Last Sunday was Canada Day and I was invited over to Petra and Larry’s for a barbecue.  I drove to their place with Kathy and David, and it was a very enjoyable evening.  We left for home right in time to see the fireworks as we crossed the bridge into Kelowna.

This week I received a call from a nice woman in Alberta who said she wanted a fruitcake for her in-law’s wedding anniversary.  She said they had had a fruitcake at their wedding, and also mentioned there was a horn of plenty.

And being the lunatic I am, I printed a couple of pictures of horns of plenty, and then coloured them nicely.  I cut them out, and put one inside an anniversary card and one on the outside of the envelope.

Then I took a Totally Decadent Fruitcake and the card, and put them inside pretty clear cellophane and wrapped it with a wired silk ribbon.  It looked very nice, and I like to imagine the happiness of the couple at their kids’ thoughtfulness when they open it.

And since I was headed north on Highway 97 anyway, I said I’d drop it off at Sparkling Hills Resort, just outside Vernon, where they’ll be staying.  What a great drive and view from up there!  If you’re ever near there, you should drive up and have a look as it’s quite the place.

On the drive CBC’s Mark Forsythe was interviewing some expert in climate change.  With the drought and heat in the American mid-west and the deluge of rain in England, it may finally be dawning on humans that we need to stop consuming so damned much.

Which is why, of course, I’m totally smug about buying things second-hand.  You leave a much smaller footprint if you buy something someone else no longer wants.  And really, how much damage can be done to most items?

The other day I was browsing in the Mennonite Thrift Store and I found a nice Rand McNally Atlas for $2.00.  It was printed in 1986 and was still in good shape.  The original price was $39.95 which was a princely sum back then.

But I can have it in 2012 for a fraction of the cost, plus a new atlas doesn’t need to be produced for me, and this one didn’t end up our mountainous landfills. Surely to God we can all find some items to buy used, even those of you who need to burn your money to get rid of it.

And then that kind of thing makes up for one fruitcake being delivered to Sparkling Hills Resort by this intrepid fruitcake monger.  It’s my own version of carbon off-sets.  Drive a car, buy a used coffee table, atlas etc.

I try to do the same thing with the gym, but of course I’m somewhat less successful with the conversion.  Exercise for one hour, eat 4,000 calories.  But I was never good at math, as you well know.