Three weeks ago I eliminated all meat from my diet in an effort to test the waters and determine my comfort level in living on foods that do not include meat.  My goal is to evaluate how the test is going at the one month then two month marks.  As I approach the one month mark I am feeling very good and have been happy with my available food choices.  Remaining aware that processed foods and over packaging are major issues I continue to strive toward eating locally grown produce.

Moving on from food I wanted to make a quick note regarding the local public transit system which I looked into this past week.  Public transportation in my area is lacking and in my opinion run poorly.  Twice I checked routes from my apartment to destinations and found that they each required three separate buses and/or trains.  The distance to the destinations were less than 10 miles and in each case the first bus goes the opposite direction I want to go before transferring to the second bus/train.  If we expect any significant amount of the population to utilize public transit over private automobiles there needs to be a good deal of improvement to the system.

Recently I began volunteering with the Reef Stewardship Foundation (RSF) as their assistant webmaster. Here is the mission statement for the RSF: “Our mission is to foster a diverse stewardship community that protects coral reefs through collaborative action, research, education and aquaculture initiatives”.

With my love of oceans and concern for the environment I feel the RSF is the ideal organization for me to devote time to. Because I am passionate about saving the reefs you can expect posts in the very near future focusing on how you can help.

When shopping I try to buy organic and preferably locally grown fruits and vegetables. One source for this is the local coop which carries a good variety of organic or natural products of which many are grown or produced locally. Living in an apartment limits my ability to grow any of my own food which would be a nice option.

There are several community pea patches in Seattle and some surrounding areas though I have found that they are either too far away (negating much of the benefit they would serve) or had waiting lists that saw no end in sight. Just last month I learned of a local community garden (all organic) with open patches so I jumped at the opportunity. My dad and step mom also wanted to grow some of their own food so we decided to work a couple of plots together. With the growing season well under way we started with two plots and reserved one additional for next year. Here are a couple of pictures from my visit to the garden today.

It would be great to see additional community gardens so that those without a yard could have the opportunity to plant and grow some of their own food. The local food bank also benefits form the community garden by both planting their own vegetables and receiving donations of excess food grown by other gardeners.

I am enjoying the much shorter commute and later hours that go with my new job.  The daily commute is being cut by about thirty minutes each way which adds an hour to my day and also adds time to my life as the stress of driving in traffic is lessened.

My work with the Lupus foundation is exciting right now as we are in the process of accepting and reviewing resumes for a chapter President/CEO.  Interviews for the position will begin in the near future and I am very happy with the applicants we have received so far.  We have also added several new board members over the last several months.  The chapter is clearly growing which means we will have the opportunity to educate or otherwise assist a greater number of people.

With numerous very important initiatives on going we do not get Christmas Eve off this year as we have in the past.  I finally decided I would use a vacation day so I could enjoy Christmas Eve and the resulting four day weekend. Last year we saw a white Christmas here in the Pacific Northwest and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  This year is looking to be cool and dry with no white in the forecast (yes I am disappointed).

December is a magical month that I look forward to every year.  During this season I am filled with happiness for the present and for the wonderful memories of past celebrations.  Two of my three nieces have their Birthdays in December which again is a reminder of how wonderful this month is (February is also great with my third niece having her Birthday then).

During the Holiday Season I tend to be thankful for many of the things I tend to take for granted during the rest of the year.  I am especially thankful for the well being of my family members around the country, for my own health (I still have a pulse), for my employment, and for the roof over my head.  There are other things I am thankful for though those are really the “biggies” that I feel compelled to mention.  In the last sixty days or so there have been eight law enforcement officers shot here in Washington State and sadly five of those eight did not survive and one remains in critical condition. Having spent eight years as a firefighter/EMT I feel especially close to the emergency service community and incidents such as these fill me with sadness.  Families have lost loved ones who spent their lives serving and protecting our communities. As I take stock in all I am thankful for I know that there are others who have much less and who have lost so very much.  It is these people who have less and who have lost so much that I think of during this time of year and I hope that they will have the strength and ability to rise above that which has them down at the moment.

My hope is that humanity is filled with the true spirit of the Holidays and that they use this opportunity to practice kindness and charity for all those less fortunate.  By less fortunate I do not only mean those less financially secure but also those who suffer both physically and emotionally.

For my parting words I would like to say…

Wishing you and yours a very happy Holiday Season

]]> http://calmwatersahead.com/archives/134/feed 0 http://calmwatersahead.com/archives/132 http://calmwatersahead.com/archives/132#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:43:45 +0000 Jason http://calmwatersahead.com/?p=132 Continue reading →]]> It has been a busy couple of weeks and the year is nearly gone.  The saying that time goes faster as you get older really does seem to be true.

