According to the Oxford Learners Dictionary, “to look out for” means to avoid something bad, or to take care of someone and make sure nothing bad happens to them.
In the first meaning, I look out for:
Moose and other wildlife
Living in Alaska means looking out for critters. Hitting a moose with your car usually leads to the car being totaled. Aggravating bears while hiking is dangerous. While I love seeing them from a respectful distance, I need to look out for wildlife.
Bad weather or conditions
As they say, there’s no bad weather, just bad gear. Living in Alaska means nasty weather and rough water. It’s important to dress for the weather and be prepared for what Mother Nature throws at you. I look out for these things when I leave the house.
In the second meaning, I look out for:
Young people
As adults, it’s up to us to take care of kids. That can mean taking care of their welfare. Part of our responsibility in life is to help our next generations. I look out for young people as I work toward the future.
Each other
In general, life is better when we take care of people. Whether that’s our neighbors, our community, or humans in general, we are at our best when we touch the “better angels of our nature,” as Lincoln said. We should make the world a better place for everyone. That means looking out for each other.
What do you look out for? Or what guidelines do you live by?
Lynn Lovegreen has lived in Alaska for most of her life. After twenty years in the classroom, she retired to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering for her local library. Her young adult historical romance is set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com.
7 comments:
Lynn, Love the dictionary's definition. As soon as I read it I thought, "Of course!" However when I sat down to right my post, I only thought on the first part. I look for ways to support the healing of the earth. These days it's mainly by recycling everything I can as well as buying products with less packaging. We recently moved to using detergent sheets in the washing machine. No more plastic laundry detergent bottles! I totally agree with watching out for/supporting young people and each other. We are stronger when we pay attention to that which connects us.
Thanks, Judith. I'll need to look for detergent sheets!
I'm glad you watch out for wildlife, Lynn. That's one of the benefits and risks of living in Alaska. We live in the country in the Cascade Mountain foothills in Oregon. We keep an eye out, too, but most of our wildlife are a bit smaller: deer, cougars, bobcats, coyotes.
I watch for ways to repurpose or extend use of 'stuff.. For example, I noticed friend keeps green onions and celery stalks in a glass of water to keep them fresh. I can't eat the whites of green onions, but I can eat the green tops. We use a LOT of green onion tops as a substitute for onions in cooking.
It turns out, if you keep green onion s in fresh water after cutting off the green tops, they will grow new green tops. I can get 3 or 4 'harvests' from a bunch of green onions. This saves me money and reduces food waste.
Good tip, Sarah! I'd love to see a cougar one day.
Lynn, there are two brands that are not made in China, True Earth and Clean People. One if not both are made in Canada. We've been using one that looked like it was made in Oregon...it turns out it is sold through an Oregon company.
Lynn,
Great post!
Now days we look out more for the enviroment than ever before. Recycling, buying things in repurposed card board etc. And I'm trying to repurpose or recycle clothing. I just patched a pair of blue jeans with a left over piece of fabric with a fox on. I wore them to paint class and everyone commented how nice! clothing is one of the great landfills glutes. If we can donate or repurpose clothing that is a wonderful thing towards being kind to the enviroment.
Thanks, Judith and Diana!
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