Make a Difference

"I will open the doors of government and ask you to be involved in your own democracy again." -- Barack Obama

I mostly avoid social commentary on this blog, although I make no secret that I am a happy Liberal who adores the new President (so far). I have compared him to FDR and he is making great use of the Internet in his own style of fireside chats. At change.org any citizen could go and propose or vote on issues that matter to them. I saw somewhere that voting ended yesterday (sorry, I guess I'm slow on the draw), but the idea is that the administration will now work with nonprofit sponsors for each idea to make some changes.

It is a mark of the power of the blogging community that the request to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act was SIXTH on this list of issues and will be landing in a report on the new President's desk. If you're reading a blog I'm guessing you know about this already but in case not, it is a proposed law mandating that those who make products for children pay for third-party testing for their products to ensure safety. It's a good idea, but the way it is written now, it would make it impossible for crafters and small businesses to make anything at all for kids and turn a profit.

Think about that -- sixth! -- out of the volumes of social issues facing our troubled society. For those of you who supported this, kudos. For everyone else, you have an invitation. Go to change.org and get involved. Click on the sticker above and put it on your blog to support this movement. Support other causes that matter to you. The last eight years have created an environment of "whats the point" in the minds of the citizenry, but that is about to change. You don't have to be an activist. You have every opportunity to stay connected via the Internet, and your President has invited you to do so. Even more so, if you're a blogger -- even if you're not a social issues blogger -- you can make a difference.

A note: this site should not be confused with change.gov, which is the President-elect's official site, and where you can find his weekly address (and which I also encourage you to check out and subscribe to), although they haven't made them easy to find in one place. You can also search "obama weekly address" on YouTube for the latest address.

Welcome to a new era.

Autumn Magic (EtsyBloggers Carnival)

Advent of Fall Pendant by Elysian Fields

There's something in the air in autumn. The bite of promised cold, the smell of harvests past ripening. Magic, maybe.

Since I moved to Tennessee I love fall more than I used to. Up north, fall was a threat of a long, hard, cold winter. Autumn was a time to pull your resolve around you like your favorite cozy sweater and bear down to endure the snow and the dark days. Here, it is a respite from the oppressive summer heat and humidity, like a deep breath that stills the soul to peacefulness. You remember to look, because something is different.

The trees are magical. Shades from purple to amber to blazing red dress their leafy crowns until they create one of the most perfect wonders for a small child: raked piles of leaves. When I was young I had a dog that would follow his tennis ball ANYWHERE, and it still brings a smile to my face to think about throwing his ball into a three-foot-high pile of leaves, watching him take a flying leap into it and vanish. The mound would then move like a thing alive, until he emerged with his prize, triumphant, with a comic dry leaf or two stuck in his fur and an enormous smile on his face. Of course we took plenty of our own flying leaps, too.

Autumn is change, more than any other season. It is both celebration and preparation. It is ripened apples and harvested pumpkins, it is the crunch and rustle of leaves beneath your feet. It is dew that shifts to frost, coloring the world in subdued hues as dawn shades the morning in matching lavenders and peaches. It is the smell of a knit sweater that you pull out for the first time this year, the smell of last year's you that will never be quite the same. It is the most spectacular sunsets, and harvest moons, and a clear night sky in which each star seems sharper, more focused. It is gathering, both the harvest and the family, and thankfulness. Even up north, it was the contentment of knowing that, no matter what the winter or the future holds, we will survive it.