Please don't go away! I'm really not planning to list 25 things about me. I just love the whole concept of it. One of my Facebook friends sent me a "note" that read,
"Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.) Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you."
I made my list and then "tagged" 25 of my friends (that was almost everyone!) on FB. That meant I had to send it to some "friends" whom I don't know very well. At first I felt uncomfortable and a bit shy about asking them, but then I thought, "That's the whole point; catch up with what old friends have been doing and learn more about new friends!"
It's an exhausting exercise to be sure, but wonderfully cathartic! One day later, I would probably change some of the information. For instance, I wonder if anyone else has ever experienced waking up with bags under their eyes after getting too much sleep?
In summary, try writing 25 things about yourself and get your friends to do the same. It's really fun!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Great Ice Storm of 2008...continued
It's been 4 weeks since the power was restored after the storm. Until yesterday, I was still counting my blessings and feeling as though the storm acted like a reset button on my life. I appreciated EVERYTHING; being warm, having lights to hold back the dark of night, and running water (HOT and cold) to flush toilets, take showers and wash clothes.
I felt an appreciation for the suffering of people in war-torn countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Israel. I felt a solidarity with the people of India who often only have access to water for a few hours a day. Hearing about such things and living them are totally different experiences.
I've heard experts say that social attitudes are pretty much formed by the time a person is seven years old. After that, the only way to really change an attitude is through experience. Telling someone a thing is right or wrong just doesn't have much impact...they have to live it.
I wanted to change my life, change my attitude, make a difference in the world.
Now, I feel that underlying sense of discontent creeping back into my life.
I don't feel motivated to do much of anything except complain.
I am unhappy with myself for all of my failures and shortcomings. There are many. I should have control over most of them, but I don't seem to be able to get it together enough to tackle these challenges.
I guess the upside (if there is one) to confronting the fact that I disappoint myself, is that I find it pretty easy to forgive the failings of others. Although...
A person I admire has scolded me for this; saying that accepting and forgiving another person's flaws is just a form of enabling. I'm still trying to sort this out. Am I so forgiving because I'm enabling myself to be less than I ought to be...everyone (including myself) is a disappointment in some way? Why should I be any different?
At this low moment, I try to remind myself of the things that all the wise people in life have told me:
1.) Try to be useful to someone...everyday.
2.) Perform an act of kindness...everyday.
3.) Take a step, no matter how small, in the direction you want to go.
So, today, I signed up for an activity http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/4jwsz in honor of the "National Day of Service" and supported some kids from Peterborough, NH who are selling "Obama Bread" to benefit "Free the Children." http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/4vclr
I bought a low-flow shower head that I'm going to install today.
And, I will at least LOOK at my thesis project for two hours.
Peace
I felt an appreciation for the suffering of people in war-torn countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Israel. I felt a solidarity with the people of India who often only have access to water for a few hours a day. Hearing about such things and living them are totally different experiences.
I've heard experts say that social attitudes are pretty much formed by the time a person is seven years old. After that, the only way to really change an attitude is through experience. Telling someone a thing is right or wrong just doesn't have much impact...they have to live it.
I wanted to change my life, change my attitude, make a difference in the world.
Now, I feel that underlying sense of discontent creeping back into my life.
I don't feel motivated to do much of anything except complain.
I am unhappy with myself for all of my failures and shortcomings. There are many. I should have control over most of them, but I don't seem to be able to get it together enough to tackle these challenges.
I guess the upside (if there is one) to confronting the fact that I disappoint myself, is that I find it pretty easy to forgive the failings of others. Although...
A person I admire has scolded me for this; saying that accepting and forgiving another person's flaws is just a form of enabling. I'm still trying to sort this out. Am I so forgiving because I'm enabling myself to be less than I ought to be...everyone (including myself) is a disappointment in some way? Why should I be any different?
At this low moment, I try to remind myself of the things that all the wise people in life have told me:
1.) Try to be useful to someone...everyday.
2.) Perform an act of kindness...everyday.
3.) Take a step, no matter how small, in the direction you want to go.
So, today, I signed up for an activity http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/4jwsz in honor of the "National Day of Service" and supported some kids from Peterborough, NH who are selling "Obama Bread" to benefit "Free the Children." http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/4vclr
I bought a low-flow shower head that I'm going to install today.
And, I will at least LOOK at my thesis project for two hours.
