I spent yesterday morning with my friend’s three-year-old daughter on my lap, eating a pancake breakfast leisurely in the sun, feeding the birds our leftover crumbs. It was such a nice, peaceful way to start the day and it certainly made me wish I had more three-day weekends on the calendar and more three-year-olds in my daily routine.
I didn’t think twice about handing her bread to throw to the birds. We’d eaten plenty and it would have otherwise gone in the trash. We sat there, watching the finches try to fly away with chunks that were way too big for their tiny bodies. Eventually a few pigeons and crows showed up to clean up the feast and help their smaller friends.
This morning I woke up to an NPR news story about hunger in Afghanistan. Bread prices are soaring and there isn’t enough naan to go around. My heart broke as I listened to a father talk about splitting the four pieces of bread he could buy each day to feed his family of six.
I’d fed more to pigeons just yesterday.
I’m leaving Saturday for Nicaragua and then off to Africa and frankly the travel couldn’t come soon enough. I’m prickly and ready to have my spirits renewed with travel. I know the theme around here lately has been very heavy-handed; I’ve been having a harder time than normal understanding global inequities and my mood has soured. I couldn’t help but look at the sample bread basket at the coffee shop this morning, full of free slices of whole wheat, nutritious bread, and think of that Afghani father. I know eating less in Tempe, Arizona may have little change on the wheat prices on the other side of the earth, but I am sure that continuing to consume at my typical American-pace isn’t helping matters. I took my cup of coffee and sat down in tears to think. How do we even things out? How do we make sure everyone gets enough food? I’m not talking about Hummers or Plasma TVs or diamond engagement rings. Just food. How do we, as a specie, figure this out?
I don’t have the answers, but I’m working on them. In the meantime, sorry pigeons — no more bread for you.

~K

Asante sana = thank you very much in Swahili. Neither Nicaraguans nor Mozambicans speak Swahili, but I’m pretty sure they’d also find this new vocab word of the day more interesting than the Gracias! or Obrigado! they’ll be sending you when they receive these amazing t-shirts.

My guest room is packed with packages. I’ve received a suitcase full of tees from my parent’s church in Texas. A Brazilian mother’s group in Phoenix created a beautiful box of little shirts with Portuguese sayings. In fact, shirts have arrived from half a dozen countries with some of the most touching notes. It is hard not to get a bit overwhelmed by your generosity.

Thank you. I don’t know how else to tell you how much you rock.
Thank you. Gracias. Obrigado. Asante sana!

~Kelli

P.S. If you are looking for an excellent book about Africa, I am savoring “What is the What.” It is the tale of one of the Sudanese Lost Boys. I’ve known very little about the Sudanese conflict and am enjoying this story so much. Also, I am really excited to see this movie. Africa, here I come! 9 days until Nicaragua; three weeks until Malawi!

Just for a second, I wish I could turn of my conscience. I’m not talking about the Holy Spirit or my mother’s voice — which schizophrenically I also hear on occasion. Or even my internal critic who has been piping up way to often lately. (As Annie Lamott would say, it is time stop listening to KFUCKED and turn on something more pleasant, such as KROCKS.)
If I could just temporarily walk away from what is right and wrong for a second, do you know what I’d let myself do? Steal this shirt.

Meegan sent it as part of the Peace T-Shirt project and it is handmade, includes fabric that looks quite African, is soft and I’m pretty sure would fit me perfectly. It is wrong to steal and quadruply wrong to do so when charity is involved. So, I won’t steal, but I will covet. I will hand it out in Nicaragua or Mozambique with a smile and meekly remember I have an entire closet of clothes and I shouldn’t be such a selfish little t-shirt grub.

On a more positive note: my goodness, the t-shirts are rolling in. Stacks of them are arriving at my mailbox and the mailman has joked with me more than once that I certainly receive a suspicious amount of foreign mail. Hopefully he doesn’t have a Bat phone to this crazy administration we are under or you never know — I could be locked up Rovian-style without any rights. Then again, you know what would look pretty appropriate behind bars? This cute stripy t-shirt.

Thanks to all who are sending in shirts. I’m going to have more than I can take, more than likely. It is certainly one of those weeks where I pinch myself because I’m blessed beyond belief.

