Shiny Bits of Life

Heather is amazing.

She and a couple of other American ladies are involved with some refugee women from Nepal. They usually get together on Tuesday nights to study the Bible. She had wanted to show their teenage daughters a slice of Americana – and what our lives are like. So after the meeting one week, she piled them into our minivan and brought them out to spend the night at our suburban home. (One of the ladies’ young son happened to tag along.)

I, of course, was overwhelmed – but Heather took it all in stride. She went for a walk in our neighborhood, our sons played ping pong with them, and a good time was had by (almost) all.

I’m glad that people are different. It’s great to be married to Heather.

Today marks 21 years together. We do not take this for granted. We count it as a blessing that is beyond what we deserve.

Thank you Heather!

And an update – just a link to a post talking about how to show love – no matter what kind of a relationship you’re in.

During a short family vacation, Rachel and I climbed Mt. Cameron – her first “14er” – that’s a peak 14,000′ above sea level. To be exact, it’s 14,239 ft. or 4,340 m. At age 9, Rachel beat her brother Jay, who has climbed seven of them – because he got his first one at age 15.

The rest of the family? They had already gone to climb a few more adjacent peaks.

Celestial Seasonings is great.

By not including tags with their tea bags, they (claim to) have saved 3.5 million pounds (1.6 m kilos) of waste from entering landfills every year. That’s amazing!

That sort of environmental responsibility is worthy of being imitated by others. What examples have you seen of actions with seemingly small effect – but that end up having a large effect?

At the moment, car dealerships are closed on Sundays in Colorado. (For my friends outside the USA, laws on these things vary from state to state.)

I think that’s a great thing.

The mechanics, sales people, managers, and parts experts all get one day to spend with their family. Or their dog. Or their television.

We all need a rest.

A few years back, Colorado changed their liquor laws such that stores are now open on Sundays. Shortly after that, I asked a checkout clerk if the change had made any increase in their sales. He said no – but that the business just got redistributed over seven days instead of six.

Sad. Now the store owners have to pay more salaries and electricity bills. For no gain except to keep up with the store down the street.

I’d love to turn back the tide. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon. At least the car dealerships’ lobby has some sanity left.