Peace
Friday, December 26, 2008
The Great Ice Storm of 2008
Life, as I knew it, changed dramatically on December 11th during an outrageous ice storm here in Rindge, New Hampshire. All through the night we heard cracks like gunshot as limbs bent and snapped under the weight of the ice and snow. The lights flickered on and off several times before going out completely.
In all my 59 years I have never lived without electricity for more than a day or two. Even when I went camping, I stayed in places that had showers with hot water...and it was summertime.
This was something totally different.
We had no electricity for nine days and no phone for six days. Having no electricity meant having no heat, lights or running water.
Unfortunately we don't have a wood stove or fireplace, so we were reduced to using a kerosene heater to try to keep the house warm enough to prevent the pipes from freezing. We turned the heater off at night so we wouldn't accidentally die of carbon monoxide poisoning while we slept. When I'd wake up in the morning, the house would be 42 or 43 degrees Fahrenheit. Chilly to say the least! In the evenings, we'd run the heater, make coffee, soup, and hot chocolate over Sterno cans, and light candles everywhere. The warmest we got the house was 56 degrees.
Our neighbors have a generator and generously allowed all the neighbors to use an outdoor faucet at their house for water. Still, it meant hauling water in jugs and buckets at all hours of the day and night.
For a day or two, living life as though we were in the 19th Century was not only challenging; it was also a bit romantic. By day three; it got old.
Talking about being sent back in time doesn't really do the experience justice. I don't know if I'm capable of articulating what I lived through...how it felt...
I'll try again later...
In all my 59 years I have never lived without electricity for more than a day or two. Even when I went camping, I stayed in places that had showers with hot water...and it was summertime.
This was something totally different.
We had no electricity for nine days and no phone for six days. Having no electricity meant having no heat, lights or running water.
Unfortunately we don't have a wood stove or fireplace, so we were reduced to using a kerosene heater to try to keep the house warm enough to prevent the pipes from freezing. We turned the heater off at night so we wouldn't accidentally die of carbon monoxide poisoning while we slept. When I'd wake up in the morning, the house would be 42 or 43 degrees Fahrenheit. Chilly to say the least! In the evenings, we'd run the heater, make coffee, soup, and hot chocolate over Sterno cans, and light candles everywhere. The warmest we got the house was 56 degrees.
Our neighbors have a generator and generously allowed all the neighbors to use an outdoor faucet at their house for water. Still, it meant hauling water in jugs and buckets at all hours of the day and night.
For a day or two, living life as though we were in the 19th Century was not only challenging; it was also a bit romantic. By day three; it got old.
Talking about being sent back in time doesn't really do the experience justice. I don't know if I'm capable of articulating what I lived through...how it felt...
I'll try again later...
Thursday, December 11, 2008
A letter to Marion Stoddard
Dear Ms. Stoddard,
This is an "open letter" that I posted on my blog and intend to send to you. I hope you don't mind my making my personal letter to you public, but I hope after you read through it, you'll understand and excuse me.
You don't know me, but I used to live in Groton on Hayden Road about 20 years ago. I joined the NRWA after attending a lecture on the life of indigenous turtles. I was drawn to the lecture because I had observed Box Turtles and Painted Turtles crossing my yard to get to the swamp across the street.
I believe I bought a couple of books on turtles after the lecture and also joined NRWA.
There was construction going on at the end of Hayden Road and the construction crews killed many of the turtles in the road. Someone in the neighborhood put up Turtle X-ing signs, but I don't think it helped much.
When I actually caught a turtle in the process of crossing the road, I would stop my car and guard its passage.
This ridiculous behavior gave me plenty of time to think. Mostly what I would think about was that, based on their size, some of these turtles were probably about the same age as I was at the time. I'd also wonder if the turtle survived crossing in one direction, would it make it going the other way?
These turtles had been crossing that same ground for as many years as I'd been on the Earth. They had survived the change from a few cottages and farmland to the first couple of housing developments. Now, they were being decimated because they couldn't change their paths or their habits.
I wonder if any of the turtles I saw cross the road are still alive?
After joining the NRWA, I learned about what you did to bring the Nashua River back to life. The legend at the time was that in mid-life, you looked for a cause, a purpose to your life, and decided that you would bring the Nashua River back to life. What an inspiration!
I have often thought of that lesson. I'm still looking for my legacy cause and hope I will find the strength and passion to serve it well. I've had causes, but not the legacy one yet.
I still consider myself mid-life, though I'm 59 years old. To be completely honest, I feel bewildered by the expectation of people in my industry that I'm close to retirement. I started a graduate program in computer science at Fitchburg State when I was 53. I did it to maintain relevance in my field. It hasn't helped my career very much but I really enjoyed it. Now, if I could just finish my thesis...
