Nobel Winner, Al Gore - Are We Listening?

To launch LifePrints my first post was about meeting Al Gore while he was stumping for Tessa Haffen, a democratic candidate for congress from Nevada. My family and I staked out front row seats. We shook his hand and spoke with him for a few minutes. We told him how his work on Global Warming awareness had changed the way we do things in our household. He was gracious and genuinely listened to what we said. I've always liked the man.

When making decisions about politicians I trust my gut.For me it's less about the issues and more about the person who will act in Washington on my behalf. And I have to do this through media images, sound bites and debates because my chances of meeting an influential politician face to face are very slim. So I was very excited about meeting our former Vice President.

When I look into someones eyes I get a strong feeling about their general intentions (good or bad, honorable or corrupt). I've learned over the years that my instincts are usually correct. I looked former Vice President Al Gore in the eye and my feelings were confirmed. His expression was open and kind. His intentions good.

My feelings about him were again confirmed by his impact on the world's attitude about Global Warming. Since his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, I've seen a shift in my country. We are talking, making plans, and committing to change for the first time since I first heard the words Global Warming over 20 years ago. But will it be enough. Mr. Gore is hopeful so I will be hopeful also.

Here is an excerpt from the speech he will give today in Oslo, Norway when he accepts his Nobel Prize:

Even though I fear my words cannot match this moment, I pray what I am feeling in my heart will be communicated clearly enough that those who hear me will say, “We must act.”

The distinguished scientists with whom it is the greatest honor of my life to share this award have laid before us a choice between two different futures – a choice that to my ears echoes the words of an ancient prophet: “Life or death, blessings or curses. Therefore, choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”

We, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency – a threat to the survival of our civilization that is gathering ominous and destructive potential even as we gather here. But there is hopeful news as well: we have the ability to solve this crisis and avoid the worst – though not all – of its consequences, if we act boldly, decisively and quickly.

However, despite a growing number of honorable exceptions, too many of the world’s leaders are still best described in the words Winston Churchill applied to those who ignored Adolf Hitler’s threat: “They go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all powerful to be impotent.”

I applaud Mr. Gore for his continued efforts on behalf of our future.

In The Moments Before Flight

Life is filled with simple joys, moments of clarity that are gone in a flash. I have to remind myself to stop, take them in, letting them become part of me and my memory. Simple moments of pleasure with my teenage son are few and far between. His time is precious and divided between friends, work, and school. He's almost eighteen, ready to burst onto the scene and be his own man - so family takes a backseat. That is just as it should be, as it was for me when I was eighteen, itching to leave my parents house and all I'd ever known far behind me.

So when he came bounding around from the other side of the Santa Monica Pier I had to smile because he was smiling in that wide-eyed way that gets lost as we grow older. He held a napkin in his hands. Inside the napkin was cold french fries from lunch earlier in the restaurant at the end of the boardwalk.

"Mom, you've got to see this!" He motioned for me to follow.

I'll admit that there are times when I am too busy, too caught up in my own head to notice, to stop the inertia of the day and just follow my children to "go see this cool thing". It's a painful flaw that I'm working to correct. This time we were on vacation. I was relaxed and I saw his excitement radiate across the space between us. "What is it?" I laughed.

"Just come on."

He led the way around the clapboard arcade building to the other side of the pier and looked out over the Pacific ocean for a moment. His face and body relaxed as he breathed in the salt air. He pointed to a group of sea gulls trotting across the sand below us, opened the napkin and took out a fry. "Watch this."

He threw the greasy morsel high into the air. The birds took off like jets. One lucky bird caught the fry in his mouth right in front of our faces. My son started laughing - laughing like he did as a small boy, the half-chuckle, half-cackle that always accompanied the opening of birthday presents.

"Oh my gosh! This is really something!" I yelled as more birds swarmed over our heads. They swooped and hovered close enough to count the leathery toes hanging between the loose webbing of their feet. I saw their stained belly feathers. I'd never noticed how their slick bodies glistened in the sun. I marveled at the miracle of flight and imagined for a moment that I joined them in the sky. I think my son wished to be airborne, too. For a moment he looked lighter, brighter, luminescent.

When the last french fry was thrown and caught, all the birds, except one, retreated to the water's edge. The lone gull perched on the railing in front of us. We looked at him. He stared at us. More food, anything? He waited. We watched silently, afraid to break the spell. Then he was gone and so was the moment of connection to something bigger, more important than our daily routine.
My son tossed the napkin in the trash and leaned on the rail, in the exact spot where the bird had just been. He stared across the beach to the mountains far away. I studied him as I'd studied the bird, silent and still, afraid to breathe.

Happy Toys Instead of Crap Toys

As a dazed and confused parent in a big chain toy store, I sometimes wonder what we are doing to our children. My kids room are full of toys that they love for a day and forget about in a week. Then every December I box up the ones that are not broken and donate them to charity, all in an effort to make room for the new toys Santa will bring on Christmas. It's not the smartest plan. I have to admit that for a woman who's attempting to live a more eco-friendly, self- aware life it's an irresponsible thing to do on so many levels.

I recently read an article by Lou Bendrick written for Grist Magazine that solidified my feelings
about the disposable toys I buy for my children. I want to show them love so I buy, buy, buy at birthdays and Christmas. Why?

I've fallen into the consumer trap that I preach to my children about avoiding but I'm in it struggling to break free.

Lou Bendrick reminded me of heirloom toys saved from our childhoods. My parents still have my Lionel train set. We take it out every time I go home, just for the sake of watching it go in circles at the center of the living room floor. They saved my dolls and Fisher Price Little People play sets.

What have I put back for my children to remember their childhoods? To date, nothing but a few special stuffed animals. The rest is broken, lost or donated. I mean how long can you actually keep plastic light sabers, McDonald's toys and Sea Monkeys?

And now with the scare over lead paint and other toxins in toys, I don't just wonder about my buying habits, I'm ready to change them. Katy Balatero did some of the legwork for me with her article in Grist. She researched several toy companies who use eco-friendly and toxin free materials to make their toys. And they are toys that will stand the test of time, unlike the Hannah Montana sing along stage complete with microphone and long blond wig.


Someday I might be able to play blocks on the floor with my grandchildren and tell them about the Christmas that Santa brought the brightly colored set for their father. And none of my children will have suffered from lead poisoning or been exposed to chemicals that can linger in their blood for years to come.

Here are some of my favorite companies from Katy Balatero's list. If you have children in your life, take a moment to read these two well informed ladies articles. Then decide if you are ready to jump off the crap toy bandwagon with me.

HaPe
Tumbleweed Woodworks
ImagiPlay

The worst we will suffer is a few heated tears from our toddlers when we walk away from the majority of the toy isle but in the long run that's so much better than the alternatives - sick youngsters, landfills overflowing with mountains of plastic Disney figurines, and no tangible memories of childhood.

This sounds more like a rant than my usual happy post. The happy part is that we have alternatives. We can make better choices. The United States Government can ratify the same restrictions over toys that have been passed by the European Union and we can rest easy that our children's toys are safe. We can buy toys that make them squeal with joy while being vigilant about the well-being of our children.

Happy shopping.