Goal For The Green

Yesterday was an 80 degree day here in western Washington. We had many things to accomplish at the worm farm, where I work. Work starts at 8A.M. The workers arrive on the Access Bus, ready to start the day. They work a four hour shift. There are five adults, two young men and three young women, all in their 20’s or 30’s. Most of them are Autistic, and in this group they all speak.

We have three 4×30 foot bins that the clients help feed and maintain. The end result is a master gardener’s delight. The product is 100% organic certified vermicompost. A moist, rich soil amendment for both indoor and outdoor plants.

The plan for the day was to feed the worms, bag some product, pick a couple pounds of worms for a customer, and chop some more after market vegetables. Most of the time they do pretty good at staying on task, but yesterday they were just plain silly. They love music, so we have to have the radio on…the oldies station. We got the worms fed in about forty -five minutes. Each bucket is about 20 lbs of vegetable slop mixed with shredded newspaper. It is spread evenly in each bin. On top of that, goes used coffee grounds from coffee stands, and then a light layer of more shredded newspaper.

After the main project of feeding the worms, was done they wanted to work outside. So, they had their works stations with buckets, shovels, chairs and spinach that they needed to chop. Then that song “Shake Your Booty” came on the radio. They all got up and started shaking their booties and laughing. Then when it was over,one of th guys said in a high pitched voice “Chicken dance–Chicken dance.” Well, they all got a big surprise when Christa (my co-worker) and I, came outside doing the funky chicken! It was pretty funny…they were laughing and laughing. It’s amazing sometimes, how it doesn’t take much to amuse them or make their day sparkle and shine. They are all very scheduled and as is typical of autism, they don’t adapt well to change in their routine. All that aside, we do cut loose once in awhile and have fun, even at work.

It always amazes me how most of them usually always wear a smile. They could have so much more to complain about than they do. With autism though, many can not convey their feelings or emotions. For some they don’t feel physical pain and are unable to tell you where they hurt, or if they hurt. For me, I don’t know if I could cope with what they have to on a regular daily basis. That is why I feel they have as much reason and purpose in life as the rest of us do. They just have to try so much harder to have some kind of “normal.” They really do want to be “normal” just like everyone else. I feel like the lucky one, to give them a six hour slice of my day. Most of the time it’s not like work. Besides, it helps me be both thankful and grateful for the blessings in my life.

Hi there….  How do you like the new look and theme?  I have been thinking for a while about how to integrate my day job ( Independent provider/job coach for an autistic client) into the blog. I got lucky and joined Whole-hog-blogs. It’s one of the better choices I’ve made, ladybug included.

You will be getting the same “green” type articles and information here, but also help and information in the area of disabilities (not just developmental) ones. I have devoted the last twenty years of my life to working with  the devlopmentally disabled population.  Most of that time was spent working in Special Education, within the school system. Now, I work independendantly through the state. I am my own contractor. The work, to me is not like work, just a slice out of my day. That is not to say that it doesn’t have it’s challenges.  For me, it is a very rewarding place to be in my life. It is my belief that if you take the “dis” out of a dissability and focus on the ability, you get better results. Most people in this population are more able than is often recognized. It also helps to have some fun and throw in some humor along the way. Come on back anytime, as we explore ways to work toward a better tomorrow.

Tomorrow is officially Summer. But, here in the Puget Sound area, we got gypped out of Spring.  We can count on one hand, well maybe not quite two hands the few days that have come close to 70 degrees.

The truth is, it has been flat out cold.  In this month of June, Fairbanks ,Alaska has already had 10 days above 70. The “Icebox of our Nation,” International Falls, Minnesota has had four days top 70 degrees so far this month.  The mercury has been topping seventy in Oslo, Norway nearly every day recently.

Even Tomsk, Russia, in Siberia was warmer than Seattle on the 10th of June. They hit the 70’s in Siberia and we were still sporting our sweatshirts and hoodies at 55 degrees. The snow plows were back out on Snoqualmie Pass, clearing another 7 inches of snow, just last week. That’s happened only two times in the last 30 years. This has been a record year for snow in our mountains.

We are praying for a slow thaw, or we will be looking at terrible flooding like we had in December. It was the worst flooding here in over 100 years.

Perhaps we shouldn’t complain too loud, at least we don’t have to be looking for relief like they were on the East Coast last week, sweltering at more than 100 degrees in places. Not to mention, an early start to the fire season in California, in April, and an already record number of hurricanes, tornados and severe storms in the Midwest, doing billions of dollars of damage.

According to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, which is a combined effort of more than a dozen government agencies, we can expect to see more severe and intense weather patterns ocurring. There will be more severe droughts, more disastorous (stormier) storms covering wider and more diverse places,plus more and deeper flooding as part of our changing climate.  Events that are rare to an area, can and will become commonplace. A rise from moderate to high sea surface water temperatures have been linked to increasing power and more hurricane activity.  Last season there were approximately 900 hundred hurricanes, this year they are expecting at least 1800 to pass through the Midwest.  The season started in April, and as evedent by the damage so far, has been relentless.

CO2 emissions have caused the global average temperature to rise 15-60 times faster than the natural historic rate. Our Earth’s climate system is changing more rapidly than some species are able to adapt.  These changes are already affecting more than half of Earth’s wild species.  More than 16% of all coral reefs have become damaged, or even died because of high sea water temperatures. Coral reefs may even become extinct in this century, if we don’t concentrate on controlling and stabelising CO2 emissions.  There is no time to waste on this issue.  It affects all life, even our own.