OK! Now I am officially sick of winter
OK! Now I am officially sick of winter

Well I sit here writing on yet another snow day, as I awake to a phone call,
6:30 a.m., with a cold, a day off (well a morning off) anyway and I am now
wide awake. I think I am officially sick of winter, all of the snow or
clumps of grayish ice that are hardened at the end of laneways and sides of
streets.
I think we’ve had about four thaws this year and now more snow. I guess I
shouldn’t complain, we still have two good-size lanes on our side streets in
Mitchell, unlike Stratford when I drove down a side street the other day it
was about a lane and a half and I wonder what I’d have done if I met another
vehicle. I’m curious: Did you guys forget to pay your taxes? I had heard
rumours by some courier drivers that they had met another driver and one of
them had to back up off the street so the other could go by, so I guess it
was true.
Kinda strange driving to the city on plowed and cleared roads from my
country path only to hit the Stratford city limits and find driving has
suddenly become treacherous and potentially dangerous. I guess the town has
adopted my tardy ways of only cleaning when the company comes?
OK, enough about that, I am probably just sun deprived and whiney from all
of this winter! Spring at this time seems so very far away and I wonder if
it will ever appear. However I’m sure it will, just like every year before,
and I must remember that I feel like this every year!
I can only imagine how grateful the pioneers would have been for spring.
They were probably soggy and frozen from the long hard winters and then the
first day of spring, I can almost see them stepping outside to smell the
spring air and packing up their long underwear. I dream of opening a window
and I don’t even have a fireplace for a stove.
When you think about it we are truly spoiled and it wasn’t really that long
ago that a trip to the lou meant putting on a coat. It is amazing how far
technology has come in such a short period. It makes me wonder, where we
will be in another generation? Maybe enjoying a virtual vacation?
I’m sure people will still await the first hint of spring when the snow
finally is just a memory and the snow boots and mittens are packed away for
at least another six months!
But the surest sign of spring is when the kids look out the window and roll
their eyes at the snow and break out the road hockey equipment despite the
snow banks!

OPINION 2

And the plastic came back

In Chinese astrology, 2008 is officially the Year of the Rat. Unofficially,
2008 may be the Year of the Plastic Bag Ban.
China is banning plastic bags as of June 1. San Francisco (U.S.), Mumbai
(India), Huntingdon (Quebec) and Leaf Rapids (Manitoba) have already banned
the bags.
In Stratford, The Gentle Rain began charging 10 cents per bag last July.
Byrne’s Food Basics started charging a nickel per bag March 1. Other
retailers report more customers are refusing plastic bags even when offered
for free.
On the home front, I banned plastic bags as my first New Year’s resolution
in years. Heck, if entire nations are doing it, I can do it, too! I have
cloth and canvas bags. I can carry them with me and keep some in the car.
What could go wrong?
For one thing, having a sieve for a brain doesn’t help. I have to remember
to take my canvas bags with me, not just to the grocery store, but
everywhere I go. Too often I have unexpected purchases and come up bagless.
But I refuse the free toxic totes, stuffing items in my pockets or bundling
them up in my arms instead. That’ll teach me to remember.
For another thing, plastic bags are sneaky. Worst of all are the plastic
produce bags for fresh fruit and veggies. So I’ve stashed some of those in
my canvas carrier for re-use on future grocery runs.
One day, I discovered reusable bags that fold up into a pouch the size of a
business card and unfold to grocery bag size. Finally, a solution to my
bulky bag dilemma! A clip and belt loop on the pouch make for convenient
carrying anywhere, anytime.
When I unfolded my new reusable bags at home, I realized what should have
been obvious all along. They’re made of 100 per cent polyester! When they’re
eventually discarded, they’ll still clog and toxify the landfill for 20 to
1,000 years while decaying! Like the cat in the song, the plastic came back,
it just wouldn’t stay awa-a-a-ay!
Good thing this is my New Year’s resolution – it might just take me all year
to bag this one. Look for updates in my on-going battle against plastic. So
far, plastic, one; sieve-brain, zero.
Anybody else willing to join me in saying no to plastic bags? I could use
the reinforcements.
•••
Web Peeks of the Week:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/features/bags/default.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?emc=eta1