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Happy new year!

(photo above, is a raku messenger bird, a beautiful handmade piece by micmar002 on Etsy)

Here in Ottawa, where there is usually a few frigid feet of cold snow by now, the warm rains have washed it all away. It's slightly eery, and a stark reminder of changing times and my responsibility - our responsibility - to conserve, to stop the melting glaciers, to make sure my childrens' great grand children have a healthy, beautiful place to live.

I have only two resolutions this year.

I want to do better - live smarter and more sustainably. More ethically. As part of this, I want to buy less new things and make do with what we have, making things and upcycling things we already have to fill the gaps. I must admit that I picked up a few new (organic, fair trade) nursing shirts last week in preparation for my plan.  We've been working through our home, room by home, decluttering and freeing up space (and oh how freeing that is). Another stark reminder: "stuff" accumulates without even us intending it to. And stuff is so heavy, so weighty, so largely unsustainable.

And second, I want to be more present. I want to capture the sun reflecting in my daughter's dark blue eyes when she laughs uncontrollably, or the shine in her hair when I (rarely but so enjoyably) get to wash it. The soft tilt in her voice when she speaks of the little brother she's going to "get" soon. The poetry in her voice when she narrates her own deep, creative play. Her delight in the buttery piece of bread she devours when her vegetables are all done. The feeling of her small, delicate but oh so strong fingers intertwined in mine. Ever so briefly. So fleeting. The laundry, the dishwasher, the Etsy orders, the week's plans... can all wait. I will falter, I will try harder even still.