Earth Day

Today is earth day, and I feel fast.  You should too.  We are both flying at 107,182 km/hr as passengers of earth around the sun. It’s a dangerous place to live also.  Half a million detectable earthquakes each year, average of 100 lightning ground strikes a second.  With only .003% of its available water available for humans, and one third of its land mass deserts, it can be a pretty inhospitable place.

But it is also magnificent. 3.04 Trillion trees, give rise to a precise gas mixture that keeps my skin from melting off, and which makes the smell of a fresh rain wonderful.

A precise distance from a star, with an orbit and rotation of mathematical genius.  Allowing for the only place in the universe to support water in its three states, liquid, gas and solid.  I ponder this while breathing the moist air and drinking a glass of ice water…..mmmm good.

With an estimated 10,000 stars in the universe for every grain of sand on every beach on earth; you would think finding a substitute would be easy peesy.  According to scientists much smarter than I…it’s not.  So let’s take today to contemplate the gift of life in such a miraculous setting and use every other day to love it, enjoy it and protect it.

Rice flour, my new best friend

I was lost in a particular thought last week while savoring a most tender and delicious glazed donut from the Italian Bakery.  Over the past couple years I have followed the journals of I Ho Chuan members and received enlightenment when it came to challenges of the dietary order. Huge changes from giving up meat entirely, to increasing water consumption, to removing gluten.

Realistically though, how hard could a gluten free diet be? Seeing how well my 10 year old adapted to a dietary restricted way of life, made the whole process look fairly easy.  Over the past couple years, we have had our challenges, with a few minor arguments, and a bit of frustration.  All in all he is an amazing little guy that has adapted and taken on the responsibility like a champ.

I, as a father that is supposed to show empathy, especially in the early stages of the adaptation of my child to a gluten free diet, was a complete failure.  Recognizing that failure over a most wonderful and glutenous snack, I decided a dose of empathy was in order.  Perhaps a little rash, I decided this was the week that I would strike out on the same dietary restrictions as my son for the next seven days.

It isn’t just the constant reminder of the things you can’t have, like the smell of fresh bread in the morning bakery department, the oodles of garnishes and spices that are on the restricted list, the craving of rich thick homemade pasta.  That is the mind over matter part, which is acerbated by the warped and twisted physical response of my body.  A constant hunger, or at least the feeling of an empty tummy, an apparent loss of energy, change in sleep patterns and mood, a ravenous search to find a suitable substitute to fill the carbohydrate demand you left behind.

 

There are substitutes, and in a lot of cases more healthy ones.  It has meant more fruit and vegetables, more water consumption, alternatives to wheat flour carbs (most I would argue are an acquired taste).  I am not sure if this gets easier, or weather a week is even close to long enough to find out.  At the end of all this though, if nothing else, I will have a greater appreciation for what my son has accomplished, and is continually challenged with.

Personal goal number 1

This past week found me making progress toward one of my personal goals.  What started as a personal goal devoting volunteer time a couple years ago, has led to a really cool goal for this year.  Camp Teepee Pole is a youth camp near Sundre Alberta.  Last year a building was donated as the start to an Environmental Awareness Center.  The building will be a place for teaching about plants and animals, water conservation, ecosystems, preservation, and whatever the heck else I can think of…

The building itself is eventually planned to be near free energy, collecting rain water, solar energy, wood heated and so forth.  It is definitely going to be a work in progress for years to come.

I am really excited for this project, the sky is the limit, but…I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.  My goal this year is to have the center with some content for the kids by July camp time. Others with much more skill in the construction field are looking after the building development.  So, this is a bit of an appeal to the I Ho Chuan group to those that have experience with this sort of thing, or those that don’t but just have some good input, or potentially resources that might help me out.