Bein’ Green

“But green’s the color of Spring
And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why? Wonder,
I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful!
And I think it’s what I want to be.”
Kermit the Frog (It’s not Easy Bein’ Green, lyrics by Joe Rapposo)

Happy Earth Day! What are you doing to ’save the planet’? Did you know that this year has been named The Year of the Frog by zoologists? Frogs are a barometer of our environment, as they are very sensitive to climate and habitat changes. If drastic measures aren’t taken to preserve their niches, they will follow the dodo and the dinosaurs.

I planted a garden the other day! Um, well, perhaps ‘garden’ is too generous a term. Living in an apartment building, I have zero outdoor space. Instead, I took a windowbox and set it up just inside the windowsill in my kitchen. I’m hoping to grow some herbs, but my garden still looks like a box of dirt. Yes, I am aware that it takes a while for seeds to sprout, but that doesn’t stop me from checking a couple times a day! To start with, I’ve planted flat-leaf parsley, basil, thyme, dill, and rosemary. I wonder if there is enough space in the box to grow some lettuce; I don’t need much.

I suppose I should also note that I have a black thumb. I enjoy having greenery in my apartment, but in general, plants don’t seem to enjoy me. I do have a few plants in my apartment. A friend gave a cactus, as they are low maintenance plants. I still have that original pot, but I believe this is the third cactus (this one’s an aloe) living in it. My other cactus has flowers and has had three bright pink flowers for as long as I’ve had it (a year maybe). Is this normal? Of my other plants, I have some ivy that took over the big pot it lives in, killing off it’s neighbor, and now it is trying to spread out over the whole room. And I have a variegated leafy thing that must simply have a very strong will to live.

Many of my coworkers are planning their summer gardens, which are, in some cases, over 1000 square feet! That seems like a lot of work to this lazy couch potato. But I guess the results are pretty good, and some of the veggies (like beans and peas) are freezable. Many of these same coworkers have animals as well. Ducks and chickens for eggs are the most common, although pigs are becoming popular, and I know of at least one person who plans to raise chickens for meat this summer. Maybe this is all just because I live in hickville, or maybe it is all part of the rising cost of energy and food and the attempt to consume more locally produced goods. You can’t get much more organic, either. My coworkers also spend a considerable amount of time discussing solar panels and wind turbines. This state also has one of the highest percentages of hydroelectric energy, due to our many rivers and streams. Huh. Who’d of ever thought that this state would have forward-thinking trend setters?

How May I Help You?

“Lean on me when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long till ‘m gonna need
Somebody to lean on”
~The Temptations (Lean on Me)

How are you doing?

I’ve been doing pretty well lately. I’m confident that my improved mood and outlook has much more to do with the increased daylight than the drugs I’ve been taking. My therapist doesn’t see it, though, and she keeps coming back to the concept that I don’t have much of a support network.

Ok, it is true that I no longer talk to a single person I went to high school with. I was ready to escape everything about that place and I’ve never looked back. I also no longer talk to anyone I went to university with, although I did keep in touch with a couple people for a while. There are a couple people I do wonder what happened to, such as my almost-roommate who transferred because her parents needed her closer to home, and the other three members of my “Brat Pack” from first year.

I’ve never had lots of close friends. I was very social and outgoing as a young child, but that diminished as I got older (I blame my parents for isolating me…. a long story). Now I’m a quiet person and I don’t really make deep connections with other human beings.

But I do believe that you get what you give. Karma. ‘Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only changed from one form to another’ — physics / conservation of energy. I have energy, and I’m doing good these days, but someday again, I’m going to need somebody to lean on. Until then, how may I help you?

Daylight Savings

“Who needs sleep?
Well, you’re never gonna get it.
Who needs sleep?
Tell me what’s that for.
You’re happy with what you get
and there’s a guy that’s been awake since the second world war.”
~Barenaked Ladies (Who Needs Sleep)

The Daylight Savings Time switch came early this year. (So, clarification: are we now on Daylight Savings time, or now off it?) In previous years, the switch happened in April, but the Feds’ decided to shorten the winter dark season to decrease energy consumption, as Americans are more active during the evening hours than early morning hours. Unfortunately, the numbers that Mickey’s hands point to have little to do with our internal regulatory clocks.

The springtime spring-ahead is tough for me, especially since it is occurring a month early this year. I do consider myself a morning person; I am most productive before lunch, and I don’t even drink coffee! But I find it incredibly difficult to get up before the sun rises. Yesterday, sunrise was at 6:01. Today, 6:59. Tomorrow, I have to be at work at 7:00, meaning I will see the sunrise long after I’ve been forced awake by the headache-inducing BEEPing of an alarm clock and the sudden forced brightness of the fluorescents in the bathroom. I suppose I should be grateful that at least I live on the eastern side of this timezone.

In the evening, there will be an additional hour of daylight after I get home from work. Yes, of course this is a wonderful thing; sunlight has been shown to increase seratonin levels, making us feel happier. But it’s still too cold to spend significant amounts of time outside. So, I will head home, bump up the heat, turn on my computer, and fix myself a snack.

I will be using additional energy in the morning to wake me up. I will be consuming additional energy when I arrive home ‘an hour earlier’. My internal clock is all messed up, so I will be staying up later (according to Mickey). I will get less sleep in an average night, making me irritable during the day, and I will be consuming additional energy, thereby mucking up the Feds’ plans to conserve energy. Is this really a good idea?