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October Simple Lifestyle Calendar Holidays

11/18/2014

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October; month of fire, warm and waning light, wandering spirits -longing for home, and the emotional maturation of the trees, whose leaves sing a crimson chorus for the season.  Autumn calls for introspection, for the silent opening of inner life, for apples and cider (Full Harvest or Hunter's Moon, Oct. 8) and hayrides, and a happy reunion with our favorite pre-winter sweater.  October has many designations: American Energy Month, Apple Month, Consumer Information Month, Country Music Month, Energy Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Popcorn Month, Safety Month, Storytelling Month, National Pizza Month, and Positive Attitude Month.

In many cultures this time of year marks the "festival of lights."  October is a prime month for campfires, to watch the sparks as they rise to mix with the stars - exploring the Milky Way.  October is the time to look for shooting stars (or at least comet dust), during the Draconid (Oct. 9) and Orinids (Oct.21) Meteors Showers.

As the season becomes older, we also celebrate new beginnings with the Jain (Oct. 24) and Islamic (Oct. 25) New Years.  This is a good time for resolutions, especially on Make a Difference Day (Oct. 25). One person who created a hugh transforming wave of change was Mahatma Gandhi, born on Oct. 2, 1869.  Another world change-angent was Henrietta Lacks (whose day is noted on Oct. 11), "an African-American woman who was the unwitting source of cells (from her cancerous tumor) which were cultured by George Otto Gey to create the first known human immortal cell line for medical research. This is now known as the HeLa cell line".  Speaking of changing the world - Peace Corps was born on Oct. 14, 1960.  Personally, Autumn is always my emotions; a fine time to compose a Haiku or chant heartfelt prose to celebrate World Poetry Day on Oct. 21.  Most importantly, the first Saturday of October has been designated Simple Lifestyle Day.  May this be a simple and profound month for all!
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Supporting ASPI

11/16/2014

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Notre Dame students make supper after working at the Rockcastle River Demonstration Site. The Solar System Trail is ready for planet installation!
ASPI relies on many types of support to complete its mission.  Many people don't know that much, if not most, of our labor (both office and outdoor) comes from volunteers or in-kind donations.  (We are a 501 c3, nonprofit organization.)

This fall 16 students from Notre Dame worked 5 days at the office (putting the gardens to bed for the winter with fall crops, moving compost, weeding, getting the attic ready for ceiling removal to install solar tubes, removing kitchen cabinets to install commercial kitchen grade sinks and cabinets) and at the Wilderness Site (completing the new Solar System Trail, installing a fossil dig, making a new exhibit for the nature center, painting, and leading a field trip of second grade students.)  

This fall nearly 100 cadets from the Appalachia National Challenge Academy cleared trails, painted, dug out a building, and put the Wilderness Site garden to bed.

We would not be able to have a progressive program without these folks.  Thank you to everyone who comes to ASPI for an hour or a week to help us continue to demonstrate and research sustainability.

Fall is also the time of year we sell the Simple Lifestyle Calendars which have become a part of the lifestyle of hundreds of people around the world.  ASPI's Mark Spencer creates the calendar with local artists.  They are beautiful, full of helpful hints, thousands of special days, and reflections on living a simple life.  If you are interested in ordering one for yourself or as a gift, please visit here: HOME and do so!  Just as we rely on our volunteers for the physical movement forward, we rely on the calendar sales to pay for supplies and though are bills are low (we are after all researching and educating about sustainability,) we do have to pay them!

The last Fall activity - when the volunteers are hopefully snug with a mug of cocoa and the calendar orders are in the mail, is our Thanksgiving Appeal.  We ask our sponsors, people interested in continuing the mission of ASPI, and those who are thankful that we have a means through which to educate folks about sustainable living to donate to ASPI.  If you would like to do so, please visit here:  SHOP

If you would like to support ASPI through attending our events and workshops - keep visiting the website - and follow us on Facebook - we'll be posting our Spring and Summer schedule of events and opportunities right after the New Year.

Thank you all, past, present, and future supporters of Appalachia - Science in the Public Interest!
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