The Blue Summit Experience

Last Tuesday evening, daughter Stef and I went to a holiday gathering at the Blue Summit store in Omaha, Nebraska. I think its official name is Blue Summit Global Experience. It's located at 4101 South 120th Street in Omaha.

Believe me, it is a wonderful experience. The gift store's mission is to "create hope, dignity and independence by supporting artisans from developing countries."  There was pottery, books, purses, jewelry, baskets, wall hangings, metal works; the list could go on and on. It was fascinating to wander around the store and read the stories of the artisans and marvel at the workmanship.

I picked up a few Christmas gifts and the vase in the picture for myself.

The next time you're in Omaha, stop in at Blue Summit and try the "experience"  for yourself.

The Polar Bear

The week at http://www.rubij.com/ the Special of the Day is the Polar Bear long sleeve organic cotton t-shirt from our "Animal Tails" collection. It's currently 40% off retail.

Let's talk about the polar bear. Everyone recognizes this wonder of the northern ice. I wonder how many kids have had a stuffed polar bear to sleep with at night. And for sure, the polar bear has become the symbol of global warning. Here's what the hang tag says on each of the tees and rompers about the Polar Bear:

"Now a few facts, I'm a brilliant swinner, 60 miles non-stop is OK for me. In fact I love water so much I will spend as much time in the water as on the ice, perhaps that's why I have the Latin name Ursus Maritimus, meaning Sea Bear. I also have partially webbed paws which help me along. As well as that, my paws are an impressive 30 cms across. With paws that big you would expect me to be pretty big too, well I am - actually I'm the largest land carnivore in the world. But despite my impressive statistics, I'm in serious trouble. Climate change and pollution is ruining my food supplies.
What can you do to help? Going organic is a great start to slowing down the pollution problem - you can't do better than an Animal Tails T-shirt with my picture on it! Another great idea is to get your parents to turn down the heating and start wearing a thermal vest - discover the the joys of wearing your own insulation just like me!!
Thank you."

If the Polar Bear is in trouble, so are many other of the smaller carnivores of the Artic. They scavenge the remains of the polar bear's kill for their survival. I know it's fairly unlikely any of us will ever see a polar bear in the wild, but I like to think of them always running free up north.

Organic Living

One of the meanings of  organic is "denoting a relation between elements of something such that they fit together harmoniously as necessary parts of a whole". So when I say organic or organic living, I think living harmoniously with the earth. That may not be academically correct, but it's the way I think; enriching yourself without harming the world. 

That being said; let me tell you about some of my favorite things on my iPod. (You didn't think that was where I was going, did you?)

I love, love, love music. I love, love, love my iPod. But here's the strange thing. When I'm walking the dogs with my iPod; I don't listen to music. I turn on to my free podcasts.

When you access your iTunes, please look at the podcasts. They are awesome. I'm a NPR junkie, so that's most of the  podcasts I download. My two favorites by far are "Wait, wait, don't tell me!" and "Selected Shorts".

"Wait,  wait, don't tell me" is a current events quiz show. I know. Sounds boring, doesn't it? Trust me. If you like wit and social comment, you'll love this show.

"Selected Shorts" is a program dedicated to the celebration of the short story. Two or three short stories are read by actors to a live audience. It is soooo entertaining. I especiality love the ones read by John Lithgow (you know him from "Third Rock from the Sun"). My all time favorite of his is "Indian Country".

Anything you are interested in, you will find a podcast.  Some of my other favorites are "This American Life", "The Pet Hour by Iams" (of course) and the Terri Gross interviews on "Fresh Aire".

Expand your horizans, think outside of the box, think "organically".  Maybe you'll find something to fit "harmoniously" with your life.

Oh look, a puppy!!!!

We all love puppies, don't we. The one in this picture, however, will never be in a pet shop window. These are African Wild Dogs, one of the endangered species on Rubi J's Animal Tails organic t-shirts.

