HodgePodge
By Charlie Hodge
There is, I suppose, something deep and meaningful to the fact that this weekend marks the celebration of two recognizable days back to back. I’m just not sure what it is. Regardless, Saturday we celebrate Summer Solstice while on Sunday it’s time to honour dads around the world with Father’s Day.
Hopefully both days inspire happy, warmth and positive thoughts about the past, present, and future. Certainly we could all use some good, positive energy and a renewed vigour for the challenges ahead.
I am more than ready for some solid days of sunshine. Like most of us, I tend to den or hibernate during the cooler seasons – and live life to the maximum come spring and summer. This supposed warm season has really been a rain fest. The majority of hard work Tez and I have done with our vegetable gardens and flower beds has resulted in a lot of drowned or dead plants – or the extreme which is tremendous leaf growth but little vegetable.
Of course weather reports are now indicting that we are in for a dry July and August which means we will likely go from one extreme to the other. Ya gotta love good ole Mother Nature.
Still some hot sunny days are a much better projection for the happiness of our world, than more dull, grey, wet skies. COVID19 has already pushed many of us to the edge of our patience parameters. Getting outdoors into some sunshine and fresh air makes quarantine and/or a home-bound lifestyle much easier and safe.
Here in Kelowna we are blessed with a great amount of beach front, green space, parks, and areas we can drive to or bike to for picnics, walks, or safe distance visits with others. I recommend you make a point of doing so while the weather and other factors align for such outings.
Tez and I are fortunate in not only having a yard to enjoy but also a central location within ambling distance to most needs. What we have lacked is both time and health to properly enjoy what we do have. Hence I have made myself a Father’s Day/Solstice promise to spend more time enjoying what we have and less fussing about what we don’t.
John Lennon was absolutely right when he wrote, “Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.”
Time to start doing and stop talking.
So I figure this weekend is the perfect time to blend the two days into a lazy fun day in the sun. Hmm? Golfing, fishing, boating… the options are varied and the excuses to do so more than justified.
I’m leaning towards a lazy day in the back yard with a barbecue and the sole responsibility of simply admiring what plants Tez and I have planted so far that have survived.
That is, of course, based on the hope and assumption that it does not rain.
If it does, thankfully, I have a fascinating reading option that you do not have yet.
Earlier this month I received my advance copy of a brand new publication titled Saving Earth Magazine. The brainstorm project is the culmination of a vision and lot of hard work by Kelowna’s own Teena Clipston.
The 80-page full colour glossy magazine is largely being promoted as an on-line publication though also available in print. It is terrific. Top notch photographs and articles pertaining to protecting and preserving our planet dominate a classy, well laid out, written publication geared to make readers look at alternatives and alterations in our life style in order to preserve what we have.
Idealistically, editor/publisher Clipston is hoping Saving Earth plays a larger role than just a magazine of wise words.
“While I obviously hope Saving Earth Magazine is an informative environmental periodical, my primary mission is actually to use it as a force for good in the world. I will do this through first-rate research and journalism and also by partnering with non-profit organizations and green businesses, by creating community action initiatives, projects, and campaigns in order to create a movement of people working together to create a greener, better future.”
Clipston explains subscribers receive a monthly newsletter containing the latest digital edition of the magazine, community action initiatives updates, and, “plenty of other hints, ideas, and information that will help them to make a difference.”
For further insight into this exciting new product check out savingearthmagazine.com
More on the magazine and summer fun next week.
