Day three of the winter solstice snow of December 2009

Awake to sunshine and the sound of dripping water and churning heater, which means I’m alive and well, the pipes are not frozen and there is electricity.

Good morning winter solstice, I welcome the new day.

A new adventure to dig out the shed that holds the shovel that will clear the sidewalk in front of the house. Mostly ice, but by noon it was turning to mush so even an old guy could clear a path.

Now that the body was warmed up, it was time to exercise and get rid of the cold aches and creaks of this time of year.

Today’s exercise will be a 3-mile walk on fairly dry roadways, with a lot of hills, carrying a 20 lb. pack. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Sort some photos but no real energy to engage in projects. Too cold to draw or write, so the stupid box fills the darkening afternoon.

As the winter days grow dark and cold, it is too easy to sit and read and eat and sleep. I have a list of projects, but cannot get started. Sunshine helps, but the cold sucks away the intuitive to continue where the warmth left off. Perhaps this is teaching me what was happening in this small building for years while I went off to warmth and community.

Today’s thoughts have been about the season’s “giving” message. There have been stories about how celebrities have become figureheads for charities and causes. And the charities and causes grow more by the minute. Which ones can you trust? Which ones is only a celebrity fad? “Global Recovery for Polar Bears”, “African Aid for Displaced Hungry Rape Victims”, “Appalachian Poor and Hungry since the War on Poverty”, “War Torn Refugees of Detroit”…. And so the list goes. So the celebrities get promotion to their image by spending a few hours or dollars on their favorite club and it gets their promotion to mail out junk hoping fans will follow with more dollars. Lobby for your cause 101. This is the only advertising or marketing causes with no physical product can use. They must feed on your emotion to do the right thing and donate. The human nature feels better when you share your means and care for those less fortunate. Families used to do this in times of need. The Red Cross was one of the most successful of providing assistance to those in need and it was easy to donate to them. Then United Way gathered several organizations to offer a group plan covering more assistance. Much like what has happened to health insurance, more administration cost and options have taken the dollar away from the final result of the request to become a massive drain on the human emotion.

There was a discussion of eliminating or reducing the printing and mailing of “junk mail” today as a “green” option. The response is there are thousands of jobs related to the production and shipping and response to “junk mail”. The local newspaper recently totted the use of being a carrier of “junk mail” or inserts as a relationship between merchants and readers.

Every product or cause or service provides job opportunities, but only if they succeed. The success is based on how creative, clever, and productive the message and product appears or is persuaded to the masses.

So stacks of photos and notes are sorted for delivery to others slowly.

Tomorrow may be more productive.

Tomorrow is just another day in just another life.