Makes Me Happy

I'm actually accomplishing the February Photo Challenge, though sometimes that means posting a bunch of photos at once that meet the criteria, rather than one per day. And sometimes that means posting a picture of the moon instead of the sun... Making myself follow through on something is the whole point though, so I guess I'm succeeding.

All three of the kind souls who read this blog have most likely already seen all my photos on Facebook, so I'm not going to post them again here. Some of them are kind of ugly anyway. But today is different. I took this photo of my desk after reading that today's topic was "Makes Me Happy." I immediately looked up an thought to myself, "Why, this Tibetan butter tea makes me happy, I think I'll take a picture of that!" And as I prepared to do so I realized that it was sitting amidst a bunch of other things that also make me sublimely happy...

National Geographic - If you know me at all, you know I love animals and nature and words and pretty pictures, and also that I am a nerd and obsessed with my own idyllic childhood. Therefore National Geographic is one of my favorite things in the entire world. I've subscribed to it since I was perhaps 10, thanks to my encouraging parents, and I look forward to it every month. Even though I can now read it on my iPad as well, there's some sort of magic about that yellow rectangle promising hundreds of beautiful pages within that just can't be replaced.

Butter tea - Have you ever had Tibetan food? Unless you are my neighbor and have tried Cafe Tibet, I'm guessing the answer is no. If you ever have the chance to, however, I recommend the momo and/or sha baklap dumplings, and lots and lots of butter tea. Mmm... There is nothing like this hot, salty, savory drink to get rid of your chills. Apparently in Tibet it's actually made with yak butter, but due to the limited population of yaks in Brooklyn, this is less than authentic... But delicious nonetheless.

Black pen - My mother got me addicted to the Pilot Precise V5 rolling ball pens when I was just a kid. They bleed easily, though, so I've stained many shirts, sheets, purses, and carpets by leaving them uncapped thoughout my life. It's worth the risk though. One day I made the switch from Fine to Extra Fine and never went back. They are the only pens I will ever use, as they facilitate my cursive handwriting rather gracefully...

Postcards - I was trying really hard for the first week of February to mail postcards to friends and family as another kind of challenge, and I did okay for a little while. I've fallen behind, even after I bought some weird Wild West-themed cards, but luckily I just unearthed some beautiful ones I bought in Ireland, so I'm motivated all over again. I also finally decided who is going to receive the postcard of "The Peaceable Kingdom," so that makes me sublimely happy. I had to save it for someone who was a serious animal lover. She will be quite pleased, I think...

My Computer - I got this MacBook for my 21st birthday. It needs some serious work and I worry that its days are numbered. Is it possible to feel affection for a piece of technology? Apparently so. That's all for now, I don't want to jinx it...

Sir Reginald le Crocodile - I found good old Reggie in high school after he was discarded by some uncaring child, took him home with me, and promptly scared the hell out of my cat with his ridiculous squeaking. He has traveled across the country with me on the dashboard of my car and lived with me in many apartments throughout my college years. He's been in Brooklyn ever since and spent the last few years keeping watch from atop my TV, until we cancelled cable and packed it away. Now he hangs out with me every day and helps me write. He's a rather dedicated little reptile...

Photo of Baby - I guess because I grew up an only child, my little dog Baby features more heavily in my memories of childhood than any other creature in the world. I will most likely never get over her loss and I'm certain that no dog will ever come close to replacing her. This photo was taken by my dad just a few days before we had to put her down and in it, you can see my shadow as I stand just outside of the frame. I was never too far from her in her last days. I think she looks rather noble and accepting of her fate, even though it came too soon. I'm glad I could be with her when she left this world.

Photo of Mema's house - Another photo taken by my dad is of my great-grandmother's house. The view from the back was the one we all knew the best, and he must have been standing right near where there used to be a few wooden swings hanging from the limb of a maple tree. It's a view I remember well. Pearl was 99 when she passed away and she left a long legacy of kindness and goodness and beauty and warmth that continues to inspire her family and anyone who knew her. I can never eat an apple pie without comparing it to Mema's... They're just never as good.

