Military families have pretty short root systems. Our motto is to "bloom where you're planted," but our vegetation is prepared to be uprooted at any moment to find a new garden. There is something about being home with friends and family whose roots run deep. Something about sinking your toes into family owned land, being in your childhood home, relating to stories told about past generations, or reliving memories with people who knew you even before you even knew who you were. Our kids will never know what it's like spending an entire childhood in one community, but one constant of their lives has always been family...and they LOVE spending time with them! We started off our trip at National Road Campground in Zanesville, Ohio, which just happened to be celebrating Christmas in July that weekend. The kids were excited to have their Grandma and aunts come through with loads of Christmas paraphernalia so they could partake in decorating. Santa and Smokey the Bear came by the campground on a firetruck and passed out reminders for fire prevention. We spent the week visiting family, including a Ramsey family reunion, and got to see Dusty's brother's family for the first time in over two years. We actually had family over to our "new house," which felt kind of nice, since our house usually requires taking vacation days to see. Dusty got his truck detailed and ceramic coated by Cocca's Detailing just outside of New Concord. I'm going to give his business a plug because we have so many people reading from that part of Ohio. Mark, the young man running the business, was most definitely the hardest working, most put-together, confident, and knowledgeable twenty-something year old that I have met in a long time. He did a great job on the truck, and generally restored my faith in future generations. Highly recommend! Sunday we drove to Brookville to see my side of the family. First stop: Marion's Piazza (our favorite) to meet the whole family (or everyone who could make it.) The kids played with cousins in the game room for hours while the adults chatted. Monday we took care of some business, played at the farm, had dinner at mom's and got to What's the Scoop for ice cream just before they closed. (Best ice cream! Brookville has been needing this for so long!) Since we were only in Brookville for two days, we mooch-docked with a dear friend of mine who I worked with way back in my high school days. Her sweet family started EZ Farms back in 2015, raising miniature herefords. Catching up with an old friend was wonderful, and seeing all the animals was definitely a perk for Banana! We had so much fun at EZ Farms that I'm trying to convince them to sign up to be Boondocker's Welcome hosts. Not only is their family a ton of fun, but we had a blast helping do farm chores and petting the dogs and farm cats. Today we hit the road to spend the rest of the week with family at our cabin in Michigan. Our visit was just enough to help us feel a bit more grounded before we get swept up by the wind of the road. We're so thankful for the deep, wide, and comfortable roots of our family to help us out on this journey. We may plant ourselves all over the world, but Ohio will always be where our roots are.
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By Banana (age 10) Have you ever wondered what litter has done to the outdoors? Has anybody seen the outdoors how Mother Nature made it, with no litter infiltrating? No, probably not. The trash everyone has thrown into nature— all the straws, plastic bottles and caps, fast food items, candy wrappers, plastic bags, shoes people have given up on, and more—destroys the beauty of the outdoors, animal habitats, and even the lives of some of Earth’s creatures. Do you want to help solve this problem and see nature how it is supposed to be? You can start by using reusable containers and water bottles, throwing your trash in the trash can, and start cleaning up your environment. A few weeks ago I went for a walk along the beach shore at low tide, and there was so much litter. In just thirty minutes we completely stuffed two big trash bags and also had three big pieces of plastic that wouldn’t fit. Most of what we found was fast food items, plastic cups, lids, straws, and water bottles, and plastic bags. Did you know that there are about 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean killing sea life? (2) Every day 8 million pieces of plastic makes the way into the ocean. (3) In order to fix this problem, every person needs to take action. You can use reusable water bottles and pack your lunches in reusable containers. Say no to plastic silverware and straws and choose to wash your own dishes instead of using disposable plates. When you go to the store, bring a cloth bag. If you have to use plastic, try to reuse it instead of throwing it away after the first use. You could even write to your senators or representatives to pass laws about plastic use. Bangladesh was the first country to ban plastic bags in 2002. (4) Rwanda became the world’s first plastic free nation in 2009. (5) In the United States, we could be more like Bangladesh and Rwanda and help clean our beaches and save the animals, while bringing back Mother Nature’s beauty. Litter harms animals and the environment. Litter doesn’t only pollute the ocean and ground, but it also pollutes the air. Researchers estimate that more than 40% of the world’s litter is burned in the open air, which can release toxic chemicals, and that leads to health problems. (1) All the chemicals in the air can lead to toxic rain. Also animals can mistake litter for food and die when they eat it. Animals also can get stuck in litter and die. For example, some sea turtles get tangled in fishing nets or plastic six-pack soda holders, making it hard for them to reach food or even deforming their bodies as they grow. Animals suffer because of your trash. Someday karma will happen and it will rain acid on you, unless you decide to make a difference and not litter. n
Animals die because of your trash. There's litter everywhere and you don't want to see that do you? You can help to solve this problem. Start by using reusable water bottles, grocery bags, containers, and more reusable items. If you use plastic, try to reuse it. For two examples, if you get a plastic grocery bag, use that bag to pick up trash in your community. If you order take out, reuse those plastic containers to pack your lunches. And clean up the beaches and the outdoors. Try saving your environment; don't destroy it.
References:
Shout out to Blaze Pizza for making smarter decisions about what's in our food, how we treat each other, and how we protect this wonderful planet we all share |
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