Celebrations
Once again, with bottle of wine in hand and bursting at the seams, hubbie and I go through our New Year’s Resolutions together, the fireworks passing blurrily through the chilly night air as we sit on the porch outside. I hasten to add that we are not driving anywhere, so the empty bottles at our feet are perfectly acceptable. This year though, there is a slight difference, as the resolutions have been pre-planned! “Efficient” I hear you say? Maybe. However, after a hearty weekend of heavy feasting and making merry, the promises are already becoming a bit half-hearted and woolly.
But these resolutions are going to be the crux of this blog and of our life this year, so I feel I have to share them with you, dear reader, as you laugh hysterically at our mad decisions once again.
Living Sustainably
We would like to, within one year, develop life habits to live sustainably. These include:
- reduce dramatically our carbon footprint
- attempt to become as close to ‘zero waste’ as is humanly possible
- practice “rien de neuf” (buy nothing new, within reason)
- save water across all the ways we use it
- practice the 8Rs (recycle, refuse, reduce, re-use, repair, re-gift, recover, rethink)
- create habitats for wildlife in our garden, meadow and hopefully village
- become a vegetarian (I think that that might only be me…)
At the end of the year we will see if we have found the challenge difficult, taking into account our family, our location and whether we have made any significant difference to our lifestyle. It won’t be calculated on the basis of we are all wearing sandals and horse-hair shirts or chanting mantras in the garden. Nor will we become “the great unwashed”!
As a gentle mountain breeze whips around our feet and we snuggle up together for warmth, all there is left is to raise a glass and wish all of you near and far, health, hope and happiness. May your dreams come true.
MidLife Crisis In France
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