Did you know that there’s only five days remaining in our Summit to Sea Kickstarter campaign? Yep, we’re well into the final week of our fundraising efforts, but unfortunately aren’t anywhere near reaching our goal, at least without a “Lent miracle” or something. As of this afternoon, our current total is just shy of $2,000, and accounts for 22% of what we’ll need to make our journey to the Pacific Ocean by kayak. Will we make it? Well, the sad extrapolation is that based on current trends, we probably won’t. But perhaps you can do something about that!
Now is the time to start making ridiculous pledges that will help push us toward our goal! I’m not saying that you should risk going into credit card debt or anything, but maybe you can “bet on failure” and make a pledge of $1,000 or so to help out the campaign, and our self-esteem! I’m only half-kidding here– after all, what’s the worst that could happen, aside from inadvertently funding an awesome art-making expedition through the Pacific Northwest? If you haven’t opted to back the project yet, it certainly seems like a fairly “harmless” time to do so!
So, if you believe in the project and would like to see it succeed, go ahead and pledge as much as you’d like to help us get our meter climbing as much as we can in a last lap before the 29th. And if you don’t believe in the project, then go ahead and pledge $100!
On the lighter side of things, you may have noticed that Mardi Gras was this week. The celebration heralds Ash Wednesday, which is when Lent starts. I don’t know if many American Christians really pay Lent much mind these days, but I’ve always tried to be somewhat observant of it, which for me takes the form of Fish on Fridays and Giving Something Up Until Easter. Now, I usually do pretty well with eating either vegetarian of fish on Fridays (unless I flat out forget what day of the week it is), but I’ll probably make a few concessions this year, especially since I’m at Jentel and all, and Friday is our shared dinner night. Firstly, I’m adding a “accept any meal that is given to me” clause so that way I don’t feel like a jerk for turning down a meal that someone has prepared just because it has some beef in it. I’ll stick to my guns for other meals, such as my no-meat lunch of tomato soup this afternoon, and anything I volunteer to cook on Fridays while we’re here will probably be either fish-based, vegetarian, or with served with the meat on the side.
Secondly, I’ve been having trouble thinking up something to give up until Easter. In the past, I’ve given up things like cola, television, comic books, non-fish meat, coffee, and corn chex (a favorite cereal), but since Lorie and I have moved out of our apartment, I’ve gotten kind of good at giving things up. I almost feel like I’d have to start doing something again before I could give it up this year. I haven’t had a soda in weeks, for example, and already do a lot of cooking that is fairly meat-light as a cost-savings measure. I could give up beer, but again, that’s something I’d have to start buying again before I could give it up.
Of course, I could give up coffee again, but that seems a little extreme. I’ve done it before, and trying to make do with hot chocolate or tea just didn’t satisfy! I suppose that’s the point, though. So, yes, I could give something up, but I don’t want to be miserable or crabby because of it! I just want to be mindful!
The Lenten season is more or less in the spirit of emulating a forty day retreat into the desert, though, and in that regard, I’m probably not doing too bad at living a pared-down, mindful existence. So, a few days into Lent now, will I give anything up? Maybe, if I think of something that seems to fit with my current circumstances, and current lifestyle. I could “give up shaving,” I suppose, and grow a beard for forty days– but I don’t think it would be too much of a trial, since it wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened, just the first time I did it on purpose!