I can't think of anything better for New Year's Eve than two articles that will get you ready to accomplish great things in 2009. Both essays appear on Zen Habits.Adventures come in different shapes and sizes and mean so many things to different people. I've just finished reading Adventurous Women, Eight True Stories About Women Who Made a Difference by Penny Colman and am now starting on my own small adventure, a book review for the Adventurous Women blog.
Colman writes that she was looking for obvious adventures and not so obvious, from an expedition to the Arctic to building a school. Many of the women featured in the book decided that their lives would be full of adventure and were fortunate enough to have the money to make that decision. Others had adventure thrust upon them. For them, it was more a case of survival providing the adventure in their lives, but they rose to the challenge and not only survived but thrived and helped their family members and others around them as they lived their adventurous lives.
The adventurous women include Louise Boyd, an arctic explorer and Mary Gibson Henry, a plant hunter -- two very different women, with very different interests. Boyd started her exploration at a young age, chartering a boat to explore the Arctic whereas Gibson Henry discovered her passion as a child but married, raised five children, then started her plant-finding adventure, taking her family along with her.
Juana Briones became the head of her family. Her adventure wasn't the luxury of travelling with her family but raising them on her own while becoming one of the preeminent women in California history. Alice Hamilton, a super sleuth, used her medical knowledge to fight for better rights for workers. Ignoring factories that had been cleaned up before her inspection, Hamilton instead listened to gossip and tracked down the problems workers faced with lead and other substances.
Mary McLeod Bethune, a passionate educator has an amazing story of building a school and hospital during segregation and standing up to the Ku Klux Klan, "If you burn my buildings, I'll build them again." Adventurous, bold, brave, there aren't enough words to describe her strength of character. Katharine Wormeley, a daring superintendent, worked on board a hospital ship during the Civil War in horrendous conditions and wrote letters describing her experience.
The final chapters of the book feature Biddy Mason, a fierce fighter who walked to California behind a wagon train before finally winning her freedom from slavery, and Peggy Hull, a resolute reporter who was the first female war correspondent. Hull spent seven months in Siberia, covered the Japanese attacks of Shanghai in 1932 and World War II.
These are incredibly brief introductions to these women, their stories are inspirational. I enjoyed Penny Colman's style, in a "conversational voice," which made the stories come to life rather than being bombarded with a great deal of facts. Strangely one of my favourite quotes comes from Louise Boyd. "I powder my nose before going on deck, no matter how rough the sea is" really made me smile. Here is this amazing woman chartering a boat to explore the Arctic, convincing a captain that a woman could take on that role, dealing with severe conditions but still ensuring her nose was powdered as was important in the 1930s.
I'm not sure what adventure I'd like to have in 2009 but I would happily take a small amount of the passion and strength of any of these amazing women and will enjoy dipping into their stories every now and then when I need some inspiration.
The TimesOnline has prepared a list of 36 adventures to make sure that 2009 is anything but dull. Grab a pen and get out your datebook because the Times was nice enough to put their list in chronological order.
I have to admit that I only recently discovered that there is an organization called the American Pie Council. Just saying the name makes me happy. Even better, the American Pie Council is calling ALL pie bakers (amateurs, kids and pros alike) to compete in the 15th Annual National Pie Championships, April 24-26 in Orlando.
The annual Geminid meteor shower began on December 7 and will peak this week during the evening of December 13. Sadly, a very bright moon is expected to obscure all but the brightest meteors. For the best viewing, grab a heavy blanket and a lawn chair then look up between 10pm and dawn. If you're patient and in a location without a lot of light pollution, you can expect to see a meteor (shooting star) streak overhead every couple of minutes.
FOR BEGINNING MOUNTAINEERS: For any friend who dreams of climbing the big ones, Cotsworld, a British outdoor retailer, is offering a series of videos for beginning mountaineers. The folks at Adventure Blog said they were, "excellent." You can choose "First Steps on Snow and Ice," "Your First Alpine Ascent," "Climbing Essentials," and "Climbing Hardware."
GIVE AND LET GIVE: This is for your friend whose passion is to make a difference in the world. This gift has three elements: First, a tin of green tea; second, the book "Three Cups of Tea," the true, amazing and inspirational story of Greg Mortensen who has spent the last 15 years building schools (especially for girls) in the most rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan; third, a donation to the Central Asia Institute, which funds Mortenson's work. The CAI website will help you print a card saying that you've made a donation in honor of your friend.
ADVENTURES IN GARDENING: Anyone can grow your basic zucchini and tomatoes but for the adventurous gardener there are sooo many more possibilities. Here's one your gardening friends may not have tried yet; mushrooms are available in indoor mushroom kits from Fungi Perfecti.
BAT BOXES: The Organization for Bat Conservation can teach you just about everything you and your giftee want to know about bats. They'll also sell you a nice bat house to attract lots of little flying mammals. If you're handy with a hammer, you can download bat box plans and build your giftee a homemade present or you could use the plans to create a bat box kit. Honestly, I know a lot of kids who would love this.
SEGWAY! LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL: I've said this before but it's worth repeating. Riding a Segway is the most fun you'll have on two wheels. Why not present your giftee with a certificate for a Segway tour of her favorite city. To find a guided tour near you, click here then go to "guided tours" at the very top of the page. You'll find links for cities across the US and around the world.
ROAD RUNNER: For anyone who keeps threatening to start running but needs a little push. How about a book about running and a Road ID. Road ID is a wrist band with an engraved plate that holds emergency contact information. You can choose from a variety of colors and non-wrist styles as well.
EXTREME TREE CLIMBING: Tree Climbers International offers all kinds of things for people who want to branch out from climbing the stuff in the backyard. Visit TCI's store for everything from instructional DVDs including, "Tree Climbing Basics" to books like "Tree Climber's Companion." Use the coupon code HOLIDAY at checkout for a 15% discount. If your giftee is in the Atlanta, GA area, TCI offers beginners' classes as well.
PASSPORT: Starting June 1, 2009, Americans will need passports to travel to Mexico and Canada. Many people want a passport but are intimidated by the paperwork or are too young to handle the process themselves. The gift of time and assistance is a wonderful way to help your giftee make a dream come true. You can help by printing out the paperwork, finding a passport office near you, looking into the passport fees (maybe you can cover the cost, maybe you can only cover the cost of passport photos), taking the giftee to have her passport photo taken and driving her to the passport office.
GET AWAY, FAR...FAR...AWAY: Unusual Hotels of the World lists the most astonishing hotels you've never been too. Click on the icon for underwater, rainforest, igloo, underground/cave, treehouse, etc. and find a selection of hotels ranging from "different" through "wacky" to "wow." Send your giftee on a one-of-a-kind weekend getaway that will never be forgotten.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S SO MUCH MORE: If you haven't seen what you're looking for, visit Discovery Experience and click through their enormous selection of adventurous options. You can make your purchase and Discovery will even provide a gift box. You just can't go wrong here.*These ideas are meant to inspire you and the sites listed here are starting points for your shopping. This listing is not intended to guarantee any product or service. Consumers are responsible for educating themselves before entering into any kind of agreement with any/all providers.
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