Of chocolate & geese

1. My immediate environment is probably more biologically diverse than many urban settings. Living right by Lake Merritt, a wildlife sanctuary, I see myriad species of winged creatures (and their waste products!) every day. I've even seen a giant jelly fish and what looked like a stingray in the lake, but sadly, neither probably lasted very long there. My dog often chases away other "wildlife" like squirrels and raccoons (there is a one large family that appears to live across the street). Also, one of the first things I noticed and loved when I first moved to the bay area was the extraordinary diversity of plant life in everyone's yards. Just walking to BART, I would see at least 50 different kinds of flowers and countless types of succulents in dry gardens.

2. I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate (sacrilege!) which doesn't mean that I don't like it - it's just not something I crave because I'm not big on sweets. Reading the articles on eating chocolate for anti-oxidants and its other positive health effects made me realize that I probably get the benefit without the side effects of too much sugar consumption. That's because I usually eat just a little piece and enjoy it, while eating more will lead me to feel a little sick. I have noticed that I've been eating more chocolate since starting at ACCHS - I'm not sure if that's because my classmates are chocoholics and there is always some around or because of the stress!

3. Last week's class discussion was getting to be a bit depressing until we got to the chocolate - urban sprawl, biodiversity decline, GMOs, possible bee extinction, overfishing... But I think these kinds of discussions are good for all of us. Sometimes, I notice that I get too comfortable taking the energy I use for granted, eating fish without thinking of the type of fish I'm consuming. During class, I checked the "Seafood Watch" app on my phone to get a refresher on what types of fish are "good" to eat. I also went home and logged on to PGE to see our energy consumption compared to last year. At the end of the day, even with all the overwhelming and terrible news about what we are doing to our planet and to each other as human beings, it's helpful to take joy in the positive as well, including what we individually contribute.