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Environmental Work & Play

2012-01-30T06:42:00.000-08:00

I'm spending a lot of time involved with our local Transition group. Yesterday a couple of us went to see a screening of the movie The Economics of Happiness. You can watch the trailer here. Then there was a discussion led by a friend about progressing from acting in a personal but somewhat futile way against climate change to being more empowered through engaging with local citizens, groups and government to make communities less carbon reliant and more resilient.

In my home, I'm shopping, growing and cooking local food; insulating my home to reduce our heating needs; trying to drive less; and purchase less and purchase used. But these efforts feel less than impactful lately. How can my sacrifices make up for those nearby who build bigger and bigger homes and drive Escalades? Even more alarming is the rise in global energy needs across the developing world and evidence of the quickly changing climate.

So I'm trying to add more local and political efforts to my individual actions. I'm reading relevant books, watching informative documentaries, attending lectures and discussions, planning events and writing articles for the local media. Here's one about an orchard hike and presentation I planned, and here's another about a recent lecture about flooding in our town.

This type of environmentalism can get depressing and exhausting. Time to rejuvenate and get out into the real environment. So on another unusually warm Saturday in January, R and I headed out to Noanet Woodlands, another wonderful Trustees of Reservations property.

This 600 acre area has had many uses, Native American hunting ground, farm, mill, and now conservation land.

The early 19th iron mill which produced barrel hoops, wheel rims, and nail rods, had been abandonned and was destroyed by flood long ago. But it has been partially restored.

Beyond the mill area, there are miles and miles of trails through forest and around ponds. The pine woods are thick and getting thicker. Look at all these competing seedlings.

There are lots of huge boulders and evidence of the ice age glaciers that once covered the area.

Streams to cross...

and icy ponds to throw rocks in...

Because of the lack of leaves in the winter, our eyes are drawn to the verdant moss and sculptural fungi of the woods. I hope to do a bit of investigation about these living organisms so I can identify them. There is such variety.

The Flow of Chopping

2012-01-26T05:32:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Fed Up with Lunch, a book about a teacher's year of eating and blogging about school lunches. It described the challenge of serving healthful meals to children at school with limited time, limited money, USDA and corporation influence, and kids' unwillingness to try new things.

I spend quite a bit of time in my daughter's elementary school helping the kids learn to recycle and compost. Our school is trying to do it right. The kids come straight to lunch from recess. The cafeteria tries to serve healthier options: pizza with whole wheat crust, baked sweet potato rather than regular fries, fresh fruit. But there is a lot of waste. Salads, carrot sticks and other vegetables are often heaped into the compost untried. I keep trying at home with my kids to accustom them to veggies and fill them with delicious nutrient rich meals and snacks.

So more cooking. Creating different vegetable-rich meals seems to be my obsession these days. I combine this with food planning to make the next meal easier.

Last night I tried some Indian cooking inspired by a salad dish a friend made for a pot luck I'd been to recently and a rice/mung bean mix that my mom gave me for Christmas. Rice and canned chick peas were combined in two dishes with chopped veggies (carrots, peppers, frozen peas), herbs and spices (cilantro, cumin seed, garam masala). I'm finding that flow when I chop.

With the chick peas: toasted cumin seeds, lemon juice, olive oil, raw peppers, carrot, cilantro, apple.
With the rice/mung bean mix: peppers, carrots, peas, garam masala, cumin seeds all into the mix before or half way through rice cooking. Then cilantro before serving.

The finished plate with a bit of naan and some grapes:

The previous night I had made roasted spaghetti squash with a creamy sage sauce with bacon. At the same time I roasted that squash I put in some butternut squash to roast. (Filling the oven when I turn it on as best I can.) This became squash scones for breakfast this morning.

Pumpkin/Squash Cornmeal Scone (adapted from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics)

combined:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar

Gently fold dry ingredients into mixed wet ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup pumpkin/squash puree
3/4 cup apple cider

Spoon batter as biscuit shapes (9-12 depending how big you want them) onto baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees F.

There were warm scones for breakfast with pear and yogurt. Some more are leftover for snacks. And another jar of puree for another warm batch in the next few days.

A Peek at my Bookshelves

2012-01-20T09:30:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful post by Soulemama's husband yesterday. He talked about his own reading life and that of his family. The post was accompanied by photos of the books scattered around the house. As I usually do with these kind of photos, I enlarged them and tried to scan the titles on the bookshelves. I love seeing what books people have on their shelves. Toward that end, I'm sharing my shelves with you. I hope you do the same.

I'll start with my kids' shelves. My 15 year old has a nice big bookshelf that has lots of the kids' favorites. My daughter mostly reads these now. My son reads a lot of books that he gets from school, and he reads fantasy, science fiction or historical fiction on his Kindle.

But his shelves contain hints of the child he was. We waited for the new release of many of the Harry Potter novels. I read the first few to him, but he read later ones himself. My daughter waited for fewer of them. How odd that kids who will read them in the future won't have to wait. They'll get to read to the end without waiting years for the culmination. Another series we loved was: The Series of Unfortunate Events. We loved the word play, the humorous warnings, the resourceful children, and wicked Count Olaf.

Up on his desk are some favorites and reference for schoolwork. This is the second copy of The Way Things Work in our house. The first one fell apart even after having the spine well reinforced by duct tape.

My daughter has a much smaller bookshelf. Some of her favorites are there. She's read a lot of things many times, The Little Princess, the books of Roald Dahl, the poetry of Shel Silverstein, the original Peter Pan and Dave Barry's interpretations.

The size of her bookshelf is characteristic of the lack of storage space in our house. We had to get rid of many books before we moved. Now the library is our giant bookshelf. Here's my daughter' current stack.

And my library stack which by coincidence had Amanda and Stephen Soule's latest book on the top when I saw his wonderful post. We're going to watch Andy Serkis in Planet of the Apes tonight.

Onto my favorite books and collections: Jonathan Safran Foer, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Jumpa Lahiri. I read most books from the library but treasure my favorites.

Not only do I love books with devastatingly beautiful prose. I've got a nice collection of books with inspiring art: Sark, Brian Selznic, Maira Kalman, and political art: Umberto Eco, Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi.

Please notice the little Shirley Hughes collection to the right. That thick anthology was purchased on a trip to London. I love this British children's author and sought out her work while I was there. It is a treasure. I treasure many children's books especially those with the theme of peace or justice. When my kids were little, I loved buying picture books for them, but as they've grown older, I realize a lot of them were for me... and I continue to purchase ones that touch my heart.

If you like this post, please try one like and post a link. I love to explore people's bookshelves and libraries.

What's Happening Today

2012-01-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

Inspired by someone who found my blog and commented today...

Outside my window... It's very windy, but it was still warm enough that I took out the scraps in my kitchen composter and turned the pile. I also filled a couple empty milk jugs with the little water still left in the rain barrel. Into the greenhouse it goes.

I am thinking...about focusing on positive, wholesome things and staying away from the radio and its political talk

I am thankful... for a warm house, warm sweater, knitted hats and gloves

In the kitchen... before composting, I turned a cauliflower into flowerettes and little tuppers of vegetable bits into more of that yummy Mexican slaw I described in the last post.

I am wearing...my kangaroo sweater (soft brown, roomy with a big grey front pocket)

I am reading...New Yorker magazines. I did lots of novel reading over the holidays, now I'm catching up with my subscription.

I am hearing...wind chimes.

Around the house...bright sun coming in the window. Yes, I'm feeling the days getting longer.

I am pondering...how to get my kids outside more (willingly) in the cold weather.

One of my favorite things... when a friend calls out of the blue to have a picnic or take a walk.

A few plans for the rest of the day... Helping kids grades 1 to 5 compost their school lunch scraps from 11:30 to 1:30. Watching the kids socialize and eat can be so funny.

This is my daughter (in the white shirt) and her friends eating the dinner they prepared for her birthday party. Homemade mac & cheese, broccoli, carrot sticks, and chocolate chip cookies from scratch.

I have my daughter's teacher in my heart today. Her husband is very ill. Today she is meeting with the class along with the school counselor to explain why she will be out of class unpredictably for a while.

Veggie Inspiration: Favorite Enchilada Dinner

2012-01-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday night dinner is often my most complicated meal of the week. During much of the year I pick up my CSA veggie box on Thursdays. In winter, there's a local farmer's market on Saturday. Either way, I have lots of fresh vegetables, time and inspiration.

At the farmer's market this past Saturday I found red onions, green cabbage, and cilantro. The cilantro came from a local farm's greenhouse and the guy who cut it described to me the smell when he's in the greenhouse cutting bunches. I'd love to be there. I knew I had some related items at home (peppers and a lime) and a dinner idea was born: green chicken enchiladas (adapted from Martha Stewart Quick Cook Menus) and south of the border slaw.

At home, a pound of frozen chicken cutlets and some enchilada greens that I had frozen (half of a big batch I made during the CSA season you can see the type of thing that goes into it at this post) came out to defrost. The enchilada greens consist of sauteed onion, spicy peppers (like jalapenos) and some kind of greens (spinach or chard or mild kale, radish or beet greens).

South of the Border Slaw
cabbage
bell peppers
red onion
cilantro
mayonnaise
lime juice
salt, pepper

First I make the slaw. I did a rough chop of about 3/4 of the cabbage, a rough dice of some colored peppers, and made thin slivers of a small red onion. I do very little measuring. Into that veggie combo went about 1/2 cup mayonnaise, juice from half a lime, a pinch of salt and about a 1/4 cup cilantro leaves and stems chopped. Stir and slaw goes into the fridge. Finished.

Green Chicken Enchiladas
1 lb. chicken poached chicken breast meat
1 pint sour cream
4oz jar chopped chili peppers
cilantro
1 Tbs cumin,
enchilada greens (sauteed onions, jalapenos, chard/spinach/kale)
beans, your favorite (cooked or canned)
burrito size tortillas
cheddar cheese shredded

While various laundry, taking away the last Christmas decoration and other tasks are going on, I poach the chicken breasts (15-20 minutes in slow simmering water depending on the thickness). When they are done, set them in a bowl to cool while you prepare the enchilada filling and sauce.

A pint of sour cream, 4 oz. jar of chopped green chilies, Tbsp of cumin, another handful of chopped cilantro, and salt and pepper go into a bowl. Add the premade enchilada greens (if you haven't a stash of this, it can be sauteed while you're poaching the chicken. Here's what that looks like:

After this is stirred, I place half of the mixture back into the sour cream container to save for sauce. I shred the now cooled chicken and add it to the mixture with prepared beans (canned is fine). I like to use small white beans or navy beans, but I only had red beans for this batch. Here's what that mixture looks like filling the purchased whole wheat tortillas:

I usually fill 7 to 8 tortillas with this mixture and put them in a buttered 9x13 pyrex pan. The reserved sauce sour cream/greens sauce gets spread over the top and about 4-6 oz shredded cheddar goes on top of that.

Bake for half an hour at 375 degrees. If my daughter is around, she will be my stirrer and cheese shredder. She might also whip up a Fannie Farmer "Mix-in-the-Pan Chocolate Cake" that can bake at the same time the enchiladas are in the oven. (I'll keep the oven at cake baking temp 350 if this is going on). I love to fill the oven if I'm turning it on anyway. If I were planning to make squash soup the next day or had some beets to roast up for salads, I'd throw those in while dinner is cooking too. Out come the enchiladas, melty and slightly browned:

Grab the slaw and some fruit and plate up a veggie-rich favorite meal.

This meal fed our family for 2 nights. This enchilada recipe is one of those in my repertoire that takes the most time and planning. But it is worth it once in a while. Especially, if the next night just requires a quick reheat.

But I must qualify that my picky, vegetarian daughter gets an amended meal. (I wish I had taken a picture of her plate). Through nearly the entire cooking process, I am putting aside raw and/or no meat/no sauce versions of the meal for her. Her plate holds a quesadila (cheese and tortilla slipped into the oven near the end of the cooking time for the enchiladas), a couple spoonfulls of beans, slices of raw peppers, and fruit. I'll often throw some almonds or peanuts on her plate too.

It seems crazy that I am still doing this for her at age 11, but even as a baby she had serious issues with the texture of food. She eats a great variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and dairy products, but they must be separate and clean. Her eating style is likely the healthiest of us all.

The point of this post is not necessarily that you will make this rather complicated recipe, but rather to highlight how fresh, local ingredients spark my creativity in the kitchen. The smell of cilantro starts me creating a Mexican style meal. Beautiful bok choy from my CSA will have me preparing an Asian stir fry. Mounds of tomatoes will have me roasting up a batch for dinner and a batch for the freezer. Throughout the year I am inspired by the local produce around me.

December Riot Summary

2012-01-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

According to the Riot calculator here, the results for the items I tracked for the month of December 2011 follow for a household of 4 people:

transportation: 26.8 gallons + about 300 public transportation miles between school buses and the T, 18 % of US average
electricity: 440 kwh, 49 % of US average
heating/cooking: 85 therms, 103% of US average

Still, I'm not sure what these averages are telling me. For example my electricity bill is measured in kwh/month. Specifically comparing month to month seems not as meaningful and one December to the next. However, the kwh on the bill is not always based on the same number of days. And certainly, the temperature varies which determines how much heat we use.

Some numbers that make me more aware of my use and progress are shown below:

December 2009
average daily electric use (kwh) 17.4
average daily temperature (degrees F) 38
gas for heating/cooking/hot water (Therms) 166

December 2010
average daily electric use (kwh) 15.4
average daily temperature (degrees F) 32
gas for heating/cooking/hot water (Therms) 124

December 2011
average daily electric use (kwh) 13.7
average daily temperature (degrees F) 40
gas for heating/cooking/hot water (Therms) 85

If anyone knows how to make a nice chart or insert one in blogger, please let me know in a comment. Thanks.

According to the numbers on my electric and gas bills that would be a 21% reduction in electric use and a 49% reduction in gas use in 2 years. In February of 2010, we had the house sealed and had insulation blown into the walls. The further reduction the following year may be from the higher monthly temperature, bulb replacement and shutting off our coldest room most of the time.

Here are some workers pumping insulation into the old, empty walls:

Through little holes like this:

Regarding our relatively low transportation use in December compared with previous months, it's likely a result of the fact that both D and I filled up very close to the end of November, and again toward mid Dec. January may be higher for that reason.

In the bigger scheme of evaluating our transportation use, I can frankly state that compared to 5 years ago, the cars we are driving are significantly more energy efficient. I went from driving a car that averaged about 16mpg to one getting 24mpg. I traded in my 10 year old car with 140,000 miles. It would have needed expensive fixes to pass inspection. I am driving about 1000 miles per month now, slightly less than when we lived in NJ and I drove my kids to a private school about 8 miles away. Now they take the bus to a local school.