Much like all the trinkets on my desk at work, I guess it's the little things in life that make me happy...

Water World

Having put down my book for now, I'm concentrating on all the magazines and literary journals I have lying around my apartment. I have subscriptions to Time Out New York, Harper's, The Sun, Slice, and of course, National Geographic. It's ridiculous that I have all this paper lying around that I simply don't read, so yesterday I officially replaced the book in my bag with my newest copy of National Geographic, the magazine I've had a subscription to since I was a child, the magazine I refuse to throw away, the magazine that I can safely say has seen me through the good and the bad and will forever be my solace and escape. Well, perhaps until today.

The most recent issue focuses entirely on water -- the dwindling supply of fresh water, the hardship faced by most people to get sufficient clean water, its significance in culture and religion, and the steps we must take to save, purify, and replenish our water sources. Working for a nonprofit, I have heard my share about the woes of the world and the humanitarian issues surrounding water supplies. But today I thought so much more...

What struck me this morning is how very integral water is to life -- we are made up of 2/3 water, after all -- and yet how in Western civilization we really take it for granted. Apparently the average American uses 100 gallons of water per day. PER DAY. And yet there are entire families in developing nations that subsist on less than 5 per day. This is shocking. As I've said in former posts, I would rather help animals than people, which is true, but the simple fact that I feel that way speaks to the unbelievable luxury that I have been born into as a middle-class American citizen -- I literally have the luxury of caring for animals. And what's more, the animals that I care for use and require the same water that so many people in the world have no access to... and yet I can fill my cat's water dish at any time of the day.

I turn on the tap and fresh, clean, drinkable water flows freely. Whenever I leave a water glass out for too long, I know I run the risk of the cat getting to it and contaminating it with her stinky little kitty germs, so these glasses usually get dumped. I try to pour them into my plants as much as possible, but still, I recognize that the waste is enormous. The simple fact that my cat has an endless source of water at her disposal is amazing, when you think about the people that cannot access fresh water. Pair this with the fact that I can keep plants that serve absolutely no purpose other than that they are aesthetically pleasing (though my basil and new aloe plant are useful), and these plants require water, then you realize just how accustomed we are to this abundant supply and how jarring it is that there are women and children who must trek for miles up and down mountains to bring just a few gallons of water to their homes.

The article follows a woman named Binayo, who at 25 already has 3 children (she's my age!) and must leave her 4-year-old son to care for his younger brothers while she climbs down and back up a mountain to fetch water 3 times a day. Her husband drinks beer with the other men in the village made of the water she brings -- clearly not only is there a serious problem with the water supply itself, but with the culture that allows this division of labor. In so many cultures, water and women go hand in hand, so the idea of gaining access to clean water is really a women's issue, as well as a children's issue. And those are issues I am very much ok with.

The amount of lives, especially of vulnerable young children, saved by access to fresh drinking water is unbelievable. The amount of disease and death that can be allayed by teaching proper hygiene techniques is astounding. Plus, when less time is spent having to trek to get the water, which is usually a woman's job, more girls have time to go to school and more women have time to grow crops and start businesses. When more women are educated and financially empowered, villages and nations grow economically, terrorism is allayed, and there is peace on Earth... Well, that's a stretch, but the benefits are pretty amazing. When you go about alleviating ridiculous work for women like hauling water, you change societies for the better. Just ask Nicholas Kristof.

Will water become my new cause du jour? Probably not. But it is something to think about the next time I take an extra long shower, the next time I leave a full water glass where the cat can get it, and the next time I make plans to do a long term volunteering trip where I plan on taking care of cute Tanzanian babies and teaching adorable Indian children the ABCs. Perhaps those trips will involve more hard labor of a pipe-building nature than I previously imagined...

Only time will tell. For now, I will read my National Geographics and other magazines from cover to cover. I will also recognize how incredibly lucky I am to be able to have this immense supply of paper and water at my disposal, how lucky I am to be able to bathe and watch my hands each day, and how unlucky I am that more and more I cannot turn a blind eye to certain global issues and will most likely be forever haunted by the realization I simply am not doing enough to help and probably never will. I talk (or type) a good game.