Category: Shared Articles

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April, April It Does What It Likes

That’s the translation of what the Swiss say about April’s weather–April, April, der macht was er will.

To give you an idea, watch this TikTok by the city of Luzern which went viral.

Here’s a look at temperatures over the last week in my region:

In just a few days, you can see the wide temperature changes, from a high of 9 degrees last Wednesday to a high of 21 degrees just 3 days later.

While April weather has always been slightly erratic, I think in the 20 over years we have been it, it has never been so changeable and it is worrying to say the least. I believe it’s climate change and I try my best to do my part to slow climate change.

But are we past the point of no return? Can we still slow climate change enough to make a difference? What do you think?

syc

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#PrayForUkraine… Help Ukrainians…

I don’t have to tell you what has been happening in Ukraine over the last week. Putin sent his military to invade Ukraine.

Across my social media, I have appealed #PrayForUkraine. Today on my blog I would like to highlight ways you can do something practical to help Ukrainians.

A prayer station for Ukraine that someone set up in our little town.

First of all, I have to say I have friends in Ukraine. They are there caring for special needs people; people who have been pushed to the fringes of society, literally, because of uninformed, misinformed thinking about special needs. My friends can not leave these people they care for so they are staying. Please pray for their safety. If you would like to support my friends’ work directly, you can find out more about their work and donate here.

Here’s a list of NGOs/humanitarian organisations in Switzerland:

Here’s a list for people outside of Switzerland:

Now this list is not exhaustive. I am sure there are so many other charities and NGOs that are also asking for help for Ukraine. You just have to google and pick one whose mission appeals to you the most.

Please continue to #PrayForUkraine and do what you can to help.

Thank you very much.

syc

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Unexpected Snowfall Prompts Some Thoughts…

i have never been very political or vocal about hot-button topics on this blog because it’s mainly geared towards keeping our family and friends updated, with a period of orphan-advocacy which worked along side a small non-profit craft business which has since closed.

But this morning i woke up to roughly 1.5 inches of snow, which was a big surprise, after last week’s really warm spring weather. Of course, i sort of knew snow was expected as it was forecasted. But i was expecting it to snow for like a couple of hours with no ground cover at all. As you can see from the pictures below, it’s not only ground cover, it’s a solid layer of snow which crunches under your feet as you walk over it.

This led me to think about climate change; that’s a topic which brings debate, doesn’t it? i don’t really want to start an argument. However, i will state my point of view; i believe climate change has been happening since the industrial age and it has sped up in recent years, and if we don’t do something about it, we will be looking at some form of disaster for our planet, the animals and us, the human race.

Here are a few links, if you are interested, relating to climate change with statistics specific to Switzerland:

A quick read from Climate Change Post. More details from Vogelwarte.ch, a charity which focuses on saving birds, about temperatures, snowfall and rainfall. A look at the water situation and climate change in Switzerland by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research.

So i have been doing my little part to help reverse climate change; i have switched to plant-based cleaners, using as little single use plastic as possible (such as using bees-wax wraps instead of plastic bags, switching to glass storage containers etc…), recycling and reusing whatever possible, and taking public transport whenever possible. It does not sound like much but i believe that if everyone does their own tiny part, together, it can make a difference.

Are you doing your small part for climate change? Care to share some ideas?

syc