up kitchen in am. I think I will try turning down to 50 next weekend, (which it may not go down to unless it is deeply cold out. ) We are getting used to dressing warmer, sweaters, even a hat inside in the evening. I am also learning that if you don't sit at a computer or desk you stay warmer!

most of my bus rides are normally rather short and I have been driving to jobs that are across town. for my first power down day I took two buses to get to 95th and greenfield from riverwest. I must have missed my first bus but as I waited for the bus I relearned how it is a great time to do a few stretches and it was a beautiful sunny morning. after that I had good luck with buses, crocheted 2 washcloths ( I mainly only crochet while the bus is stopped because I get sick if I look down too much, if I didn't I would read and take the bus ALL the time! ) I also got practice talking about the weather and making conversation which really was nice.
Here i will say although I did my ride on Saturday without my kids I find the bus a wonderful way to spend time with kids. waiting for the bus we often have time to play...tag, walking backwards etc. On the bus you can see what your children are looking at and hold little children.
We baked chicken for dinner, than the best part was eating dinner by candle light, After dinner my mom played the piano and we danced by candle light too which was a truly magical way to end the day.
I am really excited about this and see how it is changing how I behave already and am really hoping it will grow!! Power Down with me!!

http://transitionmilwaukee.ning