Many a Day Goes By....in a nutshell, of course.

My goal tonight is to briefly tell - how did I get here?

Where is here? I'm sitting with my family in the front room of a cute little home in the small city of Livingston, Montana. Watching Downtown Abbey.

When last I strove to keep up and write I was writing from our comfy little home in Puyallup, Washington.

Granted, that was four and a half years ago. August of 2010. And I had no inkling that our dreams were just about to be interrupted and redirected. Though in retrospect, the writing was really on the wall.

Just three months later in mid-November, I received a phone call from Dear Hubby stating that he had been laid off at the civil engineering firm he had worked at for the last two-plus years. WHOA.

He came home and we laughed. Then we grieved. Then we panicked. Then we decided to try to make the most of it. We made secret plans to travel to Utah for Thanksgiving and surprise the Robinson family. That was fun!

We then travelled to Yuma, Arizona to spend Christmas with the Petry grandparents. Can you say warm sun and swimming? We even took the long way home up the West Coast and enjoyed seeing the Redwood forest and Oregon coast.

In the meantime, both hubby and I actively sought work. It was slim pickin's. Hubby had one interview from all the local applications submitted. I had none. Barely even a thanks, but no thanks. Hubby even contemplated going back to school.

That winter was very wet. Quite dreary. We had begun to cast our applications outside our comfort zone, out of state even. And there was hope! I began getting responses from organizations in Utah. The quaint little dream we were building on our cute little piece of property was slowly looking less and less appealing. And it was awfully wet.

By March it was settled. We would put our home up for sale and return to Zion. My brother and his family had graciously invited us to move in with them while we got our feet under us. I interviewed with two organizations and had follow-up interviews scheduled.

We sloshed and mushed out of our home and into a huge cargo truck and took off. We arrived in Farmington, Utah on April 1, 2011.

Dear Hubby continued to apply for work and applied to a low-residency program for creative writing in St. Paul, Minnesota. I followed up on the interviews and nothing happened. Hubby was accepted into the writing program at Hamline University, to start in July.

We decided to take a quick trip over Memorial Day Weekend to Yuma again and surprise of surprises, Mike was called in for an interview! It was for a construction company, based in Colorado, selling a product to engineers. He did get the job. Well, kind of. They thought he "looked rough," and would fit in in Montana. Would we like to go and open a new territory for them? We could live anywhere we wanted...

Here is where the long story gets short. Ha. The owner of the company told hubby that if he were to live anywhere, he would choose Livingston. So we looked it up. We called the local church leadership. We travelled up over the 4th of July weekend. We fell in love.

We packed our belongings into a much smaller truck and said goodbye to many bewildered family and friends, and headed off to Montana on July 30, 2011. We moved into our new place on the 31st and promptly welcomed wondering family within two weeks. They concurred that this was a good place.

Livingston is the northern gateway to Yellowstone National Park and a railroad town. It is right off I-90, about 25 miles east of the university town of Bozeman. It is the 12th largest town in the state of Montana with just over 7,000 residents. My favorite way to put it all into perspective is to say that there are now just over 1 million residents in the state of Montana. There are 1.2 million people in Salt Lake County.

I love this place. We all love this place. And we are grateful for the crazy circumstances that brought us here. There are many more in-depth stories in there. And that is how I got here.

Red is the New Green

Who am I kidding?!? What was I thinking?!?

In order for this to really and truly work, and by that I mean in order for me to write in consecutive weeks, months - ok years - this blog-gy thing has to have some sort of draw. And really one of the only consistent things since birth has been my love of the color RED!

So it only stands to reason, in my mind, that I need to fix the name. Peatree RED.

I hope this works. We shall see. So much has happened, so much has changed. We'll get caught up.

A-ha!

So it's moved beyond pathetic now.

I had an "a-ha moment" probably the day after my last post and have put off that discussion for what is it, let's see here now, five months?!? But I digress...

Back to my "a-ha moment!" And I'm not talking about a flashback of my neighbor Mark C. imitating the Norwegian band in the shower....

Rather, as I sat back and over-analyzed why I don't sit down for 20-30 minutes each day to put thought to paper, I noticed a demoralizing pattern. My desire to write is there, much like my desire to do many things in my life.

And here's the realization I came to: if I can't have/do/produce/etc. something EXACTLY how I unrealistically envision it in my mind, in the typically unrealistic time frame I have placed on myself, I begin to question whether I should have/do/produce/etc. said thing at all. And thus begins my unravel!

Sometimes it ends with a half-baked result. Other times no result at all, with pieces/parts walked away from. And in most cases a massive sense of shame and failure that I secretly (so I have deluded myself to believe) carry around.

Stay with me now, this public self-analyzing thing is both therapeutic and rare, and is bound to get better.

This burden that I have placed upon myself gets HEAVY and I begin to shut down things. Most often I decide not to care. But I do care. This emotional wrestling becomes physically tiring as well.

Fixing the Disconnect...

It's pretty pathetic that I haven't posted a word since February. I created this blog as a way to share the many eclectic, new, interesting, and oftentimes odd ideas that make my world go around.

Thinking out loud:

• I have a lot to say;

• I love to write;

• and I certainly can make time to do what I want...

One would think, and that certainly includes my own thinking, that these three things combined would be conducive to maintaining consistent posts on one's blog created for specifically displaying said thoughts.

Apparently there is some disconnect.

It's not that I don't have tens, if not **cringe** hundreds, of topic reminders that I want to write about.

It's also not that my love for writing is diminishing. In fact, I find it very refreshing to display my creativity the the written word. At one time I even had a talent for it. Don't want to lose that talent by not using it!!