Peace. Love. Pink onsies. Theft. Hmm…

~K

Come to find out, you guys read a ton. We read a lot of the same authors (Kingsolver, Lamott, Coehlo) and you had some mighty suggestions. For anyone interested in a recommended summer reading guide, here is what you’ve suggested in comments that I have not read:
(I copied these directly from comments, forgive the lack of editing style. Some are authors, other book titles.)

Beatrix Potter
Corrie Ten Boom
Jane Austen
Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
Come Back, by Claire and Mia Fontaine
Lucky by Alice Sebold
The Golden Compass
Sala’s Gift: My Mother’s Holocaust Story by Ann Kirschner
Pride and Prejudice
In Lucia’s Eyes
The Historian
The Book Thief
The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show
Janet Evanovich’s number series
Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinkski
The Devil in the White City by Erick Larson
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Necessary Madness by Jenn Crowell
You’re Not You by Michele Wildgen
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Jane Eyre
Dr. Oz’s book How to Keep Young
PS I love you
March by Geraldine Brooks
The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Last Summer of You and Me
Hypocrisy of Disco
See You In A Hundred Years
Highest Tide
The God of Animals
Lullabies for Little Criminals
The Solace of Open Spaces
Haven Kimmel
Ron Carlson’s Five Skies
Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth
Gaia Girls
Wee Free Men
The Birth House
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe by Douglas Adams
Mezzanine Nicholson Baker
A Woman in Berlin
Persepolis

And these I have read and have provided a brief review:
{On a banana scale, Summer Sisters by Judy Blume is a 1 (horrific!) while A Hundred Years of Solitude, The Power of One, The Poisonwood Bible, are all 5 bananas, absoloodle. Fives changed my way of looking at the world. Ones make me want to burn the pages for kindling.}

The Poisonwood Bible — 5 bananas
My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult — 3 bananas
Kite Runner — 4 bananas
Tom Robbins — 4 as a general rule, always entertaining
Eat, Pray Love — 4, loved it, love Elizabeth Gilbert more in person
Hemingway — 3. I realize he’s a classic, but not my favorite.
Blink — 3. Liked the topic but was bored by the end.
Freakonomics — 3. See above.
Sue Grafton — 2. Summer mind candy, good for the occasional craving.
White Oleander — 4, great read, descriptive writing
Water for Elephants — 3, candy.
The Namesake — 5, love Jhumpa Lahiri
The Alchemist — 5, one of my faves of all time. Coelho is gold.
Secret Life of Bees — 3, enjoyed the story
The Red Tent — 4, great imagination, loved the Biblical references
Life of Pi — 4, great story telling, great for discussion afterward
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver — 3, good summer read
Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld –2, couldn’t identify with the main character

Now, what to read next…
~K

Book bag for a swimmer friend. This has me thinking. A. I need a new tote for my summer travels that must hold lots of books. B. I need to start putting aside trusty used paperbacks I can leave behind as I go.

My goal of reading 40 books this year is going pretty well. January was a banner month. February was brief and a great time to be outside riding my bike, not on the couch lazing about. March I got hung up reading a book I really didn’t enjoy, only to then spend $7 on the movie that I didn’t like either. Go figure.
There have been some great reads this year; I am a little in love with William Powers and wish Anne Lamott was my friend. There have been some silly ones too. I’ve been tutoring a friend who is in high school and reading a fair number of books I wouldn’t have otherwise enjoyed — like those Traveling Pants.

2008:
1. Whispering in the Giant’s Ear
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns
3. Lipstick Jihad
4. The Island
5. A Year of Pleasures
6. Blue Clay People
7. Traveling Mercies
8. Grace Eventually
9. Bird by Bird
10. The Other Boleyn Girl
11. Glass Castle
12-14: The Traveling Pants series, 1-3 (tutoring)
15. Wuthering Heights (repeat, tutoring)
16. Animal Dreams (repeat, tutoring)
17. Atonement

Next up: What is the What, Three Cups of Tea, Plan B. I know I’m a goof ball for being so excited by the growing stack of books on my nightstand, but someday I’m going to be a busy parent and am going to look back at my twenties and think, “I am so glad I read those then!”

