Category: life

Moving

bcarnanLeave a comment

By this time on Saturday, I will be in Maryland.  Yup, shortly after the most recent Storm of the Century, Kevin and I are moving to a snow-buried house in the Mid-Atlantic.

I’ve been experiencing a lot of emotions in relation to this move- sadness over leaving my favorite place we’ve ever lived, stress from the nature of packing and shipping a household 5,000 miles, anxiety over the hours and hours of flying we’re undertaking, and uncertainty about what awaits us on the other side of those flights, just to name a few.  I’m also a little worried about how we’re going to survive til spring, given that the warmest clothing either of us owns is a hoodie.

Having spent nearly two years inHawaii, it’s hard to imagine living on the mainland again. Even reminding myself of all the positives- we’re going to have friends again! We’re going to get a dog! – isn’t doing much to dispell my nerves.

While I’m packing, you all should leave comments reminding me why living on the east coast is great. What’s your favorite thing to do? What makes it more fun than island life?

My favorite charities: Durrell Trust

bcarnanLeave a comment

As a kid I grew up reading Gerald Durrell’s stories, most of which were based on his frankly astounding life.  From his childhood growing up in Greece with a cast of hilarious humans and animals, to his adulthood collecting ever more exotic and personable creatures in distant counties, his books enthralled me for hours.

Once he grew older, Durrell started a zoo.  His goal was two-fold, to educate Britain about the natural world, and to establish breeding populations of endangered species for eventual reintroduction to the wild.  To further his aim (and to alleviate the financial burden his lofty plans inevitably required) he created the Durrell Trust.  They work all over the world to educate not only the general public, but also to train scientists working with endangered species.  Naturally, the Trust’s logo is a dodo bird.

Durrell Trust accepts donations or you can browse their store for something cool- or an animal to adopt.

My favorite charities: Harry Potter Alliance

bcarnanLeave a comment

The Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) is a fairly young organization, having been formed only ten years ago.  Their premise is that the energy that fans put into their beloved media can also be used as a powerful force for change in the world.  Thus far they’ve harnessed that energy to get Warner Bros. to change their chocolate to 100% fair trade sources, sent five planes of supplies to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, donated hundreds of thousands of books all over the world, and all sorts of other projects.

Helping them is a lot more straight forward than donating to Angel Tree- for the HPA you can donate, or join (or form) a local chapter to help them continue their good works on a local level.