D changed from a small pickup truck that got 20mpg to a small diesel car getting 38mpg overall and up to 45 to 50 driving carefully on the highway. While he loved that truck, it was necessary to get a safer more efficient car when he was commuting every weekend from NJ to MA before we moved. D gave his 15 year old truck with about 90,000 miles to a very good friend who needed a vehicle. The friend got a free means of transportation and was therefore willing to do the repairs it needed. D's work is about 20 miles from home in the city rather than 5 miles down the road as it was in NJ. He drives about the same distance though then takes public transportation from a commuter lot.

The old truck with the new car (VW Jetta TDI) behind it:

By the way, the truck's new owner loves it also: you can see how he decorated it for xmas here.

Discoveries 2011

2011-12-30T05:29:00.001-08:00

It was just about 3 years ago, when my husband came home from work early one day to tell me that either we'd be moving to the Boston area, or he'd be looking for a new job. It didn't feel festive. It didn't feel lucky. It felt scary and unknown. There was also a twinge of excitement in new opportunities.

Well, by that April, he was commuting from NJ to MA during the week. By June we had sold our old house. We moved into a new one in July. The kids started at new schools in September. Everything was unknown. I got a GPS so I wouldn't get lost all the time.

The best thing about this year is that finally, after 2 1/2 years, I've learned my way around. This now feels like home. In many ways, the move from NJ to MA now feels like one of the luckiest and best opportunities we could have had. With a passion for this place, I set out to learn more about its natural and historical attributes.

Here are some of this year's highlights:

Pod Meadow: a little jewel in our town landscaped by beavers

Heard Reservation: another local gem with a revitalized orchard and some old trees too

World's End

Ward Reservation, Massachusetts' mini Stonehenge

Arnold Arboretum: It has a bonsai collection with specimens older than the United States and a vine collection. Every month they also put out a letterbox that teaches about a certain kind of tree.

Harbor Island National Park

Cape Cod's Rail Trail: J and I rode a 17 mile stretch.

and White Cedar Swamp

A little farther afield we discovered:

The Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian and

New York City's High Line: note the new Frank Gehry building at the top left.

I look forward to exploring both close to home and farther afield next year. We're planning a trip out West next summer.

Books 2011

2011-12-27T07:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of the books I read and remembered to document in 2011.

My favorites that I'd want to read again in the future were:
Jane Eyre
Room by Emma Donoghue
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks discussed here
The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern

The Night Circus is a transporting book. From the beginning, you enter a world of the senses: visual and aural. Both scent and taste are sated. Even in black and white, with a touch of red. The creations of the dueling wizards include a forest of love poetry, a "pool of tears" where you can leave your sorrows, and an ice garden.

Tom Perrota's Leftovers gets an honorable mention for the way he imagines how citizens of a suburban town continue their lives after a Rapture-type event. For some, they slowly return to normal, others are changed forever because family members have disappeared or perhaps because they themselves didn't. The characters are well developed. The situations are varied, interesting and present many ethical quandaries. The book overall is highly readable. I also liked the ending. Sometimes I enjoy a book, but an unsatisfying ending can taint my overall impression.

Here's a favorite quote from Leftovers:
"Laurie herself was more focused on the years when her kids were little, when she had felt so necessary and purposeful. a battery all charged up with love. Every day she used it up, and every night it got miraculously replenished. Nothing had ever been as good as that."

The opposite happened for me in Jeffrey Eugenides, Marriage Plot, a book that was on most critics' top 10 lists. I thought it was well written, but too long. The characters were well defined, but far from people I'd want to befriend or travel with. The book describes in excruciating detail, the education and relationships of the main characters lives from age 18 to 25. Perhaps, it would be highly interesting for those in that age group, but I feel like I've moved beyond that. The ending turned out better than I had expected. It reminded me of one of my favorite children's picture books, Shirley Hughes' Ella's Big Change, an unexpected retelling of Cinderella set in England in the 1920's (imagine a ball full of awesome flapper dresses!) But overall the story was depressing and sometimes too violent or threatening. There's too much abuse of women throughout the world in real life. I really don't want to read more about it, especially in a graphic way.

That brings us to Room, mentioned above as one of my favorites. While it does document the aftermath of a child abduction, it's written so sensitively and beautifully, it is an exception to my abuse rule. That such a tender, positive story could come out of a dismal theme is a testament to the writing and imagination of Emma Donaghue.

1. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
2. Big Girls Don’t Cry by Rebecca Traister
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4. Cries of the Spirit (poetry anthology) by Marilyn Sewell
5. Henry Knox : visionary general of the American Revolution by Mark Puls
6. The Water Giver by Joan Ryan
7. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
8. Room by Emma Donoghue
9. Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup
10. The Transition Handbook by Rob Hopkins
11. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jaime Ford
12. A handmade life : in search of simplicity / Wm. Coperthwaite
13. Tomorrow’s Garden by Stephen Orr
14. Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
15. Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
16. The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure
17. EcoMind by Frances Moore Lappe
18. The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern
19. The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing
20. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
21. The Leftovers by Tom Perrota
22. Earth Then and Now by Fred Pearce
>

Holiday Crafts

2011-12-21T06:10:00.000-08:00

Here are just some of the crafts we've been working on for holiday gifts and decorations.

My son is a pro at technical paper crafts.

My daughter enjoys sewing crafts, this one an adaptation from the book Softies.

She also loves beading and making jewelry. She made almost all the necklaces on a cork jewelry holder I made her for her birthday.

I made a bunch of little polaroo felties as gifts for her birthday party guests. They are from this Felties book.

So last night began the holiday season of Hanukah, Christmas and my daughter's birthday. But no matter how many wonderful gifts arrive, the best ones are always part of the packaging. This "Darth Vadar" helmet arrived in a tower of edible gifts. An empty wrapping paper roll makes the perfect "light saber".

By the way the cardboard tube has been rated as one of the 5 best toys ever! Others include a Stick, String, Dirt and ... the Box. Check out a great article about it in this article from GeekDad at Wired magazine.

Decorating the Tree

2011-12-12T05:30:00.000-08:00

We started decorating our tree this weekend. Pulling out and hanging the ornaments is like a review of crafty projects of the past. Here are some that stand out.

These charming felt ornaments were made from the book Felties by Nelly Pailloux. Now they are on the tree along with a tree ornament inspired by a wonderful blogger whose inspirational post I can no longer find.

We've been working on this tree skirt since the year 2000. The original idea and instructions came from an article in Family Fun magazine. Every year the kids put their hands in gold paint on the purple, velvety fabric. My son's hands are huge now.

He's growing like a weed. He'll be putting the star on the top of the tree this year.

My daughter's growing up so fast too. She's outgrown wanting the new ballerina/princess ornaments we'd previously gotten her each year.

But thankfully even at 15 and 11, they are still excited to put up and decorate the tree.

November Riot Numbers

2011-12-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

According to the Riot calculator here, the results for the items I tracked for the month of November 2011 follow for a household of 4 people:

transportation: 58.2 gallons + about 400 public transportation miles between school buses and the T, 29 % of US average
electricity: 392 kwh, 43 % of US average
heating/cooking: 59 therms, 72% of US average

The heating/cooking average has gone up considerably from last month, but we're moving into the cold months. I'm not even sure that a yearly measure is relevent here. How is one to compare heating therms here in New England where we'll use a lot more heat to warmer climates where more electricity will be used for cooling in the summer months? We've put up the storm doors and have closed off the TV room (the coldest room in the house over the garage) from the more heated portions of the house for the season. A programmed thermostat keeps the heat at 58 degrees overnight and between 61 and 63 degrees during the day depending on who's in the house and if it's time to get up and shower.

November Highlights

2011-11-30T06:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy November, and I've been lazy about blogging. But here are some highlights:

I directed our bell choir for the first time. You can see video at the following site:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-9TKc4nsQQ&feature=youtu.be

I have been appreciating the zen of peeling and chopping lately. Also the sweetness of root crops from the CSA and the farm across the street. We've been eating combinations of roasted squash, potato, sweet potato, turnip, parsnip and carrot often as a vegetable course.

By the way, a group of 9 turkeys have been gleaning the nearby farm field. They seem unconcerned about the Thanksgiving holiday.

I cooked our Thanksgiving meal for seven, the 4 of us and visiting grandparents.
Our menu:
the bird (cooked on the grill)
roasted butternut squash and onion with cranberries
cranberry/orange sauce
cornbread/sausage stuffing
mashed potatoes
raw veggie platter (carrots/radishes from CSA)
guests brought pie
YUM

We carved a special Thanksgiving pumpkin. It was a complicated design carved by me and the kids over a long afternoon.

We took a terrific family hike at another Trustees of Reservations property, Ward Reservation. It was an unusually warm November Saturday, and we hiked up 2 hills from where you could see the Boston skyline to the south. One had a stone compass/sundial at the top. We also walked down one of those wonderful wooden paths through a bog. There was great signage and info about the plants and geology. At the end of the path there was a spot to step onto the spongy, flexible plant layer that floats on the bog water. Really cool. Actually too warm (temp in the 60s), it looked like skunk cabbages were coming up as if it were spring.

Speaking of too warm, it's going to be in the mid-to high 50s today. 60's yesterday, the second warmest November on record. Bulbs in my yard are also sprouting.

Another highlight this month has been my work with the town Green Team and Transition groups. With the Green Team, we continued our work expanding deep recycling and composting at the local schools. At a pre-Thanksgiving assembly at my daughter's school, we did a skit reading a funny poem by Shel Silverstein about garbage, then presented the custodian with a "dirt" cake of chocolate pudding, dirt like chocolate cookie crumbs and gummy worms. He has helped the Green team and the kids to compost and recycle more than a ton of material that would have otherwise been incinerated since the start of the school year. We've started the program at a second elementary school, and built a raised bed garden there.

With Transition the group took another walk on the conservation trails in town. We walked around Pod Meadow, which is becoming a pond as beavers build an enormous lodge. We walked the trails that were not submerged and cleared branches that had fallen in recent storms. I also hosted our first Transition book group where were shared organic truffles, colorful local carrots and interesting discussion about Frances Moore Lappe's new book Ecomind.

October Riot Summary

2011-11-01T17:19:00.000-07:00

According to the Riot calculator here, the results for the items I tracked for the month of October 2011 follow for a household of 4 people:

transportation: 44.1 gallons + about 400 public transportation miles between school buses and the T, 29 % of US average
electricity: 386 kwh, 43 % of US average
heating/cooking: 15 therms, 18% of US average
garbage: didn't weigh this month, but it was likely very similar to last month. 1 bag (14 gal) dropped off at recycling center during the month. 1 barrel each (40 gallon) of mixed commingled plastic/glass/aluminum and paper recycling

Repeated power outages may be helping our numbers over the past 2 months. Our power came back on last night after 42 hours of power outage from the pre-Halloween Nor'Easter. We got about 6 inches of heavy snow. Some branches were knocked down in the yard. We saw some amazing blue flashes from arcing electrical transformers as the power went out.

Just like Irene (out for 4 days) I think we did well. It got down to the low 50's in the house, less than 10 degrees F less than we'd normally keep the daytime temp in the winter. Outside temps hovered in the low 30s at night and the mid 40s during the day. There was no school yesterday or today because of power problems and closed roads. The kids and I headed to the library where there was power (heat)! It was very crowded. At night we were pretty comfortable. The kids were in sleeping bags under additional covers. We pulled out a few more covers for our bed and actually ended up shedding sweatshirts and socks through the night.

Our food situation was fine. We didn't open the freezer, and once the power came on I checked it and even the ice cubes in the door were still frozen. We cooked on the stovetop from the fridge and by day 2 put perishables like cheeses, yogurt and cider in coolers on the porch. Dinner by candle light and Jack-o-Lantern light was cozy. We used up quite a bit of milk warming ourselves with lots of hot chocolate.

Community Action with Local Heroes

2011-10-25T07:14:00.001-07:00

I've been getting more involved with my community lately. I've taken on a number of volunteer positions with some green/environmental groups in town and at church. I'm meeting some terrific people who redirect my focus from the national mindset of confrontational politics and economic malaise toward effective local action. They are positive, proactive and progressive. Some of them are not only full of ideas, but they are incredibly hard working and dedicated to seeing them through.

I'm hoping some of that is rubbing off on me. Here are a few of my heroes:

Here's M teaching kids about composting.

As part of our local Green Team, M. has pushed, cajoled and spent an enormous amount of effort making deep recycling and composting happen in our local schools. For almost a year she has been: visiting and learning from other schools that compost; getting our local school lunch director, principals, teachers, and administrators on board; raising money; building sturdy composting bins; organizing volunteers; and now teaching composting and recycling procedures to over 600 kids in one of our elementary schools. We estimate that we are reducing the school's waste by nearly 60% by weight. By the end of the month we have likely kept a ton of food out of the landfill. Instead of creating methane, it's turning into rich soil for school gardens. Currently, the program is expanding to another elementary school, the middle school, and the kindergarten. Just last Friday and Saturday, M and other Green Team volunteers including a girl scout troop built six raised garden beds at a local school. Composting and gardening will be worked into the curriculum and will hopefully become lifelong habits for our local kids.

The new compost bins at one of our elementary schools,
built by volunteers and financed with donations.
There are three big bins at right to hold the food waste.
On the left is is covered bin for leaves and straw to cover the food scraps.

P. is a former middle-school teacher in our town. Although he doesn't live here, he's been instrumental in an effort to recycle cans and bottles on our town fields, at the town beach, and at our schools. He's distributed dozens of recycling bins to those areas and arranged for volunteers to pick up the cans and bottles and take them to the recycling center. As part of the Green Team, he's been helping negotiate with the department of public works trying to get them to pick this stuff up. (They already pick up the garbage!) As of now, the town is set to begin picking up recyclables in these areas starting next year when they get a new truck for that purpose. P's work has been instrumental in getting the town to recognize the need for this step. He also takes middle school kids on canoe trips where they not only have a great time, but also clean trash out of our beautiful waterways.

B. is another dedicated hero. He and a few friends have revitalized an old apple orchard on public recreation land in town. They began planting new trees back in 1993. Now those trees are bearing fruit. Each tree is labeled with the species name, the origin of the plant and the time of ripening. Anyone walking by can pick some fruit to enjoy. He and other volunteers continue to plant new trees and maintain the established ones throughout the year. Now the orchard includes apples, cherries, peaches, pears and a paw paw. Recently, I arranged a hike to this orchard, and B. generously agreed to tell us about its history and about orchard creation and maintenance. Between 15 and 20 locals joined us for the event. Perhaps, more orchards will be starting in people's yards!

B. teaching in the orchard

Finally, K. is an inspiration. She has started a Transition group in this town. Transition is an international movement that seeks to create community and resilience at a local level. The current group is small, but she has brought together dedicated individuals and reached out to established groups to get a conversation started about water safety, bee keeping, sustainable energy use, land conservation, and more.