What are you reading? Is there a book you’ve read in 2008 that you can’t wait to share with others? I’d love to hear about it. In 2007 that book for me was The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint. In 2006 it was Winterdance.

~K

Survived the bus commute today in honor of Earth Day. The daily ride pass costs $2.50, not $1.25 as I thought. This left me scrambling at the front of the bus for change for a $10 after I had already put in all the quarters in my wallet (5, as planned). It was like being at Rhodes Junior High School for the first day of 7th grade all over again. There I am fiddling with my bottom row locker when all the freshman are spinning through their combos with ease, hovering above and snickering at the green new kids. Thanks to the kind wave of the bus driver, I took my seat without ever finding the right change.

It was the right change to my routine. The brief experience threw me into a new mix of folk who I otherwise wouldn’t spend an hour with socially. I like these sorts of social situations where you feel completely uncomfortable because the universe is shaking you down and trying to teach you something about yourself. There were high school students from the technical school speaking Spanish and playing with their long, shiny brown hair. There was an African immigrant in a pressed white shirt that was so thin I could see his bus card clearly through his front pocket. A man with a hearing aid slowly rocked back and forth, flicking his long fingernails and never looking up from the black plastic flooring. I smiled, thumbed through my book mindlessly and people-watched with hunger. Bus riding is good for a writer’s soul.

The commute was easy. It took an hour, including about a mile walk — which I thoroughly enjoyed knowing we are full well climbing back in the oven known as the Phoenix summer soon enough. The bus was comfortable, the company eclectic and I didn’t have any road rage while reading and day dreaming. Imagine that.
I may have to give this public transport thing a fair shake, although it means I’d miss my morning coffee stops on the way into work. You know your life problems are insignificant when it all comes down to caffeine.

~K

Pachamama is beloved in South America and I find the idea of an earth goddess looking over us endearing. Rather than bemoan all the recycling we should be doing for Earth Day (Soapbox tone noted, Erin), I’ll say:
Querida Pachamama,
Thanks for all the cool stuff here on this third planet from the sun that doesn’t cost a dime: dark African nights with the Milky Way strung across the sky in a tangle of cosmic creation; the first sight of an ocean or the Grand Canyon, sunsets in Phoenix in August when the sky seems to be on fire, butterflies swirling about when you are on a long hike, silky white saguaro blooms gathered in late Spring crowns, shocking peonies, forests of tall pine that smell like butterscotch, animals so pretty they make you blush in awe, the smell of the desert after a long rain, monsoon season, honey, coffee, grapefruit, wine and the humans who once upon a time came up with the bagel/tortilla/bakery.
Gracias Mama Earth!

~K

P.S. I’m sporting my Chacos and birdie messenger bag today and trying yet again to make sense of the public transportation available to East Valley residents who work downtown. Carpooled in, bussing/walking home. I’ve got my camera ready for another fun urban adventure.

Aimee and I have decided to go through You Can Do It one project at a time to challenge ourselves and learn a few new tricks. (And yes, I say it in that same voice too.) The book is deemed, “A merit badge handbook for grownup girls.” Pretty sure boys can play along too, but I like the notion of having a handbook for those of us who wish we were still in a Girl Scout troop.
(Although truth be told, I did not like my troop. The leader was miserable and the other girls weren’t so sweet. The only reason I stuck with it was camp. Night sky filled with stars, horses, canoes, crafts and being outdoors without my little brother under my feet for an entire week was pure joy.)

Project one in this girl’s guide is “Dare to Dream.” To earn your badge (a set of stickers in the back of the book), you should answer the following questions:

1. What have been the proudest moments in your life?
Graduating from college and seeing my family in the crowd, being inducted in the Peace Corps, visiting my brother for the first time in Colorado and seeing the life he’s created for himself, cooking Christmas dinner for my family.

2. What would you do if you won the lottery and money were no object?
I’d buy a beach house in Carlsbad, California and fill it with adopted children. I’d volunteer in the community, be an active mom and grow a kick ass garden. There would be lots of time to write those novels too. And a couple huge pound puppies running around.

3. What are the roads you didn’t take because at the time they seemed wrong to you, unfamiliar, too rocky, or just less traveled?
I didn’t stay in the PC when it became intolerable. I could have been stubborn to prove a point and I am so thankful I’ve finally realized it was a really good choice to come home.

