Familiar hometowns, possible Main streets

That crisp feeling, and a scent when you first step out the door on an early spring morning. It's familiar, you know it because you've felt it or smelled it a thousand times before. From the time you were a child, when it held possiblity and the unknown world, through the years up til now, when it still holds possiblity, but the world is better known now, and a little more predictable. There were times when you wanted to escape this place and go places where no one would know you - you would be invisible there, and perhaps the world there would again be unknown, but this place has always called you back. No matter how many times you left or dreamed of leaving, it has called you back into its familiar nest.

There's something about hometowns that we both love and hate, isn't there? The familiarity is sometimes good and sometimes bad. What's really great about hometowns though is when they seem to improve over time. In my lifetime, Sacramento has gone from being a relative cow-town to having its very own star on the map - and not just because it's the state capital. Admittedly, sometimes it does appear to think itself better than it is, and gets a bit big for its britches, but the trees have only grown bigger, downtown has become more walkable, and people seem to be getting more conscientious overall. Seeing old friends in old neighborhoods just adds to the charm. I've always tried to escape it and it appears that I am continuing this trend. Nevertheless, Sacramento holds a place in my heart. So for that, here's a great big shout out to hometowns.

And speaking of hometown improvements, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has this neat little program called Main Street. It is an effort to revitalize the downtown areas of cities that have become - in a word (my word) - blah. It is an effort to beautify the downtown area as well as boost it economically, make it more walkable and promote community events. It strives to capitalize on a neighborhood's best assets, like cultural or architectural heritage, walkable streets and points of historic interest. I love this program. Not that I've ever participated in it, but it is inspiring to me and it gives me hope for our future. Who wants to look at Walmart shopping centers all the time? Not me, but if you know me, you know how much I dislike the way our country's landscape is losing its individuality, becoming homogenized with Walmarts and the other big box stores along all our freeways. Anyway, I'd like to love my hometown more. Maybe our new mayor will do good. I heard we recently broke ground with the railyards area - and that it will take 20 years to complete all said and done, but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Maybe by then our britches will fit us.

Some Mother's Child, Pennies for Peace, Changing Priorities

Last night, after watching the dvd Slumdog Millionaire, (for those who haven't seen it, there is a small spoiler ahead) I told my husband that I felt that one of the reasons the young man loved the young woman so much was because he'd known her since he was a child and she connected him to that time when his mother was still alive. I probably wouldn't have noticed this if I weren't a mom, but since having Tristan almost 29 months ago, my point of view on many things has changed.

There was a time when I didn't care to donate money to any group except environmental groups. I feel that the earth should be our number one priority because we are taking up space on it, infecting it with too many people and raping its resources. All the environmental catastrophes that are occurring are a result of these and earth's way of saying "Enough!" I still feel this way, but since having Tristan, I have seen his face in so many different faces and so I also feel now that it is beneficial to help people - especially children. Everyone is some mother's son or daughter and I have to assume that some mother felt about each person I see the same way I feel about Tristan. Admittedly, it is easier to feel sympathy or empathy for someone who is in need than some jerk who cuts you off. But sometimes anger turns to compassion because you start to think, "Maybe they didn't have a mom who loved them." I have become a complete mush ball, I think.

If children grow up loved then they will in turn love, and if they grow up educated, the hope - for me- is that they will not continue to poison the earth. After reading Three Cups of Tea last October, I sent off for some information about the organization Pennies for Peace. Three Cups of Tea is the book about a mountaineer who got lost in the mountains in Pakistan and was helped by a small village of people, without whom he probably would not have survived. He vowed to come back and help them build a school, and it was hard, but he did. Since then many more have been built. That sums it up in a very small nutshell. Pennies for Peace is an off-shoot from the Central Asia Institute, the main organization that helps finance all of the building.

I started collecting pennies (and dimes and nickels) around Christmas and am still putting them in my little container. At some point this year I'll take it to the bank and get a check for Pennies for Peace. What Pennies for Peace does is educate children about other children around the world. It was started by children here in the U.S. raising pennies to send to Afghanistan and Pakistan to help build schools and educate mainly young women. According to what I read through Pennies for Peace and Central Asia Institute, studies have shown that when you educate a young woman in remote Pakistan or Afghanistan, she is more likely to return to her village and use her education in a way that helps her village, whereas young men are more likely to leave and not necessarily return. Anyway, Pennies for Peace is an organization for children by children, so I'm doing it in Tristan's name. Take a look at the websites because it's a great cause. All this talk about erradicating terrorism, well, Afghanistan is where that's at and educating kids there is probably the best way to weed out future terrorists. Politicians take note.

I'm not doing justice to these organizations and all the good they've done. Certainly don't take my word for it, check it out yourself or for your kids. If you're anything like me your priorites have probably changed since you had kids. I'd heard motherhood would do that. I just didn't know how much.