It has been a busy couple of weeks and the year is nearly gone.  The saying that time goes faster as you get older really does seem to be true.

Last week I finished reading The Walk West: A Walk Across America 2 by Peter Jenkins.  I would have to say that this book was better than the first (A Walk Across America) and I would recommend both of them to anyone looking for a good read.  I also read The Thief of Always by Clive Barker.  The book was intended for somewhat younger audiences though I decided to read it since I missed it in my younger days.  This also was a very good read (goes fast) and well worth picking up.

Typically I wait until after Thanksgiving before putting up any winter holiday decorations though I found that this year the urge came a bit early.  Throughout last week I began putting out decorations and all I really have left to get is the tree.  The cool air seems to bring about feelings of festivity that I feel compelled to act upon. So bring on the holiday season!

This past Saturday I attended a Board retreat for the Lupus Foundation of America, Pacific Northwest chapter.  We accomplished a great deal of planning in our eight hours and I have to say that every member of the Board is a pleasure to work with.  There is no doubt in my mind that the chapter will flourish with the great Board members which I currently have the honor of serving with.

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is the autumn equinox as we are expecting temperature in the mid 80’s here in the Pacific Northwest.  Autumn to me is 50’s to 60’s so I will need to use my imagination to make it feel like autumn.  I hope the end of September or beginning of October usher in some cooler weather.  If not then is anyone hiring in Anchorage!?!

The Lupus Foundation of America, Pacific Northwest Chapter has several walks coming up. I will be assisting at the Spokane and Olympia walks and participating in and assisting with the Seattle walk.  I urge everyone that is able to participate in their nearest walk.  If you can’t walk your self consider donating (there is a link to my donation page on the right).

Portland – September 19th (I won’t be able to attend this)
Spokane – September 26th
Olympia – October 3rd
Seattle – October 17th

The summer has been an especially warm one here in the Pacific Northwest and I am looking forward to my favorite season…Autumn!  Bring on the fog, cool weather, and brilliant colors.  The cool foggy mornings have an incredible feel and smell to them that are hard to describe except to say that it is truly wonderful.

Last months board meeting for the Lupus Foundation PNW chapter was great and I am looking forward to the work ahead of us. We have the regional walks quickly approaching and I hope that there will be a decent turn out despite the economy. Anyone interested in being a team captain or walking as an individual please check out the chapter website to see the walk dates. We are also looking for volunteers to help with several projects. If anyone lives in the Pacific Northwest and is interested in helping with either of the below projects please contact me via the contact page:

Person with webmaster experience to bring the chapter website inline with the national template.

Person with Microsoft Access database design experience and knowledge of dBase database structure. This project will involve converting the data currently in dBase format to Access format and creating
a custom form to be used as a UI to meet the chapters needs.

Again if you are interested in helping with these projects please use the contact page to inquire.

This weekend I am heading to Leavenworth, WA for a little get away. I plan on returning to Leavenworth at least one more time this year and possibly twice (Winter and possibly fall). If anyone want a great area to visit this is one that I would recommend. Keep watching as I will post pictures of my “mini” get away.

If you are unable to walk yourself you are welcome to donate to my walk via the link on the right or you can donate directly to the Lupus Foundation of America Pacific Northwest chapter through their website. Remember there’s always more than one way to help you can donate time by volunteering or just help spread the word.

I will just say that I have been extremely busy at work with repercussions carrying over to after hours.  Today is Friday and though the weekend is supposed to be much hotter than I like it will be nice to do what I enjoy.

Many months ago (maybe even a year ago) I signed up for a number with what was then grand central and after much waiting and a change in company ownership I am all set up.  A couple of weeks ago I received an email notifying me that I was invited to receive a google voice number which I jumped on.  One nice thing is that an application was created for the Android mobile platform that easily integrates the google voice number with my G1 phone.  Now when I place calls they are directed through my google voice number.  The beauty of this is that by adding my google voice number to my “Fav 5” all outgoing calls do not count toward my anytime minutes.  The same rule applies for anyone calling my google voice number which is automatically forwarded to my G1.  Theoretically this would mean unlimited calling while having the plan with the lowest number of minutes.  Additionally there is a texting feature you could use so eliminating or dropping your texting plan is an option.  There is still some configuration with groups and spam filtering I have to work on but so far I am very happy.

In the next couple of days I am going to imbed a PSA regarding the Lupus Foundation walk that I will be participating in.  As a reminder you can donate to this cause through the link on the right side of the page titled “Support My Walk for Lupus”.