Michelle
I am Michelle and I live in Spokane, Washington. I make my living in sales, but I make my life as the happy wife of a cancer survivor, mom to an amazing little boy, volunteer, and budding children's author. My two biggest goals in life are to be a good human and to raise a good human. At the age of 36, I've come to realize that my expectations of the world are the same as when I was a child. I've also come to respect the wisdom that is packed into my son's little head. Somewhere in between how I explain the world to him and how he explains the world as he sees it, there is a lot of heart and a lot of truth.
The Latest From Michelle
People, please! Clean Up Your Act!
Today, my family and I spent a lovely day at Lake Coeur d’Alene. It’s truly a little slice of Heaven, if you’ve never been. Ranked as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world; it has crystal clear waters edged by jutting rock outcroppings and bordered by mountains covered in towering evergreen trees. Absolutely beautiful. That view is one of the reasons that my husband and I moved to the Northwest. I love it every time. Today, however, I was just a bit dismayed.
One of our favorite ways to experience this lake is from the water. We happen to prefer one of the people-powered methods: kayaks. It’s truly a great way to appreciate the loveliness of it all. We can silently paddle next to the shoreline, admiring the view and the solitude. You can look into those waters and hope for a glimpse of a darting fish. Wait, was that a soda can? You can watch the osprey as they screech and dive towards the nest in the top of a tree. Is that a sock hanging from the limb? We listen to the waves crashing against the rocks and investigate the crevices carved by the water over years and years. Wait, what is stuffed into that crack? And, Mommy, why does that rock have writing on it? (Thank Heavens that word isn’t on the sight words for kindergarten list!!)
People, please! Clean up your act!
This will show my age, but I remember having “Give A Hoot, Don’t Pollute” drilled into my head on a regular basis. Maybe it stopped when Saturday morning cartoons became all day, everyday cartoons but where did that lesson go? I’m not pinning this on the youngest generation, especially since some of them are just plain fantastic and frankly, we need them to be. I also know very well that those of us old enough to recognize the slogan sure need a refresher course from Woodsy Owl!
The phrase, “Pack it In, Pack it Out” does not apply to spray cans, I’m certain of that. And while I enjoy decorating an evergreen with bright shiny items for Christmas, I don’t get quite the same warm holiday joy from beer cans hanging from the limbs of a tree still growing next to a gorgeous lake. Speaking of holidays, what on earth possessed someone to toss their red and white Santa cap high into a tree…and leave it there?
Along the way today, my five year old son picked up coffee cups in the parking lot and found a proper home for them. My husband plucked some trash out of the lake and it rode back to shore bungee corded to the front of the kayak. We couldn’t do much about the items crushed into or painted onto the boulders but that trash likely got there one piece at a time and we can clean it up one piece at a time too.
Just one last parting plea to all those who walk, boat, sail, ride or amble into the amazing spaces and places all over this planet….please, clean up your act.
More Posts By Michelle
The Promise of A New Notebook
It’s the notebooks. They get me every time. I confess that I am a big nerd. I have always celebrated the approach of the new school year. I relished in the annual school supply shopping trip as a kid. Now it’s me driving the car to fill bags with new notebooks, pencils and markers. I [...]
Helmets Matter.
Ahh…it must be summer. There are children everywhere! In the last week, I have, unfortunately, nearly hit two of them. Both times, it was a kid on a bike who darted out in front of my car, likely never saw me and should be glad that I saw him.
At my house, there is a five [...]
Information Matters
The availability of knowledge and information via the Internet makes it possible for anyone of us to be far “smarter” than we could have been a few decades ago. Just consider that….thirty years ago if I wanted to learn something, I had to get on my trusty bicycle, ride to the library and find a [...]
Oceans Matter
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. I never underestimate my five year old son’s ability to teach me something. In today’s case, it wasn’t him personally but it was the Kid Scoop page in our local paper. I’m embarrassed to admit that I had never before heard of “The Great Pacific [...]
Earth Hour
Imagine the Las Vegas Strip…the city that never sleeps; looking very asleep.
The Golden Gate Bridge…intentionally blacked out.
The Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, Seattle Space Needle…all dark.
The kitchen light burning over the sink, the reading lamp, the porch lights…your house could be next. Your time -indeed, our time- is coming. This Saturday, March 27 is the [...]
Buckets of Perspective
March 1, 2010 by Michelle
Filed under Blog, Uncategorized
I have publicly declared my goal of not raising a brat. Multiple times. We own no video games; our son watches no TV. We visit the library weekly. Imagination is highly valued in our house. Our family works hard on gratitude, giving to others, perspective and volunteering. We try to remember that if we give [...]
Change a Child’s Life
If you follow red carpet Hollywood award shows like the Academy Awards, SAG and Golden Globes, chances are that you’ve heard of a little movie called The Blind Side. If you saw the movie in the theater, you know it is hard not to be moved and inspired by the story of Michael Oher. The story is [...]
Choosing a Hero
They are everywhere. They are everywhere because we have made it so. Our very fascination with them sells magazines and movie tickets. It fills stadiums and our televisions. They are celebrities, professional athletes, politicians and musicians. They are the subject of our dreams and our “reality” shows. Their posters hang on our children’s walls. However, [...]
An Email from your Landfill
Happy Holidays! What did you find wrapped beneath pretty paper this year? Maybe you bought yourself something shiny at an after-season sale? Did you get some new lead? How about some mercury? Heavy metals, maybe? A well wrapped human carcinogen in the form of cadmium, anyone? I know I have a few previously shiny hazardous [...]