4. What did you daydream about as a kid?
Camp. And the beach. And having my own family one day. There was a dream of being a Harvard lawyer too, but I think that was more due to lots of “LA Law” viewing with my folks and not so much a true desire.

5. What childhood pursuits or pastimes would you like to pick up again?
Dodgeball.

6. What makes you feel free, serene or full of nervous excitement?
In order: taking long, solo runs, being on the beach or in the mountains, blind dates.

7. What would your perfect day contain?
Exercise, family, friends, good food, time in prayer. And we might as well add a dash of Javier Bardem in there too.

8. List the women you most admire.
Lordie. The list is long. Eleanor Roosevelt is on there, and so is Martha Stewart, my mom, grandmas, girlfriends.

9. Are there dreams you are a bit embarrassed to admit?
Well, my latest dream is to own a small organic farm that helps provide supplies for my tiny bakery — where I am able to feed others and provide a pretty place for people to enjoy breakfast. With their dogs.

Aimee – did you make your list? Next up: “bust a move.” Oy vey, my two left feet are apparently going to take a dance class. This should be amusing.

~K

A stack of vintage linens found at a Boy Scout garage sale this weekend, including those flags I turned into bags.

This is where everything comes full circle. So, how can craftiness improve the public’s health? Well, a bit of creativity always helps when trying to use, eat, drive and waste less. Crafty — in a Beastie Boy use of the word — is a compliment to all folk who use their creativity for the betterment of humanity, not just to fulfill their own desires. They thrift to find materials instead of heading off to yet another big box store. They spend the extra 20 minutes waiting around the bus stop to use public transportation in lieu of driving their own car. They move closer to work to minimize the commute. They bring cloth bags to the market. They wear hand-me-down clothing with pride.

These could have easily been thrown away, but thankfully they were at the sale. I used the disposible casserole to deliver that chicken pot pie. The jars I filled with sun tea and lemons and delivered to friends. The paper bags I’ll use for wrapping during the next year.

If we in the “developed” world use, eat, drive and waste less by instead looking at what we have and really need, we’ll improve our community’s health locally, nationally and globably. We’ll let less go into landfills. We’ll become less of a disposible culture. We’ll respect well-made products instead of cheap consumables. We’ll have cleaner air and rely less on oil from any country. We’ll eat until we’re statisfied instead of until we’re stuffed, know that taking food home in a doggie bag means spending less on food (and a bigger belt) tomorrow. We’ll have more money for organizations that matter to us. We’ll live simply so others can simply live.

An Army bag that I’m going to use this summer, when — fingers crossed — I’ll be traveling through Africa. A new trip is brewing… All these items cost $4. I gave them $7 because that’s what I had in my wallet. I would have spent that on the jars and dish alone at the market!

Imagine if the United States was once again known for our philanthropy, geneorosity and creativity? That’s that land (and people) I love.

~K

I don’t find being wasteful patriotic. So instead of burning this retired flag, I turned it into two tote bags for April birthday gifts. I think Betsy Ross would approve.

What in the world is public health? This says it better than I can!

A dozen of the things I’ll do today, thanks to public health advocacy, policy, marketing campaigns and oh, that expensive masters degree I’m still paying for:

1. Wear my seatbelt when I drive.
2. Wear sunscreen. Reapply when I go for a run or swim in the afternoon.
3. Eat five fruits and vegetables.
4. Drink healthy water from the tap.
5. Go meatless
6. Do my errands on foot.
7. Wash my hands after using the restroom. (This one didn’t take an MPH, just a mama. But imagine life pre-soap?)
8. Recycle my junk mail.
9. Get 30 minutes of exercise.
10. Wash my fruits and vegetables before I eat them.
11. Sew birthday gifts with recycled fabrics, reducing consumerism and ensuring my purchases are not supporting sweatshops.
12. Read my newspaper to keep up with what my Congresspeople are doing and aren’t doing to improve my community’s health. Pay attention.

Three cheers for the US Public Health Service and all the public health workers who’ve made such incredible advancements in our daily health behaviors!

~K

P.S. This is what I call unfortunate job security.