All these individuals work in many capacities in a number of these groups. We are all compost bin builders, recycling volunteers, community organizers, friends, supporters, game changers. Who are your local heroes?

Why I Don't Knit

2011-10-24T05:51:00.001-07:00

There is no point in my taking up knitting. My mom is an incredibly prolific and beautiful knitter and provides our family with gorgeous hats, gloves, socks, scarves, sweaters, blankets and, for me, shawls.

Fall is shawl weather for me. I like to keep one along when going out to easily throw on and off in the car, in the cool library, on and off as the heat in restaurants or church cycles. Here are a couple my mom has given me over the years.

I called my mom this morning to find out the names of the yarns she uses. She notes that she loves beautiful yarns that can make even simple patterns into gorgeous items. But her patterns have become more complex over time.

Colinette hand dyed heavy cotton from Wales and according to my mom discontinued.

Karabella Gossimer first test of ruffle makin . This is a soft, light wool in an open pattern. It's a beautiful burgundy color with fine gold threads running throug.

Koigu KPPM, a light wool with a ruffle around the neck and down the front

If you're interested in any of these patterns I could get more information from my mom about them.

A tag sewed into her items reads, "Made with love in every stitch by Grandma Rosalyn." Obviously, she had it made for the kids, but puts it in things for me too. All these items will be greatly valued for such a long time.

In August my kids and I put in our Christmas/Chanukah orders. I'll show them when they arrive.

Thanks, Thanks, Thanks Mom!

A very silly blog post

2011-10-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

The crazy shape of this CSA fingerling potato spurred my creativity (not for cooking).

Here's my quick potato princess.

My daughter was charmed by this, but redid it to create her "spud Ariel".

Lots of Veggies!

2011-10-13T05:39:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we attended our second annual CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm Tour Party. Members of the CSA get to walk with the farmers throught the beautiful fall fields checking out the plantings, feeling the soil, tasting the produce, learning about the new equipment that can plant such beautiful straight, close rows! Then we head back to the barns to eat, drink and get to know new friends of all ages. This year we even got to pile into the back of pick-up trucks for a short ride to a farther field.

Each week we get a half bushel box full of the freshest produce. In spring there are peas and baby greens, and radishes. Summer last year brought amazing amounts of tomatoes. This year there was abundant eggplant. Too much if you ask my son, who got very tired of eggplant Parmigiana over pasta. Now fall boxes are full of winter squashes, beets and leeks.

It can be a challenge to eat all these veggies in a week and create dishes that everyone will like. Here are some of my efforts:

All these greens and peppers went into delicious green enchilladas.

Here's a squash, leek, apple, almond combo I made for lunch to use up the roasted squash from the night before. YUM!

September Riot Summary

2011-10-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

OK, I've found the actual Riot calculator here. So here are the results for the items I tracked for the month of September 2011.

transportation 47 % of US average
electricity 410 kwh 45 % of US average
heating/cooking 13 therms 16 % of US average
garbage 26 lbs/4 people 5 % of US average

I've checked the water meter to measure our water use for next month. For heating/cooking this is a monthly measure in a non-heating month. After a year, I can use the yearly version of the calculator to assess this more fairly. I'm surprised that our electric use is this high. Come spring I will try to reduce our dryer use with an outdoor line. Otherwise, I'm not sure where we can cut back too much. Transportation was a bit higher than normal this month because I took a vacation in Cape May with friends I hadn't seen in 20 years. It was worth it. I'm looking forward to seeing what it is in a more typical month. I'm pleased with the garbage numbers and this is sort of what I expected. I've been very good about reducing our purchasing of things that create trash, especially food items, and I've been trying to compost as much as possible.

I'm not sure if we'll ever get down to 10 % of US average for electricity and heat, and I'm not sure if I'd like the life that would entail. But it's a starting point to reduce further. I'm glad that we're already using half the amount of the average American. That's something.

Durham Fair 2011 (our 20th year)

2011-09-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

It was Doug's and my 20th year visiting the Durham Fair in Connecticut. For Jack, his 14th year and Renee's 9th. We missed one rainy year, but this year's mud did not deter us. It was the same as ever but full of new wonders.

Crafts
A close up of an award-winning quilt

Look at this gorgeous carved gourd.

In the youth tent, there are a plethora of unusual crafts; duct tape, painted rocks, pumpkin designs, recycled crafts, legos and more.

Even an award winning Lego tribute to September 11th.

Here's my favorite, a painting of what looks like Mother Earth by Durham's own Gail Thody.
Renee's favorite quilt with desserts and flower trim.

Animals

Horse teams pull nearly 5000 pounds of cement blocks.
Other teams rest nearby.
Renee loves the baby goats, chickens and bunnies.

Another example that people look like their pets.

Rides

Food

And the usual oddities:
Measuring a record pumpkin, 1487 lbs.

The most beautiful cut flowers

Family fun:

See you at next year's fair. Will Jack be taller than his Dad and Grandpa then?

Riot for Austerity: Gas

2011-09-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

How lucky we are to have a gas line coming into our home. There are people in this town without gas, and in the many days without electricity they were unable to cook or take a hot shower. I would have cooked on the grill in this case, but I'm glad to have had the choice.

While we use gas for cooking and hot water all year, we use it mostly to heat the house. To reduce our gas use, we did an energy audit and had the house sealed and insulated about 6 months after we moved in. In the cold months we keep the heat at 58 during the night and 62 degrees during the day. My mother is a terrific knitter, we wear her sweaters, hats and socks around the house. There are blankets that she knitted in every room ready for snuggling.

I have divided our average use into 6 cold and warm months from November to April and May through October. Our average gas use in those warm months is 18 therms/month. For the cold months it is 140 therms/month. For 2010, our lowest month was August with 9 therms, the highest was February with 329 therms.

Our house was insulated in the middle of the February 2010 billing cycle, and it made a huge difference. Comparing the November to February gas use (in therms) before and after insulating is dramatic.

November before insulation 87 after insulation 76
December before insulation 166 after insulation 124
January before insulation 329 after insulation 191
February before insulation 259 (insulation installed during this month) after insulation 196

The average comparing these months (210 vs. 147 therms/month) shows a reduction of 30%. I do not remember the exact costs of insulating the house, but I know we got a $2000 state refund that covered about half the cost of all the sealing and insulation work. I estimate our mid-winter gas bills have been reduced by about $100 per month. I consider that a pretty quick financial return on our insulation investment as well as a real plus for the environment.

According to wikipedia, the average American household uses 980 therms/year. I'm not sure how this is calculated. Does it include houses, in Florida for example, that need a lot less heat but need more air conditioning electricity. What about people who don't have gas and use electric for cooking and hot water or oil for heat? Confusing. If you have a clearer statistic on gas use in the North East using gas for cooking and heating, please comment. Our total use from September 2010 to August 2011 was 956 therms, slightly less than average.

Riot for Austerity: Electricity

2011-09-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

Riot for Austerity is a movement where people try to achieve levels of resource use that are ten percent of the average American's use. You can read more about it here at a post from Sharon Astyk's blog Casaubon's Book.

I'll occasionally discuss our household riot efforts on this blog. First, I'll document our use of electricity, gas, transportation, garbage, consumer goods, water, etc. as best as I can. I don't know if I can achieve these ultra low levels, but I want to record what I'm doing here and continue to reduce our use.Oddly enough, I am beginning our journey with an exploration of our electricity use after we've had 3 days without power from Hurricane Irene. How we endured (rather well I think) is partly a result of being good planners, but also lucky chance. We had water throughout, and have a gas stove and hot water that worked. Doug actually went to work in Boston where he had power and was able to recharge batteries that we'd use at night for light. After 2 days, I brought food from my freezer to my in-laws to prevent our local grass-fed meat and the vegetables and fruits I had preserved from being ruined. I brought them there in a cooler I had found last spring at the recycling center filled with ice purchased from a nearby business that had power. The proximity of power around us helped us do well. The lovely temperatures made it quite pleasant in the house. If this had happened in winter the food would have survived, but it would have been hard to live in the house.

When our electricity is working, our major use comes from: a rather small fridge; 1 regular and 2 laptop computers; a washer, dryer, and dishwasher; a 35" tv, dvd player and stereo on a surge suppressor that we turn off; and a dehumidifier and fans that run a lot in summer. We have no microwave, no air conditioning, and no cable box (no cable). At our last house (we moved to the Boston area 2 years ago), I had a nice drying line, but I haven't put one up here. That is one thing I'd like to do in the spring. I'll have to find an open spot that isn't under too many sappy trees.

On the positive side, 6 months after we moved here, we had an energy audit and replaced nearly every bulb with CFLs. We also had insulation blown into the leaky old walls of the house and lots of sealing and caulking done. When I discuss gas use, this change is quite evident. But it reduced electric use as well. In the 5 months prior to the energy audit Aug-Dec '09 the monthly average was 478 kwh/month. The Aug-Dec '10 average was reduced by 16 % to 401 kwh/month.

In the past year, our average energy use per month between Sept '10 and Aug '11 was 434 kwh/ month. We have 4 people living in our house, 2 adults, 1 teen and 1 tween. Estimates of the average kwh of electricity use vary. There are some that measure per household and some per capita. I found one study here that gave 936 kwh/month as a US household average. With that calculation we're currently using 46% of the US average. I'm not sure what number I should use so, I'll ask on the Riot Facebook group, see what they say, and report back.

Home Improvement

2011-08-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hooray, two long planned projects finally finished, thanks to my son and husband. I'm great at coming up with ideas and starting projects. They are good at follow through (especially when it involves s'mores.)

First, the rain barrel is hooked up.
Having this setup makes me realize how quickly a rain barrel can fill in a heavy storm, and how quickly it empties when it doesn't ran for a while. Onto the project list... a few more barrels.

Second, the fire pit! We roasted marshmallows and put them between chocolate crackle cookies that the kids made. It was a big improvement on the traditional s'more.

Jack built the fire pit almost single-handedly and is also great at making fires.

My mom had her first s'more this evening. She likes to char her marshmallows.
My daughter likes hers slowly and gently browned.

YUM!

What Makes a Good Book?

2011-08-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

By sheer coincidence the books selected for my September book groups were similar in inspiration and theme. Both were fiction based on the life of an actual person who left a letter or diary about her past and had a link with a famous institution. Both had the historical subjugation and lack of choices for women as an important factor in the character's story. Both included deaths from consumption (tuberculosis). Both had romantic aspects with relationships thwarted and moving forward. How is it that I tolerated one book and loved the other?

The words, metaphor, passion, suspense, emotion, deep description... I can't pinpoint what it is that some authors have and others don't that makes the difference but I sure know it when I read it.

The book that I got through reluctantly was Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland. It described the life of Clara who ran the women's design department at Louis Comfort Tiffany's glass studio. While she loved her artistic work creating naturalistic mosaic and lamp designs and supporting and teaching young female workers, she was thwarted by her times. Women in her department were forbidden to marry by company policy, and eventually her department size was limited to appease male-only unions.

But the prose was plodding, the relationships seemed hollow, the emotions were only on the surface. When reading, I keep a journal close by to write down meaningful or especially beautiful passages. I don't think I copied down any from this book. One of her suitors told Clara that he wanted to give her a life of "excitement and adventure." But it never came, in the relationship or the book. There was a scene in the book where Clara visited the filthy immigrant tenement of one of her apprentices. How could this not be moving and descriptive? But somehow it wasn't.

This book could have explored the sacrifices made for love and art. It did a fair job of identifying the differences between Victorian fussiness and morals and a more modern aesthetic, but the exploration was shallow. I wanted Clara to challenge the marriage policy, to break out of her confines, to live fully. She thought about how things might change, but never made the effort to change them, even in her own mind. About 2 weeks after finishing this book, very little stays with me. We'll have a pleasant book group discussion about it and move on.

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, however, will be a book that stays with me for a long time, and I will seek out other works by this author. She weaves a fictional tale told by a religious, colonial woman from Nantucket Island in the mid-1600s. The historical link that inspired the story is an actual letter in Latin written by the first native American to graduate from Harvard College. But from this scrap of history she weaves a compelling, emotional and beautiful novel.

The main character (Bethia) struggles with the demands of her society and her God. But she is pulled strongly by the freedom, energy, and passion of the "savages" in her midst. In secret she befriends a native boy, and they teach each other a new language and a new way to live. Against all odds, they are part of an effort to bridge the cultural divide that separated the natives and English colonists of the era. We know the tragic historical outcome of these struggles, and this book encapsulates the story in all its complexity.

Death, illness, hunger and sacrifice are ever present for the characters. Sometimes their religious beliefs comfort them under these conditions and sometimes just the opposite. The contrast of racism and tolerance is stark. Some English in the story repeatedly doubt the "savages" ability to learn. Yet it is pointed out that they so admire and closely study the pagan Greeks and Romans.

In one passage, Bethia is "struck, as always, that the heathen poet [Homer] from long ago should know so much of the human heart, and how little that heart changes, though great cities fall and new dispensations sweep away the old and pagan creeds." This is in direct contrast with Clara and Mr. Tiffany where the characters believe that a new time is dawning because of the coming of electric light and the automobile. Yes, those things cause changes, but the core conflicts of religious struggle, of corporation vs. labor, of racism and tolerance remain.

The language and emotion are deep and beautiful on every page of Caleb's Crossing.

A description of Caleb:
"He had exchanged the restless, flaring energy of his boyhood for a mannerly restraint. But the sense was of fires banked, not extinguished."

When they were young, Caleb gave Bethia (which means servant) an Indian name Storm Eyes. At one point, she yearns, "I wanted to be Storm Eyes again, leaving dutiful Bethia carelessly behind me, shrugging her off, like a cloak left crumpled on the sand."

I can see so much in these short passages. The words are so descriptive and each one lends deeper meaning. Read this book!

And please comment if you can describe further what kind of literature you love and what makes it great.

Boats in Boston Harbor

2011-08-15T04:52:00.000-07:00

When I was 15 or 16, my father and I had one of our major fallouts over a boat trip. My parents were divorced, and he was supposed to take my sister and me on vacation for a week each summer. That year, he picked us up for a surprise trip. After a long drive from NJ to Maine, we arrived at a dock to board a small sailing ship for a week cruise.

I am not a good traveler. I had been and continue to be sick in cars, planes and especially on boats. It is possible that my father didn't know of my situation since we didn't spend much time together, but I would figure that he had experienced some of my episodes during my childhood. Anyway, I was not going on that boat! After a very uncomfortable ride back, we ended up back at my mom's in NJ the next day.

