DEN Enews

“A stubborn internal refusal to believe that my human society has the right to drive other species to extinction. The right to wreck the extraordinary home we share with millions of other forms of life.”

The above quote comes from Nina Newington’s article Camp NOW - Day 64. You will find it shared on DEN’s Facebook page. It is a reflection on resistance and conscience and I found it compelling. Nina goes on to say:

“Conscience — “the decision not to become what the system demands” —is profoundly personal and, at the same time, it involves a feeling of responsibility beyond oneself.

The responsibility is not only to defend. It’s also to envision the world we want to go towards. Again in Albert Marshall‘s words, “Let’s come together and create an alternative that will allow nature to flourish.” This alternative is a place where we care for nature and for each other because we understand that we are a part of nature.

Never separate. Never alone.”

Thank you to all who joined us last Thursday for our zoom gathering. It was wonderful to re-connect with old friends and connect with new ones. Please know this is your newsletter to share the good and the bad and the hopeful. If you believe we are never separate and never alone as expressed by Nina, then you will know every voice is critical.

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Thursday, February 12 - 7:00 pm

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More opportunities to join your voice to others:

Canada’s Budget 2025 sent mixed messages and left nature in limbo. The budget's good side is the commitment to limiting methane emissions from oil gas, improving industrial carbon pricing, and aiming to achieve a clean electricity grid. It also recognized nature as a core part in Canada’s identity that needs to be protected. The bad side is the budget abandoned our oil and gas emissions cap and reintroduced a subsidy for liquefied natural gas. Budget 2025 did not make the necessary investments to build an east-west clean electricity grid, and did not commit any new funding for nature protection and restoration or for Canada’s Chemicals Management Program; programs where funding will run out in the spring. The government plans to issue a “mini budget” in the near future, so please send a message to your MP and Canada’s finance minister to highlight these gaps.

The Great Lakes contain nearly 20% of the world's surface freshwater and supply drinking water to more than 40 million people. This vital resource faces a growing and underregulated threat: massive data centers built to power AI, cloud computing, and Big Tech infrastructure. Water-intensive data centers consume hundreds of thousands to millions of gallons of water per year for cooling and energy production. They are rapidly expanding throughout the Great Lakes basin, drawn by easy access to freshwater, tax incentives, and weak oversight. Water levels across the Great Lakes have dropped by two to four feet since 2019. Help protect our water resources by pushing the Great Lakes Compact Council and the EPA to regulate data center water use.

Chiapas is an incredible state of Mexico bursting with life. Jaguars and howler monkeys live in this unique region covered with rainforest, waterfalls, and mountain forests. These forests harbor an astonishing variety of plant and amphibian species, plus seven mammals that live nowhere else on Earth. There are still interconnected primary forests here, and this petition is about keeping it that way. Half of the forests in Chiapas have already vanished, and what remains is increasingly fragmented and with damaged soil from human activity. The main driver of deforestation is demand for tropical pine and oak wood, with 70% of the timber traded coming from illegal sources. As the forests recede, so do the springs and rivers that provide drinking water for countless people. Since 2000, more than 360,000 hectares of forest have been destroyed in Chiapas. Help be a voice urging the authorities and policymakers to stop the destruction.

Wind at Our Backs: Nova Scotia’s Growing Wind Energy Story

Grandma has always believed that if you want to understand where you’re going, you should first pay attention to what’s already moving around you. In Nova Scotia, one thing is certainly moving, the wind. More and more, we’re learning how to work with it instead of fighting against it.

Grandma remembers when wind energy started. On one of our vacations, I spotted a wind turbine in the distance, one of the first ones in Nova Scotia. Nana and I wound through country roads searching for a glimpse of this large structure. Finally coming through what looked like pastureland, roads for hay trucks instead of cars, the turbine appeared to our right. Grandma was out taking pictures of a single wind turbine in the middle of a field. That one lonely turbine was so new, such hope for the future.

Recently, the Setapuktuk Wind Project in Guysborough County received environmental approval. Once built, this project will include 54 wind turbines capable of generating 432 megawatts of clean electricity. That’s enough power to make a real dent in greenhouse gas emissions while creating jobs during construction and long-term operations. This is not just about spinning blades on a hilltop; it’s about energy security, climate responsibility, and rural economic opportunity.

Setapuktuk is not a one-off. The approval of this project fits into a much larger picture of renewable energy development in the province. EverWind, a company focused on clean energy and green fuels, has also received provincial environmental approval for a major renewable energy site. Their work highlights Nova Scotia’s growing role in wind power and clean technology, with eyes not only on local electricity needs but also on future green energy exports.

For Grandma, the significance goes beyond megawatts and approvals. Wind energy represents a shift in thinking. Instead of relying on fuels that must be dug up, shipped, burned and cleaned up after, wind energy asks us to pay attention to what the land already offers. It’s renewable. It doesn’t run out. And once the turbines are built, the fuel is free.

Of course, no project is perfect. Environmental assessments exist for a reason, and communities deserve a voice in how these developments happen. Those big blades do break, turbines do wear out, Blades can also be recycled for other projects and disposed of with environmental understanding. The careful review and approval of projects like Setapuktuk show that it is possible to balance environmental protection, community interests, and climate action.

Nova Scotia has long been shaped by wind. Anyone who has tried to keep a hat on at Peggy’s Cove knows that. Prince Edward Island is a decade ahead of us with their wind projects. Now we all are finally learning to turn that familiar force into something that serves the common good.