I'm struggling with who I am now. Am I more or less? Am I like the turtle who just HAS to keep crossing the road; threatened with being mowed down by forces never encountered before?
I have always written as a form of therapy, but it has usually been informal with no particular topic as the focus. When I moved to Rindge, NH in 1999, I joined the Monadnock Writers Group. I confess that I am mostly a "writer groupie," but lately I've been doing a lot of writing. Probably a reflection of how disturbed I am with my situation.
I started blogging partly as a way of exploring writing and partly to prove to myself that I can still be "relevant." So far, I think only my daughter actually reads my posts, but I'm enjoying the process thoroughly.
In the process of writing and feeling a bit discouraged by a futile search for a better job, I thought of you. Or should I say, I thought of you as the legend I'd heard about.
I decided that I would research and write about women who took up a cause or realized a major accomplishment beginning later in life. I figure I might learn something that will make me feel more hopeful and just going through the exercise will be inspiring. I plan to write about you and Doris Haddock to start.
When I actually started doing online research, I realized that you were far from being middle-aged when you started. I estimate that you could only be 35 years old. So, it's not exactly the story I expected; an empty nest, a search for a cause and fulfillment.
But, as I thought about it, the story seemed even more wonderful. It seems, from what I read, that the cause found you. The time wasn't convenient; you had young children. You and your family made sacrifices for the Nashua River.
Then, I had all these questions. Did you THINK you were middle-aged at 35? Is that how the legend started? Who was Marion Stoddard before she moved to Groton? Were you interested in the environment as a young person growing up?
I hope it's not an imposition to ask these questions? You may reply either by email or by calling me. If you prefer, you can post a comment to my blog at: http://patmartin2894@blogspot.com
Thank you so much in advance for any consideration you may give my request.
Sincerely,
Pat Martin
This is an "open letter" that I posted on my blog and intend to send to you. I hope you don't mind my making my personal letter to you public, but I hope after you read through it, you'll understand and excuse me.
You don't know me, but I used to live in Groton on Hayden Road about 20 years ago. I joined the NRWA after attending a lecture on the life of indigenous turtles. I was drawn to the lecture because I had observed Box Turtles and Painted Turtles crossing my yard to get to the swamp across the street.
I believe I bought a couple of books on turtles after the lecture and also joined NRWA.
There was construction going on at the end of Hayden Road and the construction crews killed many of the turtles in the road. Someone in the neighborhood put up Turtle X-ing signs, but I don't think it helped much.
When I actually caught a turtle in the process of crossing the road, I would stop my car and guard its passage.
This ridiculous behavior gave me plenty of time to think. Mostly what I would think about was that, based on their size, some of these turtles were probably about the same age as I was at the time. I'd also wonder if the turtle survived crossing in one direction, would it make it going the other way?
These turtles had been crossing that same ground for as many years as I'd been on the Earth. They had survived the change from a few cottages and farmland to the first couple of housing developments. Now, they were being decimated because they couldn't change their paths or their habits.
I wonder if any of the turtles I saw cross the road are still alive?
After joining the NRWA, I learned about what you did to bring the Nashua River back to life. The legend at the time was that in mid-life, you looked for a cause, a purpose to your life, and decided that you would bring the Nashua River back to life. What an inspiration!
I have often thought of that lesson. I'm still looking for my legacy cause and hope I will find the strength and passion to serve it well. I've had causes, but not the legacy one yet.
I still consider myself mid-life, though I'm 59 years old. To be completely honest, I feel bewildered by the expectation of people in my industry that I'm close to retirement. I started a graduate program in computer science at Fitchburg State when I was 53. I did it to maintain relevance in my field. It hasn't helped my career very much but I really enjoyed it. Now, if I could just finish my thesis...
I'm struggling with who I am now. Am I more or less? Am I like the turtle who just HAS to keep crossing the road; threatened with being mowed down by forces never encountered before?
I have always written as a form of therapy, but it has usually been informal with no particular topic as the focus. When I moved to Rindge, NH in 1999, I joined the Monadnock Writers Group. I confess that I am mostly a "writer groupie," but lately I've been doing a lot of writing. Probably a reflection of how disturbed I am with my situation.
I started blogging partly as a way of exploring writing and partly to prove to myself that I can still be "relevant." So far, I think only my daughter actually reads my posts, but I'm enjoying the process thoroughly.