So it looks like it comes down to making the time to do what I want. I am busy. I am mother to three, wife to one (thank goodness), pet caretaker (outdoor of course), friend to many. And that's just the beginning.

So as I search for that fix to the disconnect, let's hear it for making time to do what you want!!

Three Days, Three Ways. Are you ready?

As a proponent of sustainability, and certainly self-reliance and preparedness, I love to hear the local (Western WA) advertisements for being prepared. "3 Days, 3 Ways ... Are you ready?"

I love living in the NW and was thrilled when we moved back six years ago, fully aware that we were relocating to a hotbed of possible natural disasters. Mt. Rainier. The Cascadia Subduction Zone. The Pacific Ring of Fire. No matter how you spell it or what you call it, it's real.

The true reality struck on our first drive through the Puyallup valley from Tacoma. A fantastic network of public awareness signs had been set up pointing out the volcano escape routes.


That's unnerving to say the least! This did in fact feed my neurosis and has since driven MANY a major decision for me!

There are any number of additional reasons to be prepared and it is great to hear it being proclaimed to the general public. The '3 Days, 3 Ways' Web site is managed by the King County Office of Emergency Management, and it invites one and all to prepare in three ways: make a plan, build a kit, and get involved. A plethora of informational resources!!

Their Web site also suggests becoming ready to survive for at least '3 Days.' There are several scenarios: in place at home, school or work or on the go. Being the owner of a significant supply of the basics and multiple 72-hour kits (one for each member of the family!) I feel that our family has a good start.

Are you ready? It's not an easy thing to do and can be very overwhelming at best. In addition to these government resources I have tapped into my ecclesiastic support system as well as other internet sites. Take a peek and "GET READY!"

Pesticide Free Zone - Really?

I have this really cute sign I procured at one of the green festivals I attended in that past year. It looks like this --


While it's cute and sturdy, ready to display outside in my yard - I have to say that it won't make it there. And not just because I'm too lazy to put it out!

The phrase "Pesticide Free" is so overused and used IMPROPERLY! I believe that it brings great comfort to many people as they believe there are no chemicals used in the production of their consumables. And that is a nice thought.

But really folks, what is a pesticide? Anything that kills a pest, right? So that cute little ladybug in the picture is a pesticide for all intents and purposes.

I find it hard to believe that healthy consumables can be produced without pesticides. Think about it.

It's that gardening time of year again! I recently renewed my application for Pierce County Master Gardener and am prompted to begin blogging again. There is so much information to share!

"It's Our Culture"

This is dedicated to the ones I love! I have been compelled out of my silence by forces I cannot explain...

So what is compelling? I received an email yesterday from the Worldwatch Institute, a Spring 2009 Campaign donation request, I often receive them and just as often I delete after reading the final word. This time the words spoke to my soul....

It speaks of culture and how our culture influences our daily lives. Their call to action is to shift the culture of over-consumption to a culture of sustainability! While this isn't a new thought, this culture shift angle struck a loud chord with me.

I often (more and more every day) hear comments from friends in a predominant culture that I believe in about "tree-huggers" and other such silly names that label a movement that they believe does not belong in their "culture." Well I'm sorry folks! You're the ones that can't see the forest for the trees! Sustainability is self-reliance. Self-reliance is a core value you suppose to espouse....or are those just words? This is dedicated to you, my friends!!

In re-posting their email here, and I must use their words, I am not necessarily asking you to join their campaign financially - especially in this economic environment - but I am asking you to consider how you can join their campaign in how you live your life! Enough of my editorial, on with their words!

Why do we spend billions on expensive products to keep us healthy, while consuming cheap processed foods that make us sick?

Why do we spend more time than ever plugged in to gadgets, and less time visiting with our friends?

Why do we put some animals in day care and others in factory farms, making "best friends" of the former and fast food of the latter?

IT'S OUR CULTURE.

Culture is the invisible force that molds our values, beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors. It is the force that makes everything we do seem natural. And while rarely discussed, culture is the single most important determinant of whether we as a society thrive long into the future, or-like maladapted civilizations before us, go extinct.

The 21st-century consumer culture now influences the behaviors of over 2 billion people. But to thrive, we urgently need to shift cultural norms so that it is no longer "second nature" to consume ever more stuff. Instead, it should feel natural to live healthier, more satisfying lives that are in balance with the Earth's limits.

After decades of extreme over-consumption, we now have a moral obligation to ourselves, to our children and grandchildren, and to the Earth that sustains us to change the way we are thinking and alter our habits as a result. And that is exactly what Worldwatch is hoping to provoke.

In Worldwatch's Spring 2009 campaign, we are working hard to raise $20,000 for our "Transforming Cultures Project,"which will explore the current consumer culture and how to transition to a culture of sustainability. I hope you will consider making a gift to support those efforts.

The two main goals of our Transforming Cultures Project are:

• To develop powerful tools that encourage people to reconsider the current cultural system.

• To challenge people to play a role in transforming that cultural system into one that is more sustainable.

In addition to providing a compelling analysis of how a culture of sustainability is starting to take root, our flagship report State of the World 2010 will launch a discussion of how to effectively cultivate a culture of sustainability as individuals and as a society. Throughout 2010, the book will be used to reach those actors already poised to lead this cultural transition: environmental educators, policymakers, journalists, social entrepreneurs, eco-celebrities, and civil society leaders.

Will you help us get there? Please make a donation of $50, $100, $250, or more to support the writing and research behind State of the World 2010: Transforming Cultures: From Consumerism to Sustainability, as well as the critical communications strategy that will amplify its impact.

With gratitude,

Christopher Flavin

President