Grandma likes that kind of progress: steady, practical, and rooted in respect for the land and the people who live on it. With projects like these moving forward, it feels like we may just have the wind at our backs after all.

Craft Time

Our three-kid—soon to be four-kid—Sunday School has gone through a season of change.

At the beginning, my friend Anne and I mostly offered a “babysitting corner.” It was a good and necessary start. The children knew very little about church: inside voices, why they were there each week, or what was happening around them. After almost two years of rarely hearing a full service, Anne and I were fairly burned out.

Two former teachers, Cheryl and Patti, then stepped in with more structured ideas. Since we meet in the hall during the winter months, the boys now sit at a table at the back. Each has a clipboard filled with puzzles, colouring pages, and simple activities tied to Bible stories. It has made a big difference.

Another small shift is underway. We’re keeping the table-based work, and now that two of the boys are in school, we’re practising indoor voices. Grandma, however, is making a comeback, with crafts once a month. This week, in the spirit of Epiphany, we’re making yarn-wrapped stars. Joshua needs his colour-by-number page, Jeffrey has a maze to solve, and little Jeremy has bright crayons for his artwork. The story of the Wise Men as well as Paul and Silas is told yet again.

The boys take turns carrying the collection plate to the altar. Watching their small hands folded in prayer during the Lord’s Prayer could soften even the hardest heart. We may not have a fancy Sunday School, but they are with us, and they are learning. What more could we ask?

The craft itself is simple enough for even the youngest child. Cut star shapes from a cardboard box (There are free printable templates online). Tape a piece of yarn at the back to make a hanger, then wind yarn around the star until the cardboard is covered and tie it off.

And according to our Joshua:
“The Wise Men followed the star to where the Baby Jesus was living. They gave him gifts and visited with his parents for a bit. Then they took a different road back home.”

I think he’s got that story just about right.

I found my stars at https://www.homemad-gifts-made-easy.com/star-template.html#

Recycling? Repurposing? Re-using?

I’m not quite sure which “R” this falls under, but this was a truly brilliant idea from our treasurer, Patti.

Over the years, our attendance has shifted. Church envelopes come in boxes of 50, and often we only need a handful from that last box. Meanwhile, while cleaning out the rectory, Patti uncovered case after case of leftover church envelopes from years past. No one could bear to throw out church envelopes, so they quietly gathered dust in the basement.

So guess what we’re doing this year? We’re using them.

Yes, the printed dates are off by a day or two, but that hardly matters. Our envelope secretary knows the correct date, and the intention remains the same.

This small change saves a bit of money, but more importantly, it keeps perfectly good paper from just being thrown in the waste stream. We are giving these envelopes a second purpose and a second intention.

It’s a small thing. We’re simply using what we already have.

Hmm… the power of one person telling one person, then two people telling two more… Makes you wonder. How many church envelopes are tucked away in a basement or closet near you?

Just a thought.

A Storm Book

Grandma has never seen a non-decision generate so much enthusiasm.

At our last parish council meeting, I mentioned that we needed to do some fundraising and reminded everyone how well the new community centre cookbook had sold. I made it clear I didn’t want to do another cookbook but, I asked for ideas for something we could publish and sell next Christmas.

Almost as an aside, and as the season’s first snowstorm began that very day, I suggested maybe we needed a Storm Book.

Well… that idea took off.

A Storm Book! Recipes you can make before a storm—things that reheat easily or can be eaten cold. Checklists for storm readiness. Lists for pets, cars, winter, summer, power outages, and a dozen other “just in case” situations. The internet is full of these resources, including an excellent one from the Town of Lunenburg.

No decision was made that night. February is our AGM, so we agreed we’d “talk more about it” in March. The idea was quietly placed on the back burner.

Except… it didn’t stay there.

At this point, the supply budget is already figured out (about $5 per book if you have access to a copier and a binding machine). Sell them for $20, and suddenly we’re putting meaningful funds into the church coffers.

And the ideas? They are coming in DAILY.

This is no longer an idea to be discussed in March. It is happening. Somehow, without officially agreeing to anything, I have become the author of the Parish of Blandford, Storm Book.
(Lord, help me.)

Here’s the good news: there is room for more than one Storm Book. Who in your parish is good at writing or organizing information?

CALL FOR MORE AUTHORS

Our editor, Carole, is always happy to receive articles from anyone. Submissions can be sent to [email protected]

Alright, I can hear some of you already: “Oh, I can’t write!”

We’ve even invited a local teen writing group to contribute, and we’re hoping to hear their voices too. What we really need are opinions, experiences, and ideas.

So here’s a question Carole especially liked, and we’d love your answers:

If the Earth could text us, what would she say?

Until next time,
sending hugs,
Grandma

Our Mother’s Prayer

Our Mother, whose name is Earth,
Hallowed be your ground.
Praised be for your lands
And your skies
And your rolling seas.

Your gardens thrive; your spirit alive
Through woodlands, streams,
Mountains, and plains
Everywhere.

Grant us this day our needs for tomorrow,
And refresh us with your living waters.

Forgive us our mistreatment
As we would forgive those who cause you harm.

Lift us from negligence, and deliver us from greed,
For yours is the home, and the beauty,
And the life that sustains us,
And we would love, respect, and care for you
Now and ever, ever forward.

—R. Dennis Wiancko