In the process of writing and feeling a bit discouraged by a futile search for a better job, I thought of you. Or should I say, I thought of you as the legend I'd heard about.
I decided that I would research and write about women who took up a cause or realized a major accomplishment beginning later in life. I figure I might learn something that will make me feel more hopeful and just going through the exercise will be inspiring. I plan to write about you and Doris Haddock to start.
When I actually started doing online research, I realized that you were far from being middle-aged when you started. I estimate that you could only be 35 years old. So, it's not exactly the story I expected; an empty nest, a search for a cause and fulfillment.
But, as I thought about it, the story seemed even more wonderful. It seems, from what I read, that the cause found you. The time wasn't convenient; you had young children. You and your family made sacrifices for the Nashua River.
Then, I had all these questions. Did you THINK you were middle-aged at 35? Is that how the legend started? Who was Marion Stoddard before she moved to Groton? Were you interested in the environment as a young person growing up?
I hope it's not an imposition to ask these questions? You may reply either by email or by calling me. If you prefer, you can post a comment to my blog at: http://patmartin2894@blogspot.com
Thank you so much in advance for any consideration you may give my request.
Sincerely,
Pat Martin
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
You HAVE to watch this video!!!
My friend, Bobbie, sent it to me...just at the right moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslbhDZoniY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslbhDZoniY
Change.org: non-Millennials need not apply
Well, I wanted to write more about Marion Stoddard...and I will. I just came up with so many questions...what did she do before she got married and had children...where did she grow up, etc? So, I wrote to the NRWA asking for more information. They may answer me...or I may have to find people in Groton who know her better than I did. I will get back to her story.
Tonight, I'm not feeling my usual optimistic self. Tonight, I feel every bit my age and discouraged.
I've been hounding change.org to include disability rights in their top agenda items. I mean, they did start with some issues that they felt were not negotiable: End Homelessness, End the War in Iraq, etc.
Change.gov (the official site of the Obama-Biden Transition Team) has had disability rights in the top 24 from the beginning.
Change.org is supposed to be the companion citizen site. Except it's not.
Change.org is the 'Y' generation or Millennials site for social entrepreneurship. It took me a lot longer than it should have for me to get the hint. The site is designed to be the voice of a generation....not mine.
I don't mean to bad-mouth them. I think the discussions and humanitarian drive...and problem solving is terrific. I like the writing and the issues (except for not including disability rights), but between Alex Steed's FEATURED blog and the age of all the bloggers; I realize that the site is NOT for EVERYONE.
I wrote both to Ben Rattay, the 28 year old founder, and Alex Steed, the 25 year old blogger. Rattay has never answered me and Steed carefully explained that while there MAY be older people like myself using the Internet for Social Activism, he was interested in helping HIS generation find their identity and wasn't interested in speaking with anyone but Millenials about Online Activism.
I guess the fact that I feel disappointed means that I really liked the site.
Take a minute and go to: http://millennials.change.org/blog/view/old_people_stop_excluding_us_because_were_old
It's not that we're old, Alex. It's that we're not young (white, rich, christian, straight...yeah) and so don't fit into your "club." Of course, I'm being facetious, but until you've experienced ageism or sexism, you probably wouldn't understand what I'm talking about.
So, that's why I'm feeling rather down tonight. The concept behind Change.org really appealed to me...now I feel like an idiot for getting all charged up and sending my "idea" to all my contacts. Yeah, I probably won't get kicked out, but I'll be aggressively ignored.
Now that I've got this off my chest, I think I can move on...
Tonight, I'm not feeling my usual optimistic self. Tonight, I feel every bit my age and discouraged.
I've been hounding change.org to include disability rights in their top agenda items. I mean, they did start with some issues that they felt were not negotiable: End Homelessness, End the War in Iraq, etc.
Change.gov (the official site of the Obama-Biden Transition Team) has had disability rights in the top 24 from the beginning.
Change.org is supposed to be the companion citizen site. Except it's not.
Change.org is the 'Y' generation or Millennials site for social entrepreneurship. It took me a lot longer than it should have for me to get the hint. The site is designed to be the voice of a generation....not mine.
I don't mean to bad-mouth them. I think the discussions and humanitarian drive...and problem solving is terrific. I like the writing and the issues (except for not including disability rights), but between Alex Steed's FEATURED blog and the age of all the bloggers; I realize that the site is NOT for EVERYONE.
