It’s officially summer! There’s a light and lazy feeling about summer that just makes us wish time could stand still. This year, more than ever, I would love to be able to freeze time and make this an endless summer.
Welcome to the 167th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a quote of the week. Along with my wish for an endless summer, this week’s edition looks at what’s buzzing at Michigan State, shocking storage unit stats, and transforming plastic waste into clean hydrogen.
On my mind this week: Can we make this an endless summer?
Life just feels a little lighter in summer. School’s out. Trees are lush and green. Flowers are in bloom. And fresh local produce is in season. Fall might be my favourite season, but there’s something about summer that just makes me want to freeze time.
This year, more than ever before, I wish I could make that endless summer a reality.
Two months from today, my daughter Laura will be starting her new life in Australia. It started to feel real this week when she sent me photos of the house she’ll be living in.
Laura has always had an adventurous spirit, and she’s been in a long-distance relationship with an Australian guy for six years, so I’ve known for a while this was coming. Even so, it’s hard.
I’m excited for her, but sad for me. The idea of her living on the other side of the world is tough. She has been living 3,000 kilometres away in British Columbia for the last three years. Compared to the 16,000 kilometres to Melbourne, British Columbia feels like it’s just around the corner.
I’ve been trying not to dwell on it but, as the day draws closer, it’s getting harder to put it out of my mind.
Savouring our time together
Since I can’t freeze time, I’ll savour the time I get to spend with Laura this summer. At the end of the month, I’m travelling to BC to visit her for a week. It won’t be quite so easy to “pop out to visit” her in Australia for a week.
Then, later in July, Laura will be home for three weeks before she leaves for Australia. Colleen will be home for 10 days during that time too. It will be the last time both chickadees will be in the nest for a while.
Let the (non) endless summer begin!
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- On Monday, I did a webinar presentation, Putting Together the Retirement Puzzle, for the local ISCEBS chapter. It went really well—67 people attended and feedback was great.
- Fresh Ontario strawberries are in season.
- Vicki Atkinson’s new book Slivers arrived in the mail on Friday. I am so excited to read it!
Things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Michigan State campus is buzzing
Michigan State University is abuzz, and it has nothing to do with academics or football.
The university has transformed 22 acres of mowed lawns into wild meadow habitat for pollinators. Along with letting the grass grow, they have planted pollinator-friendly plants.
This is a win for the environment, and the initiative has lowered the university’s maintenance costs. Win-win!
(Source: Yale Climate Connections)
Shocking storage unit stats
Self-storage units are popping up all over the place, but this week I saw some stats that made me shake my head.
In the United States, there are more than twice as many storage centres as high schools. And there are more storage facilities than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined. Self-storage centres are the fastest growing sector of real estate investment for the last four decades.
If you’re paying good money for a storage unit, it’s time for a reality check. Visit my decluttering page for checklists, tips and inspiration.
(Source: No Sidebar)
Turning waste into clean hydrogen
An inspiring new project at the University of Cambridge uses battery acid from discarded car batteries to break down hard-to-recycle plastics and turn them into new clean energy.
Even better, the new reactor is powered by solar energy!
(Source: Happy Eco News)
Quote of the week
If we can’t make this an endless summer, we can at least take some sage advice from Thoreau to get us through the winter.
One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter.
Henry David Thoreau
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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