Wholesome Snacks

We could fill a daily blog with acts of kindness.

You might want to try this one. Fill a tote-bag with a variety of wholesome snacks. A friend made up a dozen snacks for us. (She had observed that I wasn't always eating right.) It is easy to forget to eat regular meals ~ which can lead to scrambling for the wrong pick-me-ups.

By having tempting, ready-made snacks available, a busy day does not have to mean low energy and unnecessary tiredness by mid afternoon.

The friend who created this gift is my niece, Lisa, mother of two who cooks everyday not only for her family but for the YWCA daycare and runs her own business, Vavoom Photography. Thank you, Lisa, for your act of kindness.

Lisa's pretty tote bag contained: baggies of walnuts, pistachios, almonds, salt-free pretzels and homemade granola ~ all with colourful twist-ties. Make up your own snacks. Make them ahead of time and keep them wholesome. This practice can be motivation for staying fit. Create a tote for a friend! It can make a difference.

Spell Check or Delete Key?

Spell Check did not "catch" the error in yesterday's blog-post. (I think we had Arthur C. Clarke ~ bless his scientific soul ~ dead before he was born.) It was particularly funny because the post is about intelligence.

An animated e-mail from a friend this morning is humourous. In a colorful cartoon: A puff of dust, a detached Computer cable and ~ poof! ~ an empty desk-top. Gone is the computer, with the caption: "All I did was hit the delete key."

Most days we wouldn't have it any other way. The essentials in life include our computer and, yes, the Internet. However, it feels like a world of contradictions, a constant tug-of-war for some of us between the human mind and the electronic brain. May the human prevail.

Note: Our thanks to the human reader who caught the error.

Your Smile for Today:

"It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value."

~ Arthur C. Clarke, British Science Fiction writer (1917 - 2008)

Earth Hour ~ Today's Question

The Neat Little Bookshop wants to know:

1. What did you do during Earth Hour?
2. Did Earth Hour change your thinking? Do you have plans for Earth Day on April 22?

Next time you are in the bookshop, please sign our guest book and tell us your thoughts.

Photo: by Vavoom Photography

Earth Hour

Today, lights will go out all over the world to raise awareness of the urgency of global conservation of energy and resources. A WWF* initiative, we are encouraged to turn out our lights between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.
In 1837, pioneer Anne Langton relied on supplies ~ including candles ~ from England. By 1840, according to her journal, she was making her own candles.

"Tuesday, March 10. I got my candle-making over today and now I have only to fill the moulds a few times and I shall have made up my half-cask of tallow. Ten dippings made very respectable candles today, where as what I was obliged to make in summer after four-and-twenty were most miserable pig-tails."

From the journal of Anne Langton, 1840. A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada, Irwin Publishing, Toronto, Canada, 1950.

Note: A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada, blog-post March 23.
*World Wildlife Federation

Your Smile for Today:

"The best thinking has been done in solitude.
The worst has been done in turmoil."

~ Thomas Edison, (1847 - 1931) American inventor

Precious Solitude, Ruth Fishel, Adams Media Corp., 1999

Photo: by Lorna, Parrothead Cove, Lake Erie

Caledonia Along the Grand River

Well-known author, columnist, Barbara Martindale, has been documenting the history of Caledonia and surrounding area in books and in articles. The former publisher of the Grand River Sachem, continues to write a weekly column in the Sachem, "For What It's Worth."

Actively involved in many organizations in her community, including the Chamber of Commerce and the BIA, Barbara still found time to be Member Services Director of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association. She was a member of the Media Club of Canada (founded originally as the Canadian Women's Press Club). She is recognized nationally within the Canadian print media.

Barbara Martindale will be in The Neat Little Bookshop on Thursday, March 25 at 1:30 p.m. Everyone welcome. Thursday afternoons are designated for discussions with fascinating personalities.

Caledonia Along the Grand River, published by Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., Toronto, Ontario, 1995