I wrote both to Ben Rattay, the 28 year old founder, and Alex Steed, the 25 year old blogger. Rattay has never answered me and Steed carefully explained that while there MAY be older people like myself using the Internet for Social Activism, he was interested in helping HIS generation find their identity and wasn't interested in speaking with anyone but Millenials about Online Activism.
I guess the fact that I feel disappointed means that I really liked the site.
Take a minute and go to: http://millennials.change.org/blog/view/old_people_stop_excluding_us_because_were_old
It's not that we're old, Alex. It's that we're not young (white, rich, christian, straight...yeah) and so don't fit into your "club." Of course, I'm being facetious, but until you've experienced ageism or sexism, you probably wouldn't understand what I'm talking about.
So, that's why I'm feeling rather down tonight. The concept behind Change.org really appealed to me...now I feel like an idiot for getting all charged up and sending my "idea" to all my contacts. Yeah, I probably won't get kicked out, but I'll be aggressively ignored.
Now that I've got this off my chest, I think I can move on...
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Marion Stoddard of Groton, MA
I'm starting this pretty late at night, so it will probably just be a first installment.
I first heard of Marion Stoddard when I was living in Groton, MA about 20 years ago. I'd just joined the Nashua River Watershed Association (NRWA) because I was fascinated by the turtles that crossed through my yard on the way to the swamp across the street. The NRWA was hosting a speaker on the types, habits, and lives of indigenous turtles.
Of course, it turns out that my memory of the life of Marion Stoddard, isn't especially accurate. I'll tell you my impressions before I tell you the actual facts of her accomplishments.
I heard that at one time, back in the sixties and seventies, the Nashua River was dead. It actually ran in different colors...red, blue, and green, depending on what dyes were being used in the factories upstream. There were no fish, no life, and the river stank so badly that there were actually signs warning motorists of the horrible smell along Route 119.
Marion Stoddard had just moved to Groton with her family and lived by the banks of the river.
Marion decided that, if it took her the rest of her life, she was going to bring that river back to life. She organized people, found grant money, and built the organization: http://www.nashuariverwatershed.org/.
She also saw the river cleaned up. Today, aged 80, she still plays an active role in NWRA and enjoys kayaking in the Nashua's clean clear waters.
My impression was that she took up this cause in mid-life, after her children were grown. I understood that it became her "raison d'Etre," her legacy. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072919833/student_view0/chapter15/additional_case_studies.html
In fact, Marion Stoddard's children were still quite young when she began her quest forty-five years ago.
Well, it's getting late and my Internet connection seems to be getting slower. Here's the link: http://www.utne.com/2002-08-01/ForMarionStoddardCreatingHopeisanObligation.aspx I think she was in her mid 30's when she began her campaign to save the river. Not nearly middle age by today's standards.
I'll write more about her tomorrow night. Good night!
I first heard of Marion Stoddard when I was living in Groton, MA about 20 years ago. I'd just joined the Nashua River Watershed Association (NRWA) because I was fascinated by the turtles that crossed through my yard on the way to the swamp across the street. The NRWA was hosting a speaker on the types, habits, and lives of indigenous turtles.
Of course, it turns out that my memory of the life of Marion Stoddard, isn't especially accurate. I'll tell you my impressions before I tell you the actual facts of her accomplishments.
I heard that at one time, back in the sixties and seventies, the Nashua River was dead. It actually ran in different colors...red, blue, and green, depending on what dyes were being used in the factories upstream. There were no fish, no life, and the river stank so badly that there were actually signs warning motorists of the horrible smell along Route 119.
Marion Stoddard had just moved to Groton with her family and lived by the banks of the river.
Marion decided that, if it took her the rest of her life, she was going to bring that river back to life. She organized people, found grant money, and built the organization: http://www.nashuariverwatershed.org/.
She also saw the river cleaned up. Today, aged 80, she still plays an active role in NWRA and enjoys kayaking in the Nashua's clean clear waters.
My impression was that she took up this cause in mid-life, after her children were grown. I understood that it became her "raison d'Etre," her legacy. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072919833/student_view0/chapter15/additional_case_studies.html
In fact, Marion Stoddard's children were still quite young when she began her quest forty-five years ago.
Well, it's getting late and my Internet connection seems to be getting slower. Here's the link: http://www.utne.com/2002-08-01/ForMarionStoddardCreatingHopeisanObligation.aspx I think she was in her mid 30's when she began her campaign to save the river. Not nearly middle age by today's standards.
I'll write more about her tomorrow night. Good night!
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