February 1st 2012... In balmy Michigan

I just tore off the sheet on my old fashioned paper calendar for January 2012.  It occurred to me that although January is the first in the line of 12 months on the calendar... I'm never sorry to turn the page to February.  Now some might say that we can just chuck February and March too... because if your from Michigan... and you prefer lets just say... the "other" months... the first part of the year can be down right blahh.
Enter the new climate conditions for 2012... throw out the rule books, trade in your snow thrower, and let's break out the shorts and flip/flops (did you know some Michiganders actually never put them away?) cause spring comes in February  now.  Yes... the ground hog has been fired... no need for old PA Phil to tell us about winter and spring anymore.

You know your in Michigander when...

Number 1:  You drop the top on the convertible... and its partly cloudy and 45.
Number 2:  You decide to swap out the car for the motorcycle... partly sunny and 50.
Number 3:  You start calling around for tee times at the golf course... overcast and 49... remember in April you'll likely complain about windy and 58.
Number 4:   No worry kids... but the snow board aside for the long board... I see my neighbor kids hitting the rolling hills in the hood today...no jackets of course...
Number 5:  You start to complain about a string of too many nice days in a row... it upsets your inner Michiganian.

Now... keep in mind that just 36 hours ago we were blanketed in 3-4 inches of snow and we even had the threat of a dreaded... "snow day..." .  Funny how your perspective on this changes as you become a parent.

So... to all those local community event planners... sorry about it... Tip up Town... the annual winter event that brings winter enthusiast out onto the ice with their Ice Shanty's and Tip up's... not gonna happen.  Right through the ice and into the drink.   Fire and Ice... how about smoldering embers and slush?  Winter Blast?
Change it to Spring fling.  It is really hard to plan for winter events and it is always risky at best.

http://tip-up-townusa.com/

At the same time.... I hear about record snow in Alaska and cold in the UK... hard to figure it out and that is because... you can't.   It's called climate change... because the climate... is always changing.  This article in the Detroit News kind of explains the science of "Why".... theoretically.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120202/NATION/202020398/Winter-largely-dodges-large-swaths-U-S-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

Earlier this year I swear I could even smell it.  Yes... in our local area there was chatter about that unusual smell in the air.  What was it?  Never had it before in the winter... I though perhaps it was the smell of... climate change.  My theory was based on the temperatures staying above freezing for so long that we were catching the hint of a moldy smell in the air.  Once person I talked to theorized a proliferation of "Winter mold" caused by above average temperatures.  Others speculated it was from a manufacturing facility that had just recently went back on line after a long shut down.  Others pointed to the local landfills and truth be told my sniffer caught this every time I was in the vicinity of these places.  Problem is... the manufacturing facility is located right in between the two growing mounds of rubbish.   Something happened... and not sure what... but the smell is gone now and were not sure to this day where it was coming from or what caused it... or why it went away.  It just smelled like... climate change to me!

So... keep the faith... keep doing the small yet significant things you can do in your course of daily living.  It all counts as we learn each and every day.   I want to share this link I discovered from a green minded friend this week and I think is the ultimate in "reuse".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Fpsw_yYPg&feature=share

Let's just say... it sheds some light on a new way to use a plastic Pepsi bottle.

One last thing... we are still showing world wide interest in Greenfundraiserstore.com  with 56% visitation from China in January and a host of others around the globe.  We've had groups contact us from placed like the Philippians to talk about partnering with their fair trade farmers, missionaries in India to share their need for support,  a Spanish club on the east coast, and several non profits in Detroit, Michigan.

There seems to be a strong connection about wanting to "do the right thing" when it comes to taking care of mother earth... but it is not necessarily universal.  There are still many who really don't think they can effect the outcome and choose to do nothing.   Our target is really not necessarily them... but their children, grand children, nieces and nephews.   If we can get the attention of the grass roots level... and work up from there... I think that is the most effective way to go.   Going at it from top down is a road that can be... just impassible.   Coming at it from the roots up... well that just is a more effective and efficient process.   I might not be able to convince a firmly entrenched  curmudgeon to recycle plastic... but I bet his grand daughter will... ;)    

Cities Visits %
CN: 5,725 56.36 %
US: Coldwater 1,214 11.95 %
US: Seattle 732 7.20 %
US: 687 6.76 %
RU: 401 3.95 %
CN: Beijing 318 3.13 %
US: Mountain View 208 2.05 %
UA: 124 1.22 %
UA: Kiev 74 0.73 %

US: Palo Alto 52 0.51 %
US: Fremont 38 0.37 %
US: Atlanta 35 0.35 %
US: Dallas 30 0.29 %
US: Washington 24 0.24 %
US: Rochester 22 0.22 %
US: Clarkston 17 0.17 %
DE: 15 0.15 %
US: Sartell 14 0.14 %
GB: 14 0.13 %
US: Ypsilanti 13 0.12 %
DE: Bremen 12 0.12 %
PH: Manila 8 0.08 %
Other 321 3.16 %
Total 10,158 100.00 %
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