In my 40s, I am still a reluctant boater. I have been willing to ride a quick ferry across the Hudson river; a catamaran cruse on my honeymoon remains a sickening but funny memory; and I have come to enjoy occasional canoeing or peddle boating on small lakes or rivers. Thus, I am very surprised how prominently boats figure in my Massachusetts life.

My son has discovered a love of sailing. I attend his races, and recently he took me out for a sunfish sail on our local lake. I'm OK with him on the water if he doesn't tilt the boat too far, and he agrees to return me to shore immediately if I don't feel well. I can reach into the water to put cool water on my face and neck when panic causes me to overheat.

Last Thursday, however, I willingly arranged a boat trip for our family. Granted, it was a quick ferry trip, but I loved it. We sped from the Boston pier to the Harbor Islands. We could see city skyline views as well as busy life on the water. The ride was not more that 30 minutes. But that's a start for me.

Boarding our ferry. The top level provided a shady and breezy ride.

There's lots to see in all directions.

A multi-sailed ship.

We saw this old-fashioned, brown-sailed ship from the shore.

A lobster boat is surrounded by a flock of eager seagulls.

Tankers and tiny sailboats share the sea.

Don't dump your wastes in this water.

A catamaran under a bridge.

This guy's enjoying his boat even when it's not moving. He's reading BoatUS magazine.

The variety and beauty of boats on the water was amazing. There is so much commerce and recreation happening here.

Roasted Tomatoes

2011-08-11T05:08:00.000-07:00

After 5 days of rather unhealthy fried, overly-salted, or richly sweetened and buttered food in family restaurants on Cape Cod, I'm eager for my local produce! In fact, while I enjoyed our vacation a lot (I'll do a post on it next), I think vacations are meant to remind us how wonderful our real life and real home is.

I often imagine that I'd be happier if I didn't have to cook and clean so much, but my own cooking was the thing I missed most while we were away. We got home yesterday morning, and I headed right to the farm stand across the street to take advantage of their special: tomatoes 99 cents/lb when you buy 5 lbs.

Dinner was roasted tomatoes on pasta with roasted carrots from last week's CSA share. I used this recipe from Fine Cooking magazine. It's a winner that I've done for a few years. I cooked on the grill to keep the house cool, and finished our propane tank just as the tomatoes were done.

I used those local tomatoes, garlic from the share and our own thyme. I made enough to put 2 more jars into the freezer. Pulling them out in January is magical! I wish you could see how great dinner looked, but I was so excited to eat, I forgot to take the picture of the rich, glazed, finished tomatoes, or the tomatoes mixed with pasta. But here's one of the finished jars.

Letterboxing

2011-07-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

I could take lovely hikes or arboretum walks any time. But children sometimes need a goal. Letterboxing fits the bill. I first read about it about 5 years ago in Family Fun magazine. The internet is quite amazing. Here's the article.

All around the country and even across the world, individuals, scout groups and others set out letterboxes containing a stamp, an ink pad, and a recording book. They post directions on this wonderful website. People can go with their own letterboxing book or kit and collect memorable hikes and experiences as they fill their book.

It's easy to make a letterboxing kit. All you need is a small book, your own purchased or homemade stamp, an ink pad, and perhaps a pen or pencil. We keep ours in the car with some printed directions to different letterboxes.

Here's a photo of the first page of our book from Oct. 2006:

Here's a favorite page from a hike called Grandkids. Throughout a NJ park, a Grandmother and her grandkids gave instruction to 4 different sites where they set homemade stamp kits. Very cute.

In NJ, we did a couple letterbox hikes per year. Last year, we found our first MA letterbox by accident while hiking around a local woods. We had to go back with our letter box kit.

Yesterday I set out with Renee to purposefully explore the Arnold Arboretum and follow the directions to this letterbox. The arboretum evidently sets up a different one each month. Finding it combines fun and a lesson about a species that is particularly showy in that season. July's tree was the silk tree. As we walked through the Arboretum we were guided to a number of specimens of this species, and got to see lots of other interesting things.

We touched a cork tree. It really felt soft and cushiony.

We found a trufula tree (actually a smoke tree).

Finally, we found the letterbox under the silk tree. It was covered with flowers that looked like pink tipped feathers.

Try letterboxing. It's lots of fun. It's best to sort letterboxes in your area by the date they were placed. Older boxes can sometimes go missing leading to disappointment.

Summer's Here

2011-07-10T04:30:00.000-07:00

Summer harvests are here. And we are savoring the tastes. We have had 4 weeks of CSA boxes now. There have been lots of lettuces, herbs and other greens and radishes. Our favorites were the shelling peas. There are never enough. So as an experiment I bought some additional ones from the supermarket. Big mistake, after eating the share peas, supermarket ones were nearly inedible. We're moving on to summer squash, brightly colored carrots, and fava beans.

The cows and pigs across the street are growing. That farmstand now has the best sausage and bacon I've ever tasted. Guilt free! Or guilt free when used in small doses with all those great veggies.We got some wonderful corn there yesterday.

Corn should always be shucked while wearing a yellow bathing suit.

Our own garden is producing too:

yesterday's beans

yesterday's raspberries

R's July 4th breakfast with our own raspberries

Squash flowers are blooming, and tiny cucumbers are developing, but something has eaten some of the leaves off those plants. I'm concerned for their future and hoping for the best.

World's End

2011-06-29T06:18:00.000-07:00

Recently we hiked to the World's End. No, not the actual world's end, rather a nature preserve of the south shore of MA. It was so beautiful.

Since it was father's day, there were lots of families hiking together. One exciting thing I noticed about our family compared to others is that we have moved into an unencumbered phase. For the four of us, we carried one backpack with a picnic lunch. Three of us alternated carrying the load. I saw so many families with multiple kids in backpacks and strollers, with lots of equipment. There was even a woman pushing a stroller with a wooden bicycle on top. The kids were walking.

It felt so easy and like a milestone of our kids' independence. And speaking of independence, my son is now off on a three week bike trip with a dozen other 9th and 10th graders. Their chaperones/counselors are about 22 years old. They are biking 450 miles in three weeks going from the North Shore of Massachusetts to the top of Cadillac mountain in Acadia National Park. They carry all their own equipment, cook for themselves and don't call home. I am so excited for him, and can't wait to see how this experience helps him grow.

One other thing about kid's growing older, they get very reluctant to have their photo taken.

Just a bit more info about World's End. Over the past century it has been one of the most threatened landscapes in MA. In the late 1800's it was slated to become a suburban environment with 163 homes. Fredrick Law Olmstead designed the carriage roads that he hoped would draw crowds to buy. It was never built. In 1945, it was considered for a United Nations Headquarters. In 1965, there was a proposal to build a nuclear power plant.

Now the area is protected by The Trustees of Reservations, the oldest statewide land conservation and historic preservation organization in the country. You can see some wind turbines from parts of the shore. I'll take that!

Growing

2011-06-10T05:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday's post with the pictures of the fast growing green beans made me think about this:

June '09, Jack is quite a bit shorter than me.

August '10 (less than a year ago), about my height.

June '11 He's a couple inches taller than me. I'm not in the picture but my mother-in-law is a couple inches taller than me too, and he has reached her height.

You might notice from these pictures that Renee has grown from below my shoulder in '09 to about the height of my lips. It won't be long before I'm the shortest in the family. Note the amazing maturation of faces too.

And for another cute blast from the past. I think this is Sept. '08.

Finding Meaningful Work

2011-06-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

"Take a brilliant person working on weapons design at a high salary. This is negative work, no matter how high the quality. You, on the other hand, in making a garden have contributed more toward building a better world, even though that contribution may go unrecognized." -- A Handmade Life by Wm. S. Coperthwaite

Compare the green beans above (with flowers) to how they looked a few weeks ago!

I sometimes feel less than useful. Since having my first child (15 years ago) I have not held a full time job that earns meaningful money for my family. I have worked at Barnes and Noble and as the primary school librarian at my kids' Montessori school. Since moving to Boston almost 2 years ago, I have done no paid work.

My husband and I are so lucky that his job alone can provide for our family. He makes enough that we can have a lovely house, healthful food (even grassfed beef from the farm across the street and organic veggies from a CSA membership), the ability to save for retirement and college, and health care. All our needs are met... and more.

So my job has been caring for the family. Choosing and preparing our food, being a caregiver, manager, encourager, teacher, planner, cleaner. I have also been heading out into the community to do volunteer work. I have joined 3 groups that are environment related.

The Green Team is a committee trying to increase environmental stewardship in our local schools. Our main projects this year have been encouraging composting and gardening projects at the schools, promoting the use of reusable bottles and water fountains instead of one-time-use bottled water, and getting rid of the polystyrene trays used in our cafeterias (220,000/year)!

I've recently gotten involved with a new group Transition Wayland. This group was started by a woman I've met in town who is a real inspiration. Here's a blog post she did about a "barn raising" to move her hoop house. She's lived in her home with her husband and daughter for 3 years. In that time they have covered the yard with gardening beds watered from their rain barrels, installed a wood stove, and are now putting up solar panels. In short, she's increasing her family's resilience. If the power goes out she'll have electricity, if there's a disruption in oil supplies or prices skyrocket she'll have an alternative heat source. She can rely on her garden for a portion of her food. That's what Transition is about but at the community level. The group seeks to educate about climate change and peak oil. But not in a frightening way. Rather the group seeks to move the entire community to work together to build resilience in the whole town... neighbors helping neighbors, sharing resources, planting trees, learning skills, growing gardens. It is a long term project that is just getting under way, but it is a hopeful way to look at the future.

I've also joined the green sanctuary committee in church. The group works to green the church building and activities, does presentations to the congregation and Sunday school on environmental topics, and grows a garden to donate vegetables to a local food pantry.

For the moment, I'll try to make this type of work (increasing the resilience of my family and community) work for me, my family and community.

Belated Memorial Day

2011-05-31T11:14:00.001-07:00

It was Sunday not Monday that became for me the essence of Memorial Day. There were so many moments when what I value in life was in my ears and in my eyes and in my heart.

First thing Sunday morning I listened to Being, a show on public radio. The guest was UU Minister Kate Braestrup. I've enjoyed her books a lot, and our minister has quoted her on occasion. Her interview discussed so many reasons to celebrate life and love. As the chaplain to Maine wardens, she does her ministry in the woods where accidents happen in the cold and dark. She told of a man who fell through thin ice. She could understand why he was compelled to skate out from a dock on a peaceful moonlit night. When his wife came to view his body, she sat with him singing songs to him. His was a life filled with wonder and love, even though it was short. Another of her stories focused on the love and care of wardens, boy scouts and other volunteers searching for an elderly woman lost in the snow. We did not hear whether she was found dead or alive. But, of course, Ms. Braestrup points out, we really do know her ending, and the ending for all of us. It is not whether we will die, but when and what we make of our lives until then.

Later at our church service, R sang as one of the 3 childrens' choir members who showed up on a holiday weekend. With support from the adult choir, they sang Song of the Regiment from Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment. With so few singers, I could hear R's sweet voice lilting down from the choir loft. It was a magical moment. We also sang a wonderful hymn called This is my Song. It is patriotic as it proclaims our love of country, but it also acknowledges the love that people all over the world hold for their lands. It was a fitting call for peace for all nations on a day when soldiers and civilians in many countries died.

This Is My Song

This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,

A song of peace for lands afar and mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is;

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine.

But other hearts in other lands are beating,

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.

But other lands have sunlight too and clover,

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.

Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,

A song of peace for their land and for mine.

May truth and freedom come to every nation;

may peace abound where strife has raged so long;

that each may seek to love and build together,

a world united, righting every wrong;

a world united in its love for freedom,

proclaiming peace together in one song.

****

And of course, Memorial Day would not be complete without a parade!
Expectant Crowds

Clowns
Crazy Shriners
and kids in funny hats!

Vegetables and Fruit

2011-05-20T09:07:00.001-07:00

It's not just flowers that are in the garden. So far green beans, peas and cucumbers are in the ground. The planting has been easy because we're in the midst of a 2 weeks of nearly endless rain and clouds. I run out and plant at a less misty moment, then wait for the soaking rain. I haven't had to water yet, and likely won't have to through the end of next week.

Even better rhubarb and raspberries come around with little help from me.

Daffodil Deluge

2011-05-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

While the daffodils in our meadow have nearly gone by... :(
It's worth a look back at just a little of the incredible variety that the previous owners of this house generously naturalized throughout the lower field.

Green Stirrings

2011-05-17T05:35:00.000-07:00

There are lots of things happening around here. I have gotten involved in a number of committees that focus on environmental issues. The Green Team for the town schools is trying hard to have the new high school use a dishwasher and reusable partitioned trays rather than one use polystyrene trays. The town schools use then incinerate 220,000 trays per year. 50,000 are used at the high school. A new building with a new kitchen is going up and the choice so far is to stick with the current system. One of our committee members has been fighting this fight for 25 years!

The other group I'm getting involved with is called Transition. It is a worldwide movement that seeks to guide towns more gently into the changes that will come because of climate change and peak oil. I have been attending meetings and lectures and watching movies that try to put a hopeful spin on very scary possibilities. The group tries to motivate towns to build resilience and community. This is positive whether times are tough or not.

I'm doing my part here on my own little homestead. Green beans and peas are planted in the garden being soaked by this week of rain. Cucumber and spaghetti squash are sprouting in peat pots and will soon find their place in the garden. I'll post photos of these soon but for today, here are some photos of what my son has been up to:

Sailing! Nearly all the high schools around here have teams. I would never have imagined that as soon as the ice melted off the local lake, my son would be out on the water (in expensive safety gear that protects kids who fall in the lake from hypothermia) sailing. Alas, now that the water is warming and the chances to sit lakeside in the warm sun are here, the season is coming to a close. But, it's been great watching him and the team even in the cold.

April Fool (Brown to White)...

2011-04-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

It's April 1st and there's 4-5" of heavy wet snow on the ground and still going... uuuuugggghhhh!

Furthermore... One of my kids did an April fool to me of rubber banding the kitchen sink sprayer s oI got all wet when I went to make the kids' breakfasts and lunches (at 6:15!) I was not amused. I yelled and went back to bed. Everyone had to make their own.

Sadder part was, the one who did it didn't admit it. He or she let other one be punished as well. Of course they could have both been in on this mean trick.

But... Was this as mean and disrespectful as it felt to me or was it funny? Why didn't I just laugh? Could you have laughed?

White to Brown...

2011-03-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a post without pictures. I'm just not inspired by the color of my surroundings these days. I'll take some photos when the dominant color begins changing from brown to green. It's only recently gone from white to brown. We had snow cover from before Christmas until about a week ago!

This is my second spring living in MA. It definitely comes a couple weeks later here than in NJ. There have been a few nice days though. Last Thursday and Friday I spent some time raking and cleaning the gardens (although they need lots more work!) Over the weekend, I worked on the front garden with the family. I dug out some saplings under a bush that sends out suckers and the kids planted them in another part of the yard.

Snowdrops and a few crocuses are blooming. There are daffodil shoots growing taller every day. But there is still lots of brown grass, brown twigs, grey skies and mud.

I'm inside the house feeling the need to bring on spring with some spring cleaning. I stripped our bed down to the mattress this morning. Right now the thick king size mattress cover is in the washer. I keep having to run to the washer and try to change the balance of the load. It keeps pounding and banging like a drum. Boom Booom Boooom boom
booom boom boom boom boom boomboomboom....

Is this the drum role welcoming spring?

Update: an hour or so after writing this.....It's snowing!

Mothering like a Lioness

2011-03-01T07:06:00.000-08:00

Here's another series of photos from our DC trip. A cool February day was a very good one to visit a zoo. I used to take the kids to the Bronx Zoo often in the summers when we lived in NJ. But, I guess animals feel a lot like us on hot summer days. They mostly slept. The animals were on the move at the National Zoo in late winter though.

We got to witness some lion family love. Early in the morning the male lion was in one large pen and two females were in another. When we headed back to see the cub showing around lunch time, the females were pacing eagerly at the door of their enclosure. Soon doors were opened and the females along with their seven 3-to-4-month-old cubs (from 2 litters) entered the male's enclosure.

Airplane Art

2011-02-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

This past week we headed to Washington, DC to see the sites. My son and husband are big technology fans and wanted to see the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles Airport. I didn't think it would be too exciting for me. I would have rather headed to an art museum. But surprisingly, beautiful art was all around. The elegance that helps planes soar requires simplicity of design and shape. The planes and the way they were hung in the architecturally refined hanger building was striking indeed!

This photo essay is inspired by the photo essays at A Little Light Reading, one of my favorite blogs.

I'm Not Superstitious

2011-02-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

If I were a more superstisious person, I'd think I should stop blogging now. For, as soon as I put showed photos of Doug's beautiful painting work around the house in my last post, down came the water.

Here now is the lovely yellow paint bubbled from water seepage.

Here's the dormer occupied by towels and buckets and toil to remove ice dams and snow.
Here's Doug at night trying to hack at the ice out the window with a hoe.

Here he is outside in the day with his longest tools.

Soon we'll need a longer yard stick.

The deep snow does have its beauty for some...

Here's the view above from the bottom of the hill toward the house. This was last May, and the daffodils were blooming in profusion. I'm trying to imagine them now gaining strength to make it the most welcome spring ever!

At Wisecraft, her hellbores are emerging. Thanks for the inspiration.

Colored Corners of my Home

2011-01-31T05:37:00.001-08:00

Inspired by this post from Soulemama, here's an updated corner of my home... the improving entryway. For a year after we moved here our shoes went into a cardboard box left over from the move. After a year I found some unfinished book cases on sale that looked promising as shoe boxes. With some paint and cut pieces of plastic runner, they are looking fine.

Recently colors have been entering the house covering the super white walls and greyish trim left by the previous owners. Roman shades have appeared in the library, our bedroom and stairwell, and the entryway. Doug has painted the hall and garden room a lovely yellow (Sherwin Williams banana cream) and sage green (Sherwin Williams garden sage) is appearing here and there.

Mud room toward garden room view (note shade in top center, a pretty green to gold stripe). I got all the shades from Smith + Noble. A great designer came out and showed me fabric samples right in the house. He did all the measurements too. It was terrific. I had been having a lot of trouble going to stores and trying to picture what the fabrics would look like in the house.

Garden room close up with yellow walls and sage table. The desk is from my childhood bedroom.

Yellow walls also enliven the hallway, with the beautiful mirror my mom got me in Italy.

And the upstairs portion of the hallway showing the bedroom/stairwell roman shades.

The house is feeling so much warmer with these colors although the outdoors is very cold and snowy! This picture was taken before the last 16 inch storm. And another heavy storm is forecast for Wednesday.

Moved by the Music

2011-01-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

Last sunday's service at our Unitarian Universalist church honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with music. It included 8 songs. Each one spurs the singers or listeners to action either to protest evil, war, and violence or to promote peace. I loved this service I hope it inspires action in me.

We all sang If I Had a Hammer, Where Have All the Flowers Gone and Turn Turn Turn by Pete Seeger.

One of the hymns was My Life Flows on in Endless Song. It is a beautiful uplifting song well known and sung strongly by the congregation. Enya has a beautiful version found here with Lord of the Rings Elf photos (a bit kooky, but I love it).
Here are the words to the final verse:

When tyrants tremble as they hear the bells of freedom ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near how can I keep from singing
To prison cell and dungeon vile our thoughts to them are winging;
When friends by shame are undefiled how can I keep from singing.

The choir did a great job singing the spiritual Wade in the Water. If I close my eyes I can see Alvin Ailey's dance Revelations when I hear this song.

Here's the portion of Alvin Ailey's Revelations to Wade in the Water. Seeing this work live is life changing. One of my dreams is that I could have been present when this dance was presented for the first time. One of my best memories is the first time I saw the dance live. I went with my best friend from high school whose father was a cellist in the orchestra. We sat high in the sloped seats of City Center (or was it the Joyce Theater) in NYC. I was overwhelmed by the music, the dance, the passion of the audience. My body was echoing the movements. If you'd like, check out some videos of other portions of the dance, This is beautiful all stillness, strength and poise especially dance beginning at 5:45. For power, jumps, muscles and celebration try This! Imagine the entire audience clapping and cheering and swaying through that dance that begins at minute 7. Or even better, SEE IT LIVE!

Finally, John Lennon's Imagine was performed. The piano was played by the church's music director and the Minister read the lyrics to the music. A church where the minister can suggest that the world would be a more peaceful place without religion is the church for me.

And this is what you find when you spend a snowy freezing day searching the web: Bill Clinton singing Imagine with Jewish and Arab children. Here.

Snow Day

2011-01-12T16:38:00.001-08:00

Like the rest of the eastern US, here come the snow photos.

No school today (very rare in this town). Doug worked from home too. We measured a good 14" around the house, but there were definite areas where wind blew it higher. The snow was heavy and wet. It stuck to the trees in a beautiful way. Walked up the hill to play with friends. Hot chocolate with peppermint flavored Christmas marshmallow Peeps! Homemade broccoli soup for dinner.

It's as quiet as it looks.

Until the kids come out to play.

They are getting so grown up. Both my kids are now "double digits".

Renee with her friend G. You can see the snow falling and the wind blowing.

Thanks for clearing the steps, Jack.

Love how this snow sticks to the trees.

Doug measures the late afternoon accumulation.

And remember this little light brown cow:

Here she is less than a year later...

Hope you are having a fun and restful snow day too.

Shopping and Feminism (?)

2011-01-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

Malls overwhelm me... the climate control, the artificial light, the thumping music booming out of Abercrombie, the absence of time. I find my way into them only a couple times a year. The cheapskate in me usually has me checking the sales after the holidays to pursue the few items that I think about long enough to search them out at the right price. Here are items I've been looking for -- now purchased at 50-75% off:

Frames for sepia toned pictures of the kids that I've wanted to hang since we moved into this house and candles for the old fireplace we will never use (we have a newer one that doesn't need chimney work).

The frames hang over the end of the daybed where my mom sleeps when she visits. I hope she'll like the kids watching over her. You can see the origami dresses my daughter decorated the room with in the window.

And in the fireplace, 3 pillar candles. I got the idea at a Bed and Breakfast we visited last November. They had a candelabra of tea candles burning in a fireplace and I thought it looked beautiful. I'm doing a little decorating in my living room to get ready for hosting my book club. I've been going to other people's homes for the book club for nearly a year. It is finally time for me to pick the book and host.

I think I've picked one that will foster a great discussion. Big Girls Don't Cry by Rebecca Traister.

It's a review of the 2008 Presidential election from a feminist perspective. It discusses how the media treated Hillary, Barak, Sarah and Michelle. It shows behind the scenes intrigue and nasty chauvinistic coverage. Media women are conflicted. Gloria Steinem's incisive take proves that she's seen it all. SNL's female comedians skewer the candidates with their own words and prove that at least in the media, women are making their mark.

Katie Couric raises the fascinating question of whether Sarah Palin is a feminist. She is torn. After all, here's Sarah who quickly went from mayor to governor to vice-presidential candidate not after her kids were grown, but while being a mother to 4 then 5 kids. With her supportive husband and impressive career, isn't this what 1970's feminists hoped would happen. That women could be mothers and have a great career. Meanwhile she was not in favor of abortion rights and promoted republican economic policies that would hurt many women and middle class families.

But perhaps feminism has made strides in this case based on a quote in the book by the late NY Congresswomen Bella Abzug "The goal is not to see a female Einstein become an assistant professor. We want a woman schlemiel to get promoted as quickly as a male schlemiel."

But let's end the book discussion on a more positive note. The book left me with very warm feelings for Hillary Clinton. Her efforts to win votes as a Democratic woman by moving to the center and trying to be the toughest candidate may have cost her the Presidency, but as the Secretary of State she is making her mark.

At a hearing on international health funding she testified, "When I think about the suffering I have seen, of women around the world-- I've been in hospitals in Brazil where half the women were enthusiastically and joyfully greeting their babies and the other half were fighting for their lives against botched abortions, I've been in African countries where 12- and 13-year-old girls are bearing children. I have been in Asian countries where the denial of family planning consigns women to lives of oppression and hardship... We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women's health, and reproductive health includes access to abortions."

And she takes a feminist message to places around the world where it is least welcome. In a press conference with Afghanistan's President Karzai, she challenged a law about legislating the frequency of sex in marriage. "I will also reinforce, as I have on many occasions that this is not just me speaking, but this is the American government speaking. That we do not believe either Afghanistan or Pakistan can achieve lasting progress without the full participation of all your citizens including women and girls."

Amen

I'll let you know how the book group discussion goes... and I hope they like the new candles.
Aaahhhh, the serious and silly side of being an American women.

Busy Crafters

2010-12-30T07:10:00.000-08:00

We've been busy bees around here with all the new crafts items that arrived for Christmas, Hanukkah and recent birthdays.

Renée got a book on doll making that reminded me of last year's Felties. It's called Wee Wonderfuls. Check out these great mermaids. I made the pink and purple slightly lopsided one. She made the blue (she's 10). The directions were easy, and we adapted to the supplies (felt and sparkly glue) and patience we had. We're looking forward to trying others in the book.

During the holidays we headed to a quilling workshop at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. It was lots of fun. A quilling kit arrived for the holidays. Really all that's needed is some very thin paper and a quilling tool although a toothpick works in a pinch. We made snowflakes at the workshop and have been trying out other designs at home. Here's a bit of my work.

If you want to check out some great quilling pictures check out a post I did a while ago after visiting a paper crafts exhibit.

Back from the Fairy Woods

2010-12-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

Back after a long hiatus. A busy happy week has brought me back...

Saturday we decorated our holiday tree with many Christmas and Hanukkah ornaments. There are balls and photos of the kids from years past. There are home made shell angels, glittery pine cones and embroidered hearts. There are collections of Tonka trucks, Harry Potter ornaments, ballerinas and princesses, etc. The kids did the whole thing themselves this year. I watched and took some photos.

Sunday off to church in our pajamas for a special breakfast before the service which included a Hanukkah song and a discussion of Jesus. At 4 pm we were back at church to sing Christmas carols on the church steps. It's a 50 year old tradition at this nearly 350-year-old church. I would have never thought a church would become such an important place for me. Somehow this Unitarian Universalist message is the one that has been inside me all along. My discomfort in every other religious house of worship I have ever visited made me so ready to identify with the love and tolerance preached here. It has been the most major change in my life since moving to Massachusetts. The church and the people I have met there are helping this place feel like home.

OK now onto other subjects... hope I haven't offended. Here are some cute photos I took in late Oct or early November. Enjoy...

Treasure Beyond Measure

2010-09-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

Inside this round barn at the Shelbourne Museum in Vermont are treasures beyond measure. While we were there in late July, there was an exhibit of quilts made by the family and friends of those who suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece. The quilts are a lasting and powerful tribute to the lives of those who lost their memories, the creativity and love of those who made the quilts and a reminder to us all to cherish every moment and memory.

Look closely at this one: from top to bottom it documents the activities that were lost sequentially by the mother of the quilt's creator, Christine Adams. Beginning with travel and golf, through communication and finally the ability to eat and breath. The quilt was so raw, so compelling, so full of pain.

This one was an intricate balance of color and quilting skill. The design reinterprets a photo of a young dancer who later died of Alzheimer's.

A closeup:

And look at this one by Liz Kettle. The heart drips a sea of endless tears of beautiful beads...

a closeup:

Also at the Shelborne until October 24 is
Ansel Adams and Edward Burtynsky: Constructed Landscapes
description follows:

"Constructed Landscapes is Shelburne Museum’s first exhibition of modern and contemporary photography. The exhibit features over 60 photographs by Ansel Adams (1902-1984), one of the most influential and popular landscape photographers in history and Edward Burtynsky (b. 1955), a contemporary photographer whose images of “manufactured landscapes” such as mines, railway cuts and dams have brought him considerable acclaim in the past decade.

Burtynsky and Adams are in stark juxtaposition in Constructed Landscapes. Ansel Adams’ classic and pristine black and white images of undisturbed nature contrast with Burtynsky’s stunning color prints of landscapes altered by man, including quarries in Vermont."

Everyone is familiar with Adams' work, although there are a few less known photos here that I hadn't seen before. I became familiar with Burtynsky's work through the documentary Manufactured Landscapes, you can see the trailer below. It is totally amazing. It documents his trip to photograph a rising China. He travels and photographs giant factories, huge landscapes of coal mountains, peasants taking apart homes brick by brick that will soon be inundated because of the Three Gorges Dam. At the same time he explores the devastation of our consumer waste stream: mining, production, transportation, recycling, waste, pollution, and the dismantling of an oil barge. Images from this film haunt my mind when I'm debating whether to buy typical consumer products. We have not gotten a microwave or air conditioning in our new house thanks to this film.

Visiting and Creating National Treasures

2010-08-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

This rambly post started out as a catalog of the nature shots from our recent Maine vacation. Then I flew off on a tangent about how nature was preserved and enhanced by the rich. Then it occurred to me that great parks were also created by the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). And finally I swerved to discuss what hiking and traveling means to me and the favorite places I have visited. Each one of these topics could fill many posts, but here's the current mess and perhaps I'll elaborate later.

I love visiting national parks, historic homes and beautiful gardens. Hiking gives me a feeling of challenge and peace at the same time. Exploring history stokes my curiosity and admiration for remarkable men and women. Looking at natural vistas, waterfalls, enormous sequoias, or mossy swamps rejuvenates my creativity. In all these situations, the stresses of the world fade away.

Some of the favorite places I have visited include: California's Yosemite, King's Canyon National Park, Route 1 corridor, and Mono Lake, Colorado's Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument, Virginia's Monticello, the Cape Cod National Seashore, and now Acadia National Park and its surrounding gardens.

Thuya Garden (named for the northern white cedar, Thuja occidentalis, woods that surround it) is a beautiful tended English style garden outside Acadia National Park. Along with the Asticou Azalea Garden (a Japanese style garden) that I long to see in bloom, it's a worthwhile stop on a trip to the central Maine Coast. I sound like a tour director. But really, they are tended by the nonprofit Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve, and deserve a visit.

These gardens and the National Park itself are oddly a tribute to the very rich of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The gardens are preserved now in perpetuity thanks to the estate of Joseph Henry Curtis, a Boston landscape architect and civil engineer, who "summered" in this part of Maine for almost 50 years. After his death he donated the land to the preserve. Charles K. Salvage, a local landscape designer renovated and further designed the gardens with plants purchased form the collection of Beatrix Farrand.

Acadia's carriage roads and stone bridges were built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. over 27 years with his family fortune. It's odd owing thanks to the largess of Rockefellers, Carnegies and others who made their fortunes by exploiting and monopolizing labor and land, but then donated and created national parks and cultural institutions through their generocity.

I enjoyed camping in Acadia. But how would it feel to have "summered" here in your own beautiful home with servants and cooks? To build 45 miles of carriage roads and bridges because you love riding your horses around and wanted to created beautiful drives and views? This is not to say, this is only way to create these wonders. During the depression the New Deal's CCC created amazing roads, trails, and facilities.

"By March of 1933, 13,600,000 people were unemployed in the United States. In the face of this emergency, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, only two days after his inauguration, called a meeting of government officials to create a Civilian Conservation Corps. Roosevelt intended to put 500,000 unemployed youths to work in forests, parks and range lands across the country.

"In its nine years, the CCC employed more than three million men and left an undeniable imprint on the nation's landscape. The CCC built more than 40,000 bridges, planted two billion trees, restored nearly 4,000 historic sites and structures, improved thousands of beaches, roads and shorelines, and created 800 state parks." from this website.

What could we accomplish if today's bankers did generous things with their money? What could we accomplish if we put the unemployed to work creating the most beautiful national seashore on the gulf coast? Let's go to glorious places and determine how to make the world a more beautiful place.

Tagging Myself

2010-08-10T04:59:00.000-07:00

Tagged myself with questions from Light and Macaroni.

1: What is your favorite "me time" activity?
Reading, whether on blogs, The New York Times online, or interesting books. I have joined 2 book clubs since I moved here a year ago. The favorite books I have read in them are: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and The Uncommon Reader. Both lots of fun. Right now I am reading A Walk in the Woods, Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail inspired by our recent trip hiking and biking in Acadia.

2: Favorite made-by-you item?
My photo albums. I must have at least a dozen. The first one begins with a few photos of my great aunts and uncles when they were young and ends at college graduation. The rest are much more detailed highlighting my early 20's courting through my and friends' marriages, and tons and tons of photos of my kids through the years. I actually was showing one of the albums to a friend who came for lunch yesterday. I love looking at old photos of my kids. It brings back so many great memories. My albums are detailed with dates and souvenirs (tickets, flyers, etc), sort of like simple scrapbooks. I have not been as diligent with this since the age of digital pictures, but every once in a while I order prints and get to work.

I also have a "holiday" album with the Christmas photo cards that we get from friends and family year after year. Each family has a few dedicated pages, and each year when I add the current photo I get to see the growth of these kids.

3: What is your "crap I have no time but must make something to eat" go-to meal? [Jessica (this set of questions originally came from her blog) says: I need more of these in my repertoire and am shamelessly hoping for new ideas!]
Pasta with whatever else is in the fridge: sauted onions and greens (maybe with a little sausage thrown in) and lots of Parmesan; zucchini, onions, garlic and olive oil; in winter canned tomatoes, sausage, and small white beans. If greenbeans are in the fridge, they go well with rice and soy sauce. Bok choy and scallions might call for asian noodles and a quick peanut/sesame sauce (peanut butter, vinegar, sesame oil, crushed garlic stirred with hot water).

4: One way you've changed that would seem most surprising to the other people attending your high school reunion?
I've become more serious, more concerned about the world. I think my efforts to live a greener, simpler life would be highly unusual for most of the competitive, consumptive people I went to high school with. Many got new BMWs for their 17th birthdays.

5: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I loved dance and nature. I wanted to be Jane Goodall dancing through the wilds. But somehow I didn't believe that was a viable career. When I went to college I gave up dance when it conflicted with science labs.

6: The next craft you want to learn?

I'm going to shift this question a little to reflect more on the last one. I'd like to learn to better follow through on all the various ideas I have. I have great ideas all the time, but I don't pursue them or see them through. Also, I'd like to start baking my own bread, but not until fall. I don't want to turn on the oven in summer. We have no air conditioning.

7: Do you like having your photo taken? Why/not?
No, I don't like the way I look in photos. I appear heavier than I think I am. I love this picture from our recent vacation though. I look happy and I my husband looks totally in love with me! I have this photo in my mind now all the time. My son took it and I know it will forever be one of my favorites.

8: Current favorite color combination?

The beautiful greens of mosses in the forest. Here are 2 photos from our trip, the first at the side of a carriage road in Acadia, the second in a shade garden at Thuya gardens. Of course, the photos don't capture the intensity and beauty of actually being there.

Thanks Heather and Jessica. This was fun.

Acadia Adventure

2010-08-09T04:17:00.001-07:00

Now we're back from Acadia National Park in Maine. We stayed at the Seawall Campground. This was our first time really camping in tents. I loved it. Here are a few pictorial highlights of the trip. I'll do some more thoughtful posts on our 2 weeks of summer travel over the next week.

The first full day we did our tough hike up Cadillac mountain on the North Ridge Trail. On the way up there was lots of time to stop to pick wild blueberries or identify trees like black spruce and Jack pine.

Occasionally I made the kids pose for pictures. They never like to do this!

We ate lunch at the top where a cold rain had started to fall. It was crowded with nonhikers who had driven up the mountain road. We quickly headed back down onto the less populated trails.

Day 2: Hiking the ocean side trails from sand beach to otter point.

Then we visited some beautiful formal gardens (Thuya and Asticou) right outside the park.

Finally, sunset lobster dinner at a local recommendation, Maine-ly Delights.

Day 3: biking and hiking on the park's carriage roads.

Overall, a terrific, energetic and beautiful trip. I'm planning the next visit in my head already!

Vermont Vacation

2010-08-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

I've been gone, but I'm back for the moment with too many things to say to get it all into one post. We spent last week with dear friends at their house on an island in Lake Champlain. It was amazing, relaxing and fun. We also visited Burlington and Shelbourne, VT.

Making chicken friends at a local farm that sells maple soft serve ice-cream.

Cooking chicken (not the same chicken).

Driving little boats.

Sailing boats.

Visiting bigger boats.

Doing a few chores.

Checking out some local art.

Hiking to a cliff to look for fossils.

Making s'mores.

Renee loved swimming and playing with C.

Jack loved sailing and caring for R.

We are so thankful for Reid and Jennie our oldest and dearest friends.

A Rare Pat on the Back

2010-07-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

I've been bad about taking pictures lately. But I wanted to give myself a pat on the back about a few things. Usually I'm always noticing my flaws. But this week I:

1. finished everything in my CSA share. I even ate beets with feta one day for lunch (I usually have trouble getting through the beets). Made pesto. Put radishes on every sandwich and in corn salad with cilantro. Salad with figs. Broccollini and fennel with pasta and bacon. Sauted bok choy and green onion. There may have been even more that I'm forgetting... Oh yeah, lots of sweet purple, yellow and orange carrots in lunches.

2. My daughter has been asking for a sweet treat for about 2 weeks. I found a really easy and easy-to-clean-up recipe for chocolate cake in Fannie Farmer and let her make it!

3. Got my husband and son sailing together on Lake Cochituate last Sunday. My son has been sailing in camp and loving it! Getting my husband to abandon his weekend chores is difficult, but luckily the weed wacker cooperated and wouldn't turn on. I also took on some of his chores to make it easier. I got a new propane tank and washed the porch railings to get them ready for painting.

4. Tried a new class at the YMCA, Core Dynamics, lots of balance and stretching. Got my bike tire fixed and went on a bike ride.

Paper Quilts

2010-07-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Wise Craft, and Beauty that Moves Summer Studio Tour, a little artistic interlude:

I am not a patient or talented enough seamstress to quilt, but the justaposition of color and and its influence on emotion can carry me away. There was a moment of flow and creativity as I chose the colors and cut the 1 1/2" squares to highlight certain features of the papers from my haphazard collection.

The first result:

And the second:

We Are Stardust

2010-06-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some of yesterday's garden photos. Taking pictures of flowers around the yard soothes me, but now it is after midnight, and I'm hoping that getting these words down will get them out of my head.

I'm seething over things I can't control. Lawyers, politicians, insurance companies, mega corporations... as much as we try to simplify our lives, these tentacled creatures slither their way in.

The colorful front garden:

I signed my daughter up for Tap lessons today at a small, local dance studio. Here's a quote from the release I had to sign:
"Participant fully understands and acknowledges that all of the activities that Participant will undertake have inherent risks, dangers, and hazards and such exists in Participant's participation in these activities, and (a) Participant's participation in any AOP activity including but not limited to dance lessons, dancing related activities, use of any equipment, or any travel in automobiles or busses (THEY CAN'T EVEN SPELL BUSES) may result in injury or paralysis, death, or other ailments that could cause serious disability, and (b) these risks and dangers may be caused by accidents, breaches of contract, or other causes, and (c) in connection with Participant's participation in these activities and use of any equipment or travel, Participant hereby assumes all risks and dangers and all responsibility for any losses and/or damages whether caused in whole or in part by the NEGLIGENCE or other conduct of AOP, its employees, agents, independent contractors, volunteers, other participants" ..... AND ON AND ON.

Raspberries ripen every day:

Item 12 in the release:
"Participant acknowledges that Participant has had an opportunity to obtain independent counsel before signing this release and has obtained such counsel or has made a voluntary decision to forgo such counsel."

In essence, I should hire a lawyer to review a release that absolves this place from hurting my daughter even if they are negligent!

Little berries on my favorite bush in the yard. The leaves turn a beautiful pale yellow in the fall.

According to a little research I've been doing during this insomnia, even if a contract says that a company won't be held liable for negligence, this is usually not true. For example, if a company (like a boating company [I had to sign similar forms for my son to go on a kayaking trip]) hires inexperienced teenagers rather than experienced guides with safety training, they could still be held responsible in an accident.

These green and purple beans from the garden were part of our dinner last night.

Insurance companies and lawyers have enriched themselves by making so many of our interactions impersonal and full of distrust. Businesses must protect themselves from their customers. They are more responsible to their shareholders. Politicians are more responsive to their corporate supporters than the citizen/voter. It is the faceless customer who eats the beef contaminated with e-coli because the slaughterhouse line moves too fast to safely clean the meat in order to squeeze out higher profits. Toothless cigarette warnings absolve nefarious tobacco companies from liability for addicting teenagers that they target with their marketing. The BP CEO takes a sailing vacation in far away waters as the Gulf is destroyed by a rig explosion caused by shortcuts and sloppiness without regard for the consequences.

"I fear to be a cog in something turning."
"I dreamed I saw the bombers riding shotgun in the sky. They were turning into butterflies above our nation."
"We are stardust. We are golden, and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."
-Joni Mitchell

A beautiful spider with an egg sac found in the yard.

I want to retreat into the garden and let the anger that seethes in me melt away. It is very hard!

Will lists of chores be my Life List?

2010-06-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

Highlights from the garden this week: roses and peonies and lots of stuff I don't recognize.

Note the lichen on the very old steps.

There have been crazy storms all week. An inch in about an hour yesterday and lightening and thunder every night. The yard and garden are getting hugely overgrown and I feel overwhelmed about everything; piles of weeds, piles of laundry, piles of dishes and obligations to cook and clean all the time. How did I turn into a frustrated 1950s housewife? And by the way I load all these chores on myself. My kids obviously don't mind a mess, and I'm sure everyone would be happy with takeout more often.

I just finished Life List.

It is a biography of the great birder Phoebe Snetsinger. She was a frustrated housewife of the early 1960s who after a prognosis of 1 year to live from melanoma changed her life. Living as if every day was nearly her last, over the next nearly 20 years she followed her dream of studying birds from all over the world. At times she traveled to remote locations across the globe for up to 10 months of the year. By the end of her life she had seen nearly 85% of the bird species in existence, the most of anyone at the time. She caused many rifts in her family relations but she made great friends and followed her dreams. It's a complicated story of passion bordering on obsession.

Memorial Day

2010-06-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend contains all the conflict and gray areas of our complex lives today. We march in parades and head to cemetery memorials to commemorate fallen soldiers. Then we head to barbecues to relax and have fun even while wars continue and new troubles among Israel and Turkey over Gaza threaten more. Drone attacks kill yet another Al Kaeda #2. Do we get closer to security or create more jihadists (terrorists)? We drive to the shore and perpetuate the need for oil that is poisoning the creature in the Gulf of Mexico.

It is a rare moment now when I can stop the angst in my heart regarding the problems of the world. I am constantly trying to think of ways to make my life less impactful. Yet the problems only grow. The currents of the world seem to be flowing ever closer to disaster.

Our recent efforts to green our lives include:
the new compost container I built from scrap wood

My husband and son installed a 2 cycle flusher in one of our old toilets that allows for very small flush for liquids and a stronger flow for solids.

Our CSA from Siena Farms begins this week. Hooray. And I purchased fresh spinach from Mainstone Farm across the street from our house. Yum. They sell their own organic produce and grass fed beef.

And yes we did have some fun at a friends' bbq. They had a terrific new swing and some balls to juggle.

Garden at Capacity

2010-05-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here is one section of our beautiful garden planted by the previous owners. Now it is up to us to maintain and prune. I think part of their reason for moving was that they were getting older, and things that they had been able to keep in check were getting out of control. Bushes that were probably lovely borders when they were 3-4' high and wide are now making pathways narrow and are getting too high to control. There is a clump of raspberries that are difficult to pick because tall grasses block one side. It is only late May. The garden is lush and lovely. Overgrowth, crowding and mildew are on the way by July. Myrtle, grapes and bee balm are taking over in all directions. Any suggestions before beauty turns beastly.

For now peony and iris are in beautiful bloom.

Shore Day

2010-05-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Doug's birthday was spent on the North shore of Boston in Gloucester and Essex. Renee was in the water which was surprisingly warm until the tide came in. Jack enjoyed flying his stunt kite. I loved the beautiful scenery the water, the rocks, the pines, lovely homes and sailboats in going by.
Yummy dinner too at Woodman's. There was fresh lobster, great fried clams, grilled cheese and corn for less adventurous eaters, and some of the best onion rings ever!

Remaking Old Clothes

2010-05-19T05:24:00.000-07:00

I am not a seamstress by any means, but I get inspired by all the creativity on the blogs I love. Also many of you are so willing to try new things and encouraging your readers to learn new skills. So I got to work on some long awaited projects.

I had these two linen dresses that I have worn so much over the last few summers that they wore very thin where my seat belt rubbed over my shoulder and chest. That also indicates how much driving I did! Happily I've cut down on that considerably since we have moved to MA and my back is much better for it. So I have turned the dresses into elastic waist skirts, and it was so easy. It took less than an hour. I read a few tutorials then did the easiest thing: cut the dresses high on the waist, folded them inside out and sewed a 5/8" channel with the sewing machine leaving about an 2" open, pulled through a 1/4" elastic I had on hand cut to waist size, tied elastic and cut ends, sewed together opening to close and hold elastic. That's it. The waist is not elegant, but it works for the easygoing way I usually put outfits together.

Then I got to work on a old pink sweater that I should not have worn when we were repainting the porch before we sold the house. There was a paint on the front. Once I tried to get it off with a razor to remove lint. I got off some of the paint but made a hole. Now I've put a cute heart over the hole and paint.

Not very professional but it's a start. I've made some of my worn out or damaged clothes wearable again.

In Full Swing

2010-05-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of just how high our swing is... about 30 feet. Our house has become playdate central.
And there's another iris variety today: light denim.

It's too beautiful outside to write more now. For a change my mind is cleared of the usual anxiety and fretting about the past or future.

Irises

2010-05-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

In addition to breaking my computer recently, I also dropped and broke my son's camera. He's letting me use the new one I got him, but I'm having trouble with getting in focus the things I want to focus on. But I want to show the amazing range of flowers in this yard. Sorry about the fuzzy photos.

This week: Irises

yellow and burgundy

white
purple
cream
I have a lot of garden work to learn about, but I'm a bit nervous to get out there too deeply. My son, my mom and I have all gotten ticks in the yard. Evidently, Lyme disease is common here. Any suggestions on good ways to repel and find them once they get in your hair? I'm quite paranoid about it now.

Something I have been working on is the veggie garden. Beans and radishes on their way.

Computer Woe, Computer Wow

2010-05-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

Even after my beloved laptop (5 years old and refurbished when I got it) is gone, we still have 3 computers in the house. My husband's big laptop, an ancient machine in the basement with updated systems and the family games, and a new-to-us Mac from my in-laws. But my kind husband sent me an email yesterday (likely after he saw my last post) asking if I wanted him to order me a new sleek mini laptop with 4 times the power at half the price I had paid for the one 5 years ago.

But my environmental and cheapskate ways led me to answer "no thanks, sweet husband". I am finally figuring out how to use the other ones in the house. I am fretting over how to dispose of the old one in the most environmentally responsible way. And I am patting myself on the back for saying no to the depletion of resources and pollution involved in creating any new machine I would buy.

My son thinks I'm nuts. We were discussing this in the car yesterday. He can't believe I think my not buying a machine will make any difference to the world. (Perhaps it's because he's hoping for one of his own.) He's probably right. We recycle, we get our summer veggies from a CSA, the little beef we eat is from the local farm where cows roam the grassy fields, I try to conserve in big and small ways. But I am one person, we are one family. We are Americans with 2 cars and a 2500 sq foot house. Even at my most efficient I am using more resources than a town of people in the developing world. I see so much waste around me, 6000 sq foot homes, gas guzzling cars, plastic water and soda bottles littering the side of the road. It's hard to know if anything I do makes a difference.

Then last night it all changed. Paging through my New Yorker (yes, The New Yorker) I saw an ad for the SEX AND THE CITY 2 HP Vivienne Tam computer collection. Will Carrie, the Mac girl, be sporting that sexy gold mini computer in the upcoming movie? If I get one will I become a successful bestselling author with the coolest friends, the greatest clothes, the most exciting life? I WANT ONE.

It is challenge to fight against the consumer juggernaut every day. LOL

Back but Unsteady

2010-05-11T05:46:00.001-07:00

It doesn't feel like it's been only 2 weeks since my last post. I have been figuring out my husband's computer and an old Mac from my in-laws we set up. But I am missing the intuitive way I interacted with my laptop. My favorite spot for it was standing at the corner of the kitchen counter (that's probably why I spilled water on it!) Alas, now I'm kneeling by my husband's night table relearning.

I've been busy with Mother's Day. Although I've been a mom for 14 years, Mother's Day doesn't seem to be much about me. I am still the daughter of my Mother and Mother-in-Law. I cooked a lovely brunch for the moms. The menu:
Strawberry bread
Asparagus Fritatta (sp?)
Salad with romaine, cucumber and grapes
Sandwiches

We finally hung a swing in the yard. It is a one rope swing hung in the crook of a tree about 30 feet up. A few weeks ago I convinced a cable worker who had been running wires down the road to bring his bucket truck down my driveway and hang a kite string over the branch. My kids thought I was crazy! But he was very kind and not only strung the cord but cut off little branches that would have been in the way below. About a week ago, we tied that kite string to a larger rope and eased it with a few iffy moments over the branch. With the help of a book on knots, the swing was soon ready for action. And has been seeing lots of action since. Here are a couple rather dark pics from the night we hung the swing.

Love those socks.

Still Here...

2010-04-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

I'm still here trying to be inspired by your wonderful blogs. I had a lovely time visiting my mom and old life over vacation. We visited our old school. My daughter spent the day in her old classroom. Since then there have been lots of spontaneous tears missing her friends. I'm in that funk too. I ate lunch at the school with the teachers I used to work with. Everyone was welcoming and warm. I walked in a park with an old friend and it was just like old times. For a few hours I walked right back into my old life.

I'm enjoying some things about being back in my new home though. The lilacs are out. Viburnums and cherries are blossoming. Everything is green and purple and fragrant. I've been taking some photos, but I'm still having computer problems. I hope to get some new photo collages on here soon.

Added photo on May 11:

The yard has gone from the white and yellow of magnolia and daffodil to the pink and purple of lilac and cherry.

Stillness...

2010-04-19T04:09:00.000-07:00

I have been very clumsy lately. I dropped my son's digital camera about two weeks ago and broke it. Then the other day I spilled a couple tablespoons of water on my laptop. It's done for...

My husband set it up so I could use his computer, but I'm all disoriented and not quite ready to borrow my son's new camera so I'm taking a little break here to try to slow down and quiet this body and mind. Time to find some stillness.

Daffodil Surprise!

2010-04-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Thank you Sarah Palin. Your incessant voice on NPR this afternoon from your Boston visit led me to turn off NPR and put on a radio station with one classic '70s song after another. I opened a bottle of wine and danced around to Fleetwood Mac, Hall and Oates, Barry White, Abba, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Saturday Night Fever, Elton John (Levon). Every song a fun memory.

I created a delicious dinner too. Greek Chard Pie and Sweet Potato Fries. Here's a photo. Check out the delightful daffodils in the vase. My daughter picked the bouquet from our meadow which is filled with naturalized daffodils. There are certainly some lovely surprises when you move to a new house!

There's also a beautiful star magnolia out front. It's nearly gone by now, but here's a collage of pictures from the first and second week of April.

"Shake your Bootie" just came on. I'm turning off the radio and computer. Hope your spring has sprung.

Lincoln Library

2010-04-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our town library suffered significant damage in the recent floods. The books were removed from the lower level, but rugs, walls and structure will need repair. It's closed until further notice. Sad, sad.

I am using the opportunity to visit other libraries in the area. A friend had told me to visit the library in Lincoln. And he was right. The original building built in the late 1890 (the same time as parts of our house) has beautiful stone carving and stained glass windows. The modern addition completed 100 years later compliments the older structure in a playful and enlightening way. In many libraries I've visited the children's room is stuck in the basement. This one is on the second floor. It's filled with light and whimsy.

The carved sign on the old building:

The back with the old building section on the left and new on the right.

An amazing twisty tree on the grounds with a typical New England church behind. I have to ask if anyone knows how it got this way.

The teen reading room with beautiful carvings and stained glass fis urnished with bean bags and modern lighting.
I spent quite a while reading here in the the adult magazine/reading room.

Busy, Busy Holiday

2010-04-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy holiday. We had friends staying with us for 4 days. We doubled the number of people in our house and doubled the mess. But also doubled the fun. I even ended up hosting an impromptu party for 14 with a few hours notice (with help and not too much expectation).

Day 1: We went to the DeCordova museum. There are wonderful outdoor sculptures and a biennial exhibit inside. A very kind docent gave us a tour. She was wonderful asking questions and explaining the art to the kids.

Renee, P and E (nutches in nitches)

Renee and I in love.
Reading the Lorax in the recycle room. Everything in there is made of recycled paper, wood and fabrics. It's so soft and cozy.

Thank you to this lovely tour guide who was so generous with the kids.

Day 2 in Cambridge around MIT. First lunch at the Miracle of Science Cafe.

Check out the menu based on the Periodic Table.

And a closer look. H for hydrogen is now H for Hamburger, etc.

Then off to the small but oh-so-inspiring MIT museum. It contains exhibits about medical robots, holograms and my favorite, the mechanical art of Arthur Ganson. I have a few still pics, but check out the videos because all his delicate sculptures move and that's the beauty of them.

A dried artichoke leaf takes on wonderful anthropomorphic qualities as it walks the wheel. Video.

This wishbone pulls a wheeled machine back and forth like the end less toil of Sisyphus.

Gears, fine wires, metal rods and paper capture the elegance of flight. Fantastic Video.

Day 3: Spring is here. It was beautiful and in the 70s while we walked the Freedom trail. Friends hanging out at a dry fountain near Boston's Old North Church. (Yes that one - "One if by land and 2 if by Sea".)

Then dinner and Mike's Pastry in the North End. Yum. Thank you friends for the special memories.

I've Been Tagged

2010-03-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

Heather at Light and Macaroni tagged me to reveal 7 things. Here goes:

1. I love to dance! As a kid, I did ballet and modern dance up through high school. I took ballet lessons and danced and choreographed in the high school dance company. I did African and modern at Bennington College one summer. I hoped to dance in college, but science labs got in the way. Today I get my fix from Zumba.

2. I think I was too practical choosing sciences as a path in college instead of dance and writing and more creative pursuits. My jobs after college involved science writing and medical editing. I think I chose the safe and responsible road instead of following my passion.

3. I love children's books. I was the librarian for the 3 to 6-year-olds at the Montessori school my kids attended before we moved. I miss it. My favorite kids authors are Shirley Hughes, Demi and Jon Muth. I love Ferdinand and The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge. I am a really expressive reader. My kids are both great readers. I'm not sure if it's because I read to them so much, or passion for reading runs in the family.

4. I want to travel much more. Over the past decade, we've done some great family trips to national parks in Colorado and California. We went to England when some dear friends were living there for business. We rented beautiful houses on the beach with lots of friends in North Carolina. But I have trouble spending money on travel. I feel internal pressure to save for retirement, college for the kids, and rainy days. I feel like I sacrifice today's fun for the future. I might be "cheap". I sometimes wish I could be less frugal.

5. On the other hand. My husband and I are of like mind with regard to finances. My father-in-law once called us squirrels. I think this saved us in the past year. We lived in the same house for 16 years and dutifully paid down the mortgage, paid cash for cars and only did renovations we could afford. When we had to move for my husband's job last year, we were able to sell our old house and buy a lovely new one in a down market. Our financial habits have protected us.

6. Otherwise my husband and I have completely different temperments. I am passionate; he is evenkeeled. I speak my mind; he waits and says clever and insightful things. I am all about feelings; he deals with facts. Somehow this works well for us.

7. Like me, my birth family (Mother, Father, Sister) are all passionate, emotional people who argue and like to be right. I have virtually no relationship at this point with my Father, a strained one with my sister, and an emotional up and down but close one with my Mom. These relationships often cause me pain. Growning up in a strained environment likely influenced the type of person I married.

Yikes, please comment Heather. Your openness inspires me, but I feel like I've exposed a lot here.

Welcome Spring and a Confession

2010-03-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday spring began. It felt like summer had arrived. It was sunny and 70 degrees, about 20 degrees warmer than typical mid-March weather in MA. We took full advantage of this beautiful Saturday to clean up the gardens.

Here are before and after pictures. My hardworking husband appears in both.

The kids got into the act too. Jack chopped down a dead tree.

Renee enthralled her visiting grandma.

Here's some evidence of plants growing toward the warm sun. Daffodils and rubarb are on the way.

Now for a confession. Here's my major obsessive parenting mistake. I desperately want to make my interactions with my kids positive. I want weekends to include fun family activities, but I am often stymied by frustration over my kids' lack of attention to their chores and other responsibilities. I used to have a rule that rooms had to be cleaned Saturday mornings. I would also spend that time cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms. Often the kids would sit on their beds rather than cleaning. The opportunity to do something fun in the afternoons would disappear as they put off their chores and I became more and more frustrated.

I became more lax about this rule since we moved. I got tired of the arguments, but now I am very annoyed by seeing the 24/7 mess in their rooms. They tend to loose things and mess drifts to the dining table and the family room.

I entered my daughter's room this morning with good intentions but seeing her crafts all over the floor once again and (get ready to be grossed out) an item dug from her nose on the door frame (she's 9) set me off. I became the angry, lecturing mom. I feel like we can't go out and have fun until these things are fixed. My son's floor is covered with at least 3 days of laundry and a wet towel unless I become the policeman. He is 13. All my good intention drains out of me when I see these things.

I once took a parenting class that said let the kids have their rooms as they wish. Close the door and don't let it bother you, but I'm having a lot of trouble. Please comment with any thoughts or suggestions on this problem. I am so tired of always being an angry disciplinarian.

An Unproductive Adventure

2010-03-17T09:25:00.001-07:00

I tried to walk into town and do some errands today. I was planning to return books to the library and send some things at the post office. Sadly, my efforts were unproductive except for a few cool blog pictures.

Along our road there was a waterfall that isn't normally there.

I headed to the center of town, but couldn't figure out how to get across this intersection. I suppose I could have asked someone to drive me across, but I didn't want to do that.

I meandered around to a back route behind the town building. It was flooded too. I removed my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants. I thought I would wade through, but the water was freezing, and I was unsure how deep it would get.

So I walked back home and made a story of my adventure. I guess I'll have to take the car later.

We Are Not in a Flood

2010-03-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

Notice in the picture above, the shed sitting in a river, the drowning daffodils, the stones front and center in the picture that I know are at the top of a wall nearly 3 feet high, the trees far to the left that usually would sit near the river bank not well within its stream.

Is it OK to feel relieved that I am not in my old house anymore? We would have been going through our 3rd flood there now. Unfortunately, the people who bought the house are now likely going through their first flood only 8 months after they moved in. They were aware of the flood danger, but that doesn't make the reality of it any easier. We had been in the house about 6 years before our first flood, and then it was another 7 years until the next one. This one has followed only 3 years later. Hundred year floods are getting awfully common.

The picture above is from April, 2007 when the flood gauge at Little Falls, NJ measured about 11.5'. We had about 18" of water in the basement at that time. This weeks' storm will likely reach almost 13', possibly the largest flood of the Passaic River since 1903.

Perhaps it's possible that things work out for the best, that situations like having to move for a job are blessings in disguise. While there is lots of flooding in the Boston area as well, our current house is not in a flood plain. We are not watching the weather reports with fear. We are high and dry. We are thankful.

Solutions for Litter?

2010-03-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

I've been following the environmental changes made by followers of Hip Mountain Mama's One Small Change. Many great bloggers have been using cloth napkins rather than paper, eating more vegetarian meals, composting, carrying reusable bottles instead of buying water in plastic, etc.

I haven't committed to anything specific over the months, but I have adopted many of those practices in my life already. Today I did something that fits with the program that I'll try to do as often as possible. It involves litter. Now picking up litter is not going to change the world, but litter itself is a visible symptom of our whole throw away culture. Not only do people who litter use bottles, cans and coffee cups that they could avoid using altogether, but they then disrespect the environment by disposing of these items improperly.

Here is the haul of stuff I picked up on my walk today. And I only picked stuff up on the way home from a local nature preserve. So this was only from one side of the roads I walked.

This wasn't all I saw, but the bag I was filling (that I found on the side of the road) was getting too heavy to carry. One thing that amazes me is the number of liquor bottles, especially the tiny ones I thought were only sold on airplanes. Are people drinking these while driving?

The lovely bottle below might make a nice vase. Odd, I'd always imagined sophisticated people drinking sake relaxing at low tables with quiet music, not slobs drinking it in a car then throwing the bottle out the car window.

This is not the first time I have picked up garbage as I walk. See here. I'm happy that I remove what I pick up, but the situation never improves. What can we do to stop littering? I've debated sending garbage or pictures of garbage to companies like McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts and the soda and beer companies, but they would blame the people who litter, rather than take any responsibility for the mounds of trash their products create.

Once, in my old neighborhood, I watched a teenager pull to the side of our dead end street and empty a large pile of garbage from her car onto the road. When she turned around to leave, I confronted her and told her to pick it up. She denied it was even hers. I ended up getting quite angry and dumping a half filled coffee cup she had left at the side of the road into her sunroof. It was not my finest moment, and I'm probably lucky I didn't get run over. I feel passionate about this issue and don't know how to move beyond simply picking up the never ending supply of trash. Please leave any suggestions in a comment.

Tiger and Butterfly

2010-03-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

Heather's photos of painted faces on Light and Macaroni were so amazing today. It reminded me of this photo of my kids from a few years ago. We had been to a zoo carnival and my kids faces were so intense. My son really is that tiger, and my daughter a bewitching butterfly.

Spring is on the Way

2010-03-06T06:36:00.000-08:00

Signs of spring are beginning to show up here.
Sap is flowing from the trees at a nearby farm.

There are new calves there too.

Snowdrops are the first flowers to emerge in our yard. There are hints of coming daffodils,

and forced forsythia in the house.

Hoping spring renewal is quickly on its way.

Keeping Warm + New Favorite Read

2010-02-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

Back in December we had an energy audit. Massachusetts has a free program where someone comes out to evaluate your house's energy use and needs. Our appliances, windows and doors were pretty good, but our attic had very little insulation and some of our walls had none. It took 2 months of high gas bills for our insulating and sealing cracks appointment to get here. But that is not a bad thing, because next year we'll be able to do a good comparison of our Dec-Feb bills before and after the work. While the work was not cheap, almost half was paid by a $2000 grant from the state. The calculations of the audit estimate that we should make back our money within 5 to 7 years while putting less CO2 and other pollutants into the air. Here are some pictures of the work.

Outdoors, the workers carefully slid over the shingles, pumped in cellulose treated to resist fire and bugs, and replaced the shingles as if they had not been disturbed.

They climbed ladders in many dangerous looking places to reach high walls around the house.

They brought this tube up through the window in my son's room to reach a small attic above the dining room addition which is reached through a trapdoor in his wall. (My husband found a 1989 Paulina swimsuit calendar in there from the last teenage boy to occupy the room.) They also snaked it up into the attic above all the bedrooms.

It now feels like the house is less drafty and cozier. But time and the gas bills will tell. I'll report next year, or even next month if the savings is dramatic and the warming temperatures of spring are not. To give you an idea of our situation before this work, our September gas bill was less than $50, October was less than $100. The ones for December and January exceeded $450/month. We have gas heat, stove and hot water.

To keep busy, warm and out of the way during the 3 days of sealing and insulting work, I hid in my bedroom reading.

First this book

It was interesting. I am an older sister by 14 months. My sister who lives in Florida and I talk rarely and do not get along very well. It was most interesting to read one part, a metaphor about younger sisters always watching ahead at an older sister as if the older sister were riding in the front of the car with the younger one in back. The younger sister's view is of the older daughter's head blocking the road. The older sister's view is only of the road, she rarely looks back. I found this so illuminating. It seemed a plausible representation of our formative years. There have been many episodes as adults that have led us to the place we are. However, it made me feel a bit guilty that when I was in my later years of high school (2 years ahead of her), I was so focused on school activities, my friends, boyfriend, getting into college, and getting away from what I saw as an unhappy home (my parents had recently divorced). I don't really remember having much interaction with her at the time.

Then this one
Wonderful, a quick and satifying read. Charming characters , discussions of book love, blossoming romantic love, courage, sadness, and cleverness.

At one point one character picks up a paperweight etched with the words Carpe Diem.The following exchange takes place:

" 'Seize the Day', she said. 'That's an inspiring thought, isn't it, Isola? ''I suppose so,' I said, 'if you like being goaded by a bit of rock.' "

Here's another passage of the character Juliet considering marriage:

"I kept trying to explain and he kept shouting until I began to cry from frustration.Then he felt remorseful, which was so unlike him and endearing that I almost changed my mind and said yes. But then I imagined a lifetime of having to cry to get him to be kind and went back to no again."

And a description of why she did not marry another suitor. I have amended this to give a flavor without it being too long. I hope it is charming enough without giving away too much.

"On the afternoon before our wedding, Rob was moving in the last of his clothes and belongings... I tore home to find Rob sitting on a low stool in front of my bookcase, surrounded by cartons... There were eight boxes--eight boxes of my booksbound up and ready for the basement...
"I was too appalled to speak. Every single shelf--where my books had stood--was filled with athletic trophies: silver cups, gold cups, blue rosettes, red ribbons. There were awards for every game that could possibly be played with a wooden object: cricket bats, squash racquets, tennis racquets, oars, golf clubs, Ping-Pong paddles, bows and arrows, snooker cues, lacrosse sticks, hockey sticks, and polo mallets. There were statues for everything a man could jump over, either by himself or on a horse. Next came the framed certificates--for shooting the most birds on such and such a date, for First Place in footraces, for Last Man Standing in some filthy tug-of-war against Scotland."...
...(argument excluded)
"He huffed and puffed and snorted--and left. And I unpacked my books."

This is a wonderful read. Check it out.

Finding a Bell Choir and More

2010-02-22T05:31:00.000-08:00

I loved playing with a bell choir when we lived in New Jersey, but I did not feel a connection with the church and would leave after our musical prelude. In searching for a bell choir to join here, however, I may have found a community and a church. This is unexpected because I have never felt comfortable in any church or temple before.

The local First Parish in Wayland is a Unitarian Universalist church. I had never heard of this liberal religious tradition. The program identifies the purpose of the congregation to "provide a place where freedom of religious thought can flourish, where we can to devote ourselves to explore together ideas about values, ethics and morality, and to act for the good of the local and larger community...." When I just reread this description, it didn't sound too different from most churches, but the feeling of tolerance and charitable spirit is definitely a world apart from anything I have experience before. The two meetings I have attended have been incredibly welcoming, inclusive and thought provoking.

The first talked about forgiveness. It challenged the story of original sin. The minister discussed the story of Adam and Eve not as a story of sin and punishment, but rather as one of God sharing knowledge with man. Once Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, unlike animals, they could have a more full life, feeling many sorrows but also many joys and love, and the complexity of choice and fulfillment. It was eye opening.

At yesterday's service the minister discussed how even though the problems of the world are great, we can make a difference. So many people at the church seem to be doing just that. They house the homeless, feed the hungry, and rebuild New Orleans during annual trips. Then a doctor from the congregation spoke about his recent 14 day trip to Haiti where for up to 16 hours per day he operated on patients.

The minister quoted a Salon article by Laura Wagner, an American who had lived and worked in Haiti long before the quake. She was injured, eventually rescued and is recovering back home in America.

"Social scientists who study catastrophes say there are no natural disasters. In every calamity, it is inevitably the poor who suffer more, die more, and will continue to suffer and die after the cameras turn their gaze elsewhere. Do not be deceived by claims that everyone was affected equally -- fault lines are social as well as geological. After all, I am here, with my white skin and my U.S. citizenship, listening to birds outside the window in the gray-brown of a North Carolina winter, while the people who welcomed me into their lives are still in Port-au-Prince, within the wreckage, several of them still not accounted for."

FAULT LINES ARE SOCIAL AS WELL AS GEOLOGICAL

My son and I will be playing with the bell choir in the church next week. I'm happy to get back to music making and plan to stay for the rest of the service too.

Here's a video of our New Jersey bell choir from our last concert.

And it is Monday, time for my lovely thing of the week:
I suppose it would be finding a bell choir, and perhaps finding a church(?)!

Snow Cows

2010-02-18T04:40:00.000-08:00

There has been so much snow across the country. I have seen way too many pictures on Facebook of friends from the mid-Atlantic and Southern states showing the depth of snow on their porch railing and bushes.

Surprisingly, little has fallen near Boston. But I took a nice walk yesterday in the first snow in a long time. And I have snow pictures few others have. I never thought before about the tracks cow hooves make in the snow. These photos are from the farm near our home.

Happy wandering.

Lovely Things Monday: Felties

2010-02-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

Another Monday, another Lovely Things post.

Here are some lovely things made in lovely moments.

My kids are old enough now that often they want to hang out in their rooms with their own music and books. But a Valentine gift brought us together for some great crafting. (They are also old enough to follow directions and complete projects without much help.) The Valentine gift was this book, Felties by Nelly Pailloux, along with a large pack of colorful felt.

We were busy crafters for many hours.

A Happy Valentine

2010-02-14T04:16:00.000-08:00

Something I love a lot is that my Mom has passed down to my daughter many things that were hers and mine when we were little. Here is my daughter in glasses that her grandmother wore as a child. Precious.

Paper Art

2010-02-12T05:03:00.000-08:00

I look at a long list of artistic blogs. One that inspires me a lot is Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord's Making Books Blog. She was discussing a trip she took to a museum in NYC to see Jung's Red Book. She gave a beautiful description and linked to websites showing the book which Jung worked on intensely filling pages and pages with intricate calligraphy and drawings of his most secret dreams and visions. Follow the links especially to the Rubin Museum where you can see detailed pictures of this art journal extraordinaire.

I wanted to take an artistic adventure too, and a sidebar on Susan's blog pointed me toward an exhibit of paper art where some of her books were displayed. It was only 45 minutes away at the Wenha m Museum. Her spirit books were displayed in an exhibit called Paper Capers. Here are some of the other works:

A up-close of quilling. I love how the medium fits the work with the rolled papers mimicking the feathers.

Here's an amazing paper collage where shadow and changing depth deepen the monochrome image.
A cut and torn paper collage:

Along with these contemporary works were examples from the museum's collection of old valentines, paper dolls, and more including this remarkable cut heart.

Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day. This weekend is also my 17th anniversary.

Lovely Lilting Bubbly Melody

2010-02-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

Perhaps I'll make Monday my Lovely Thing of the Week day. My lovely moment is happening right now. Around 5 pm after her Brownie meeting, I got my tired daughter right into the bathtub and helped wash her hair. Although she is 9, I still help her shampoo once in a while to really get out all the soap. She doesn't like getting into the bath, but once there she tends to stay a lonnnngggg time. I came down to clean the kitchen before I mess it up again making dinner.

The lovely thing is hearing her playful voice. I'm listening to her sing songs from The Sound of Music humming with bubbles through the water. What a wonderful sound. She is nine and still like a little child at times. There are already moments of eye-rolling and teenhood slipping into her behavior. I'm trying to savor these lovely innocent playful childlike moments while I can.

I know they will be gone soon enough. My 13-year-old rarely has childlike moments. But occasionally he has mature ones that make me very proud. I'm going to try to catch one of those lovely moments to write about soon.

Later this evening addition: Already a mature moment for a proud mom to write about.

My son was doing some homework on my computer. I erased it accidently because I was not patient. He was annoyed but kept his cool and redid the work without getting angry at me.

Later he brought me something to review and sign for his school. It was a portfolio of his science work so far this year. It included a thoughtful homework lab about the phases of the moon, a geology test, and a lab with labeled drawings of fossils. I am very impressed by his hard work. I let him be responsible for his homework and studying and don't see much of the finished work. Sometimes I am hard on him when I hear that he gets an assignment in late or if his writing is hard to read. But I am very pleased that he showed me these assignments. I am very proud of him for working hard, being responsible and adjusting so well to the expectations and challenges of being a new 8th grader in a new school.

OK now I'm done bragging about my kids, but they are the most lovely things in my life.

Pursuing Lovely Things

2010-02-04T06:38:00.001-08:00

Here's my first post relating to A Year of Lovely Things. The idea is to "make a list of simple, fun activities for each week of the year. There’s no pressure if they don’t happen, but how nice if they do!"

I joined this group hoping that it will prod me to find things that make me happy and actually DO them. I am surprised at how much I feel out of my element since we have moved. I thought I would have adjusted better. Instead, I have spent far too much time puttering at home and too little exploring the new places around me, especially since it's been very cold. In fact, when I do explore I often get lost. Last week for instance I took a walk in the woods, I lost track of the trails. Eventually I found a road then called my husband so he could googlemap my way back home. I'd better bring my GPS even when I go walking from now on.

Anyway, today I took a beautiful bowl I made a few years