My one challenge...

I had the honor of participating in the Pecha Kucha evening on February 27th 2015, and here is the video! In this talk, I challenge the audience to spend 15 minutes a day outside, every day in the month of March. This coincided with the launch of our #15minutesoutside movement, which you may already have been following (and if not... start now!).

That's Alan Crichton introducing me, and if you have ever been to the Waterfall Arts Center in Belfast, ME, then you probably know him. I had never met him until this night, but I left the evening realizing why artists, community builders, activists and inspiring folks of all stripes love the Waterfall Arts Center, and love Alan.

I wasn't the only one presenting that evening. If you want to see the whole show, check out: The Belfast Community Media Page at Vimeo

The 3 mile loop...

There's a woman in my neighborhood who has transformed over the last two years. 

We live by a lake, on a road that is a common walking loop - there isn't much traffic (especially in the winter), and there are lovely glimpses of the water and a 3 mile loop. When we first moved to the area, we noticed that a lot of people walk the loop every day. The same people, year-round. Some are young, some are not... some are fast walkers, some take it slow, some walk with friends, some walk alone... many people have dogs.

The person I am thinking about walks the loop every day. She used to walk quite slowly, and had two dogs who would take their time sniffing their way along the route. She wore baggy clothes - I sometimes thought she might be hiding inside them. She looked down at the ground a lot, and it was hard to make any eye contact with her.  She sometimes walked with a friend, or maybe her partner, and they would talk. She didn't look happy.

Over the last year, I have noticed that her pace has picked up a little, and that she has started walking regularly with a friend. She has started looking further ahead down the road, and it's a little easier to get her attention with a wave or a head nod as I walk or drive past. I started seeing her every day.  It didn't matter what the weather was - hot sun, blizzard snow, pouring rain... there she would be, walking the loop with her dogs, every morning.

My kids and I are a pretty friendly bunch - we like to wave at people as we drive by, just to bring a little extra happiness into the world. Not everyone responds in kind, but I think that - in our neighborhood - we have begun to wear off on a few people.

About two months ago I noticed that this particular person was smiling and waving at my car as we drove by, even if we didn't wave first... I also noticed there was more of a lift in her step, and that she had started wearing different clothes: baggy is out, sporty casual is in. She looks awesome - happy, confident, lighter somehow - and her energy is obviously so different.

I don't know what changed for her (although I am dying to stop and ask her), but it makes me so very happy to see it. I like to think her daily walk helps, and that she has found a new friend to share her thoughts with. I like to think our daily wave makes a difference... you never know.

What I do know is that seeing her every day reminds ME to be grateful for the opportunities I have to change my own outlook (and the habits that make that possible), for the amazing people who surround my family, and for the 3 mile loop outside my door.

Mountains of Opportunities

A snowy winter can wear down even the bravest of optimists.

In weeks like this one, the flip side of the MOUNTAINS OF SLEDDING OPPORTUNITIES (outside our front door) are also the MOUNTAINS OF SHOVELING OPPORTUNITIES (outside our front door)...

How is it possible that shoveling is super-fun when I am making a snow cave, but the minute we need to shovel a path or clear the steps, that twinge in my back returns and my fingers turn to blocks of ice?

Everything seems harder in the winter time.

The increased complexity of all the everyday tasks that lie ahead when I raise my head each morning is mind-boggling. I have come to wistfully remember our Fall mornings, when we could wake up at 7:15, grab a quick breaky, pack lunches into schoolbags, bolt out the door and be on our way.  Now every task takes more effort, and more time.

Breakfast has grown from a quick bowl of Cheerios to include eggs, toast, hot cereal, tea/ coffee, OJ, vitamins for everyone, fiber drink for the adults, the occasional smoothie and a ziploc bag of cheerios for the ride. Add in a 5 year old's serious case of table-wiggles, and, well... you know...

By 7:30am, someone has to be outside to turn on the car, sweep off all the snow from the windscreen and windows, shovel the new snow out from in front of - and behind - your current vehicle position. Then head back inside the house to get your multiple bags and layers together for the day ahead - including multiple indoor and outdoor outfits for the kids, inside shoes, car snacks, wallets, water bottles, sleds, gloves (and spare gloves), face-warmers, hats, extra socks...

Dressing the kids for school is way more complicated when it's 5 degrees Fahrenheit: layers are critical. I have a proven personal 5-layer system that I like to think I invented, but convincing my two kids to follow it is harder than it sounds... My young daughter informs me that coordinating your base layers with a tiara is no mean feat, and that in her experience, glitter shoes can magically make the snow disappear... My 'tween son believes a t-shirt and a ski jacket is enough to weather the bitter wind, and both kids assert that hats are optional. I know I am not the only parent who has daily battles about gloves, socks, hats and scarves. 

Once the car is loaded, you gotta make it out the end of the driveway which (inevitably) the town plow guy has just re-barricaded...so it's back out to shovel a path through the dirty snow so we can make it out onto the road. Bump, lurch, skid and - we're off!

The usual sunny-weather 15-20 minute drive takes twice as long with a snow-covered road and a town full of two-wheel drive vehicles...and when we arrive at our destination amidst snow piles and narrow driveways, the wait line for dropoff goes around the block...

Even despite all of this, there is so much to be grateful for...

We see beautiful sunrises every day. The sun comes up as we do, and we are able to see the way the sky shifts its color and cloud displays as the sun rises above the hills and horizon.

Long breakfasts mean we spend more time talking with each other, and checking in at the start of the day.

Our school commute involves multiple opportunities for views across a beautiful bay that is more often than not covered in sea smoke.

The tree branches that line our road look spectacular with ice rime, powdery snow or bare to the blue sky...

Every single day we thank the town plow guys for getting up early and making the drive the easiest part of the battle...

AND - although this season feels like it lasts forever (especially in the middle of February!), before I know it, the snow piles will have melted and we will be dealing with the mud and floods of the big thaw... and the pesky bugs that herald the oncoming summer will be beginning to hatch.

I choose to live here in this small Northeastern town for the incredible variety of seasons, the generous and supportive community, the gorgeous mountains and lakes, and the endless sea.

A little madness is worth it.