I've been reading about them and, boy, have they ever been given a bum rap.  Sure, they're carnivores; but so are most of us. Not as magnificent looking as the lion or other big cats; they don't get equal press on the nature shows.

Here's what the hang tag that comes with each tee reads:

"Your domestic dogs are related to me. We're found only in Africa, especially in scrub savanna and other lightly wooded areas. Our coats are bespoke design as no two individuals have the same markings.

We hunt in packs and give a mean chase, catching 85% of our prey, poor deers! We look vicious so you would have thought that we howl like wolves, but in fact we chirp like birds when communicating. After a succussful hunt we go home and regurgitate meat for those who stayed behind.

The current estimate for remaining Wild Dogs is approximately 3000. Of these the majority live in the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania.

Part of the profits of the T-shirt go towards AfriCat, who campaign for our protection."

Encourage your children to learn more about the African Wild Dog and why they are important to the eco-system. The African Wildlife Foundation has a great website: http://www.awf.org/. Also, read more about the Africat Foundation at http://www.africat.org/.

You can see why grandson Cole thinks they're "awesome".

Rubi J's current special is 40% off the African Wild Dog tee. Have a look: http://www.rubij.com/.

GRATEFUL-GRATITUDE

Look up "gratitude" in the dictionary or thesaurus and you will find "appreciation".

I beg to differ.

Gratitude goes so much deeper. I appreciate a fine wine, a superb meal or a delightful movie. Gratitude moves  my body and soul.

I have not always been aware of daily gratitude; but for the last 12 years that how I end my day, expressing gratitude. Try it; you'll like it. You will be amazed how your problems are minimized and the living world is a good place.

Try this for a week. Get into bed at night, either on a notepad or in your head, list the things you are grateful for this day, and this day only; doesn't make any difference how big or small. It could be a kid's giggle; just remember it.  I swear, in one week, you will become a more centered person with this wonderful universe.

So, how do I know this? My husband and I have lived this. Over 12 years ago, Ron and I were faced with our only child's death. She beat the odds and we have her today. It's still too painful for us to talk to each about; but we have our "code". We just say "we're lucky people" and we know. 

Don't go what we went through to discover how wonderful life is. Start your "gratitude" journal today.

Our daughter, Stef, and her daughter, Alex, who is 12 years old.

GRATITUDE.

Spotlight on elephants

Who doesn't love elephants? They've always been one of my favorites. I love watching them on Discovery or Animal Planet. I've even envision riding on one. I know that will never happen. I love horses, too, but I'm scaried silly every time I'm actually riding on one.

The Asian Elephant is on one of our endangered species t-shirts. The hang tag which comes with each shirt states:

"The difference between me and the African elephant is I have smaller ears, a rounder back, 19 ribs instead of 21, but most of all I am much more friendly. If you ever see an elephant at the circus, it will without doubt be an Asian elephant as we're easily domesticated, and form loving bonds with humans.

The matriarch elephant in a herd is responsible for remembering who is a friend and the traditional migration routes, hence the expression 'an elephant never forgets'. This is one of the reasons for our decline in the wild, if humans have built houses on our migration route we'll trample through their house, rather than go round, which tends to annoy then, so they kill us. We are also heavily hunted for our tusks and now there are only about 32,000 of us left."

Pretty sad, isn't it. Go to the Wildlife Conservation Society at http://www.wcg.org/ to learn more about these amazing animals and the projects ongoing to help support conservation of the Asian elephant.

As you can see kids of all ages and gender love elephants.

We currently have the Asian Elephant as our "Special of the Day".  Take a look at http://www.rubij.com/ for savings of 40% off.

The power of one.

I just took out the Sunday evening trash pickup. It included 2 bags of lawn clippings for recycling, 1 bin of recyclables and 1 bag of garbage.

Ten years ago it would have meant 4 bags to the landfill.

We're a nation of over 111 million households. Muliply that by 3 extra bags a week to the landfill.

See. We can make a difference.