All things lead to Prince Edward Island?

I find it interesting how things come together in our lives. I've decided to make a lifestyle change, making choices to lead a more sustainable life. I don't just accept the first option given to me. I do some research and then make an educated decision.

That being said, yesterday as I was having my lunch consisting of a salad made from organic greens and strawberries and an organic yogurt, I was surfing around the net trying to find a book to read. I went to my Amazon list which I keep regularly updated with things that spark my interest. I scanned the list and came across a set of DVDs I had put on there a long time ago, The Anne of Green Gables Trilogy.

Anne of Green Gables (and the two sequels) was a television miniseries produced for the Canadian Broadcasting Company in the mid 1980s. From it came the Disney series, Avonlea. The first two miniseries are based on the work of Lucy Maud Montgomery and follow the adventures of a orphan girl, Anne, who is sent to live with an elderly brother and sister on their farm in Prince Edward Island. They were expecting to be sent a boy since they asked for a farm hand, but Anne convinces them to keep her and entertains everyone and enriches their lives. Anne Shirley is an iconic figure in Canadian literature. She is to Canada what Laura Ingalls Wilder is to America. Except she's fictional.... Anyway, L.M. Montgomery first published Anne of Green Gables in 1908 and wrote 7 more books in that series and dozen more books, poems, short stories, songs, etc. She was a very prolific artist and was recognized all over the world for her work during and after her lifetime. And I do mean all over the world. My rediscovery of Anne led me to many interesting pieces of information. Anne is extremely popular in Japan. After WWII, the Japanese government was looking for uplifting Western literature to add to it's curriculum. A Canadian missionary had given a copy of Anne of Green Gables as a gift to a Japanese friend who just happened to be a translator. Anne is so popular among young women in Japan that many flock to Prince Edward Island to have their wedding portraits taking in front of the farm house that inspired Green Gables. The tourism website for Prince Edward Island can be read in English, French and Japanese. There are even two Anne of Green Gables musicals that play on PEI during the annual Anne of Green Gables Festival. I have no idea why I felt compelled to look into all this, but I happened to discover it all one week before the 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables. I won't make it to Prince Edward Island for this year's special festival, but I will go sometime. I've ordered a trip planning guide and have the page bookmarked for the Holland America New England cruise that occurs every autumn and makes a stop on PEI.

So where's the connection, what's the green angle? Prince Edward Island has been aware for some time that it is a natural treasure. The island is windswept and has beautiful farmland and coastline. The government of this province has made every attempt to preserve the natural beauty of this special place. The island's electrical grid is powered by a wind farm. There are strict ordinances protecting land use for residents and visitors. Even simple things like carbonated beverages can only be purchased in glass bottles and the return/reuse rate of those bottles is 98%. I'm not suggesting that big government get in and tell us all to be green, but I am glad to see that there are some communities that can trust their government leaders to take steps to protect the environment. Now, I think I'll dust off my box set of Anne books and dream of what it would be like to live in Avonlea.

P.S. I encourage everyone to visit the official website for Prince Edward Island tourism at www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide. I tried to attach a photo of Green Gables, but I'm not so good at linking things from other website, so it didn't work.