A Writer's Vacation

I usually dont go on vacation. A vacation takes me out of my house, away from my keyboard, far from my wireless network. Ive grown to love the little conveniences of my home, the height of my desktop computer, the luxury of using my laptop even while cooking a big meal, the unexpected warmth of my dogs breath against my leg. before even packing, I miss my bed, my bathroom, my EVOO.

A vacation poses a leap of faith into the unknown. Aside from my normal apprehensions about going way up in the air on some physics principles and prayers, I wonder about the accommodations which never seem to match the brochure. Furthermore, there are noises I am used to sleeping through, locks I feel secure behind, and small amounts of identifiable dirt I can live with peacefully. And then there is the matter of being idle. Vacationing people are not only expected to leave home and family, theyre expected to leave their work. Needless to say, I had more difficulty with the latter, but I did agree to give it the old college try.

Yellow-belly that I am, I did not brave the trip alone. In addition to members of my immediate family, packets of Immodium, and a big bottle of hair conditioner, I packed a few other writers for company. I packed a modest size notebook. I packed enough pens and pencils to rewrite War and Peace, all of which I carried around in my oversized purse, awkwardly lifting and dropping passports and tickets, removing and replacing the books innumerable times for Tic Tacs and gum, knowing it was worth any inconvenience to be able to read on demand.

At our destination, my family predictably abandoned me to pursue fun, and I set up shop. I angled a lounge chair out of the sun on a balcony facing the ocean, and pulled out the first of my books. I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator in our suite, and sat out there a good thirty seconds enjoying the view, the breeze, the quiet, noting my husbands position on a sailboat in case he asked the way the kids used to ask if I had seen them doing tricks in the water. now my vacation was beginning. I was finally going to be able to enjoy someone elses work, without interruption.

The first ten pages were easy enough. And once I put the towel over my legs to keep from getting one of those sunburns I preached about to my kids, the second ten were bearable. During the next five or so, I finished the last of my peanut M&Ms from the airport, moving directly into my pack of Eclipse. And then I did my best to balance my sunglasses over my reading glasses, which worked, until there was no getting out of the sun on that chair.

As luck would have it, there was also a table and chair set on the balcony, which I could easily position in the shade, so I picked up my water bottle, my towels, my purse, my book, and changed locations. So I was upright. Being upright didnt preclude relaxation. I methodically noted the position of my daughter and husband now in a yellow kayak, acknowledged the mountains, the palm trees, my son who came to get his bathing suit, the heat of the sun, the strength of the breeze against the pages of my paperback, and then this strange black bird which started yelping insistently. I stood up as if to ask why it was disturbing my newly found peace. It seemed to be cursing me out, again and again, until I knew how Dorothy felt to be so very far from Kansas.

Offended, I clutched the railing of the balcony, mourning my lack of peace, wondering how early they started serving tropical drinks at the bar. The bird was relentless. What, I asked myself, could it possibly want from me? I was a stranger, invisible to the other, nicer birds who didnt feel the need to keep calling out to me. I stared up at the sky until my eyes watered, watching this bird for any Hitchcock leanings. He was definitely a screamer. Mom? That would be my luck. While the other tourists were bobbing to reggae, I was under attack by the winged ghost of my mother.

Suddenly I seemed to wake up and understand where I was. I wasnt on vacation. I had traveled into a wonderful new setting! I immediately reached for my notebook and cursed the very resolve that brought me here without my computer, because I was certain I would never be able to write as quickly as necessary in order to capture every sight, smell, and sound for some future story. Six pages later, the ocean still rolled about laughing at me. Bring it on, I smirked. I had towels. I had water. I had a whole new world to imagine.

L. A. Rentschler, author of the newly released novel Mother (amazon.com). Author of Jitters which was produced as a Lifetime Original Movie. Playwright, best known for Deathbed. IWWG. Dramatist Guild of America. http://www.larentschler.com

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Easy Steps to Fighting Global Warming Today to Save Tomorrow

There are a lot of things we dont know about our world but this next fact is true: There is no debate among experts scientists about global warming. It is a fact and it is happening right now. We are causing it by burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests. Records show these activities are pumping far more CO2 into the atmosphere than ever before.

That leaves us with an important question. How can you, just one person in this big world, stop temperatures from rising, glaciers from melting and oceans from swelling? The answer is easy. Do your part. If everyone one of us just changed our daily routines even a little bit, we can change the outcome of the earths future.

Here are something simple steps you can try to do everyday. These may not seem like much of a change but you will be pleasantly surprised at how well they work. Youll be saving the earth and money.

1. Buy organic cotton - Annually, conventional cotton is responsible for the use of $2.6 billion worth of pesticides, more than any other crop. Look for labels that say certified organic, meaning the prohibition of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers have been met.
2. Take your own bag when you shop We throw away a hundred billion plastic grocery bags a year. That's a whole lot of petroleum used to produce items that clog our landfills. Governments worldwide are restricting the manufacture of plastic bags or taxing them. Many stores charge their customers a few cents extra for them. Others give a small refund for each of their bags you don't fill. So tuck your own bag into your purse, pack, or pocket next time you shop.
3. Make your spring cleaning safer Try to buy one green cleaning product to replace a conventional toxic one, such as those containing caustic ammonia and chlorine bleach. These chemicals can burn your eyes and respiratory tract and, if accidentally combined, produce a toxic gas. Also, they can find their way into our waterways and harm wildlife.
4. Save money and fossil fuels - The average household spends ten to fifteen percent of its annual electricity bill on lighting. Most incandescent light bulbs use only ten percent of their energy to produce light while the rest is wasted as heat. Use an energy efficient, compact fluorescent light bulb instead. The EPA estimates that if just one room in every U.S. home was lit by CFLs, we'd save 1,000 billion pounds in CO2 emissions each year. Some states even offer green power options for consumers who want to buy energy from environmentally friendlier sources such as wind or hydroelectric power, rather than coal-fired power plants.
5. Save water in a second Your faucet flows about three gallons of water per minute, so turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. Take showers instead of baths. They use considerably less water.
6. Buy locally grown produce - An astonishing waste of fuel is used when getting Fruits and vegetables to the dinner table. Buying local produce means better flavor and the chance to try varieties not sold elsewhere. It also helps keep small local farmers in business, which in turn preserves the countryside.
7. Defeat house and garden pests without pesticides - Household pests are not only bothersome but they can also spread disease and cause allergic reactions. Toxic sprays are no solution since they are just that toxic.
8. Use safe plastics As you walk through your local grocery store, take a look at the shelves notice how much of the food and water we buy comes in contact with plastic. Not all plastics are created equal and some are considerably safer than others, especially when it comes to food packaging and storage. Look for containers made from #2 plastic, which is both recyclable and won't leak toxic chemicals when properly used. Also, #4 and #5 are safe alternatives, though cant be recycled.

Its obvious that something needs to be done today about global warming and not today. Hopefully, by following some of the above mentioned suggestions, there will be a tomorrow for our children and not just a wasteland.

For further information on any of these environmental ideas listed above be sure to check National Geographic and Scientific American available for purchase at Magsforless at www.magsforless.com. They sell over 75 different magazine subscriptions with hundreds of other cheap magazines to choose from.

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