Heads in the Sand?

I read an article earlier about North Carolina legislators that have voted on and passed a bill in the state senate the prohibits state officials from considering rapid sea level rise when creating rules for housing developments and infrastructure within the 20 counties that have coastline. Uh, huh.... really? And what does this prove? Wouldn't they rather be safe than sorry? And these idiots are completely ignoring all the scientists that have stated that the sea leve WILL rise and it will be more than 8 inches by 2100. They have 13 expert scientists looking at the SAME data, coming to the SAME conclusions and the politicians are going to ignore them? Does anyone know how hard it is to get 13 experts to unanimously agree on something like that? Do these politicians think if they ignore it and pass laws against preparation that sea level rise won't happen? Seriously, I'm shaking my head at the ignorance and unwillingness to listen to experts with an open mind. The only thing the scientists didn't agree on was the level of the rise. They felt it would be somewhere between 15 and 55 inches, so they picked 39 inches as the benchmark. Somewhere in the middle is better than the top or the bottom. unbelievable, it's just head shaking unbelievable. I guess when you decide to become a politician you sign over your rights to your damn brain! good grief

Slow Living

Last weekend I headed a state over to see my mom who flew in from California. On my way I had to stop and get some gluten free flour, while on my way I was able to drive through super tiny towns. And I'm talking TINY. Like a 4 way stop with a sign that said the name of the town, tiny. Can't remember if I've mentioned it before, but I grew up on a farm. Looking back I claim I loved it, but I can't really remember if I loved it while I was there or not. I think I did, I remember having all kinds of fun and being outside for hours on end. Or maybe, as one of my sister claims, I look back with rose colored glassed on. Eh. maybe I do. However, back to my point of this rant (devoid of any anger, for once), on my way through these tiny little towns, I seriously longed to live out the middle of nowhere again. I mean I reallllyyyy want to live there. I can't wait until my husband is done with school so we can leave the suburbs! So on my wonderful Monday morning of work I was reading a great article that actually made me chuckle, mainly because I've been saying the same thing and it's what I want to do. The article was touting the benefits of "slow living." Another term would be village living. The world has gotten so big with so many people living in an urban environment that we are no longer living sustainably. We are using way more than we can replenish. This article says that we need to get back to our roots. We need to buy local and grow our own food. Did you know that the average American meal has at least 5 imported ingredients. Not only does the amount of imports contribute to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, it hurts the American farmer. There are many reasons that my husband and I want to live out in the middle of nowhere on a farm. One is that we will be able to know exactly where our meat comes from, and we will be able to know what was put in it. There will be no growth hormones or antibiotics to affect our health. We will be able to grow our own fruits & veggies that won't have harmful pesticides on them that will cause cancer or other diseases. While tasting lots better, our food will also be lots cheaper than what you find in the store, since it won't have to be shipped from halfway around the world. You have to wonder about our ancestors and their health. Yes, they were more likely to die of things like the flu, small pox or measles, but they also didn't have cancers, asthma, or allergies that affect us like they do today. When you look at their lifestyle and compare it to ours the biggest difference is that they lived close to their food source. They didn't eat fruit and veggies that were out of season, they ate what they grew, when it grew, and canned the surplus. And if they lived in the village, it was food that was grown locally, not from thousands of miles away. Because they lived close to the food source there were less pollution in the air. Because the farmers were small local farmers there wasn't a need to large amounts of pesticides and genetically engineered foods to combat pests & increase yield, like there is today. I guess my point is people should buy locally as much as possible. I don't know if I could ever give up my bananas, so that is one thing I'd willingly go tot eh store for. People living in apartments and cities can buy or grow locally as well. There are container gardens where fruit and veggies can be grown, even on a postage stamp size porch. In some cities they have small plots of land within a city block that can be used to plant fruits & veggies. If growing your own food isn't an option for whatever reason, visit the local farmers market! "Live Slowly!"