Are you ready?

It's creeping up on us again. That lovely evening known as Earth Hour. You might remember my exciting blunders with Earth Hour Power Shower last year (read about it here). Earth Hour 2010 will take place on Saturday, March 27 (that's THIS saturday!) at 8:30pm. For one hour, only ONE hour (come on, how can you say no to something so simple?), please turn off your lights and all electronic devices. Yes, that means no internet, no cell phones, nothing. Gasp! It has been reported that almost 1 billion people around the world participated last year. Pretty cool! Even large iconic buildings/monuments are taking part. Last year the Empire State Building, Las Vegas Strip, Big Ben in London and many more turned off their lights for Earth Hour. I imagine it would be amazing to see some of those monuments without lights...what a rare spectacle. You can learn more about the history and importance of Earth Hour here.

So this year I plan to do it up right. Key word here..."plan." We'll see what actually happens. Whether it goes well or not, I've been practicing lately. I spend a few hours each week with the lights off, candles burning, and music playing while I relax with a glass of wine. Technically, the music playing is still electricity, so I'll have to nix that for Earth Hour. Someday I dream I'll be able to sit in candlelight and play my own music on my guitar, but as it stands now, my random guitar plinking sessions are far from soothing.

Earth Hour is a simple call to action on climate change. It's an interesting movement. So please, join me and millions of others as we turn off our lights and electronics for one short hour. I think you will find it to be a very pleasant way to pass an hour. The world turns a little slower without all of our technological distractions. Grab a glass of wine, take a deep breath, and reflect on the state of our environment.

I have officially been accepted into a Masters of Environmental Science program at the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich). I will be moving to Switzerland and starting classes in September of this year! I am so excited!! Not only will I be living in Switzerland, closer to my family, but I will also be starting a new and challenging part of my career. I will be majoring in Ecology and Evolution. Hopefully someday I will be managing a large tract of land to conserve for our future generations. This is the passport photo that I sent in with my registration papers. It will soon be appearing on my new shiny ETH Zurich student ID card! I can't even believe this dream is coming true. Someone pinch me...gently.

Beach Bummin

Delray Beach sand

Have you ever been to the beach at night? If you haven't, here's an amazing phenomenon that you should try to experience. Once the sun had gone down, even after daylights savings time, you may think the day is over. Well, far from it! Here's a fun nighttime experience for you to try. Wait until the sun has gone down (extra points if the moon is still high in the sky) and walk your "other of some significance" to the edge of the ocean, look to the sky to see how the stars are aligned, take off your shoes, and enjoy the lapping of the ocean on your ankles. If you don't trust the one simple truth that the ocean will forever make this motion, than you can return to your cubicle in contentment. Now, here comes the fun part. Move up the beach toward the dunes, dig a small hole about 8 inches down and then stick your feet in. Feel that warmth? The radiant heat from the sun shining all day is trapped below the surface of the sand and will warm your toes all night long. How amazing is that? It's the power of the sun but at night...awesome!!

So take off your shoes, relax and let life flow before you. If you begin to wonder why the stars are aligned just so, then you are human. If you begin to wonder why life on the outside feels so amazing, than you are human. If you forsake everything for this moment, then you are human. Life is wonderful for once, enjoy it.

My bike that I rode around town on last night. First I hit up the awesome Delray Beach Film Festival outdoor films. I lounged on the lawn and saw two really great films about wakeboarding and surfing. No wonder I got the bug to ride to the beach after that!

My lousy attempt at a nighttime photo of the ocean.

Fish Tales

Another amazing weekend just flew past. One of my favorite Tampa girls, Anni, came by to visit and we were lucky enough to be invited on a really amazing boat by a dear new friend in Delray Beach. This weekend was a good time for some fish stories. You know the ones I'm talking about? The kind when catching a 2 foot king mackerel quickly becomes a 4 foot wahoo. When you find yourself in the sun for too many hours, the rum is flowing freely, and old secrets are shared on the deck of the boat. It was a great fishing trip. Great weather and great people. These memories will last forever.

I learned that if you hold the fish really far away from you, it looks a lot bigger!

Weekend Adventures

How was your weekend? I had been hoping to make it to Marley Fest down in Miami this weekend to enjoy some good reggae music, but the torrential rain kept me from the trip. So instead it ended up being a great weekend of sleeping in, running errands, relaxing at home and in the hammock when the weather allowed, and following the full moon to strange new places. It's nice to have a weekend once in a while where nothing works out as planned, but yet it turns out to be better than expected. Oh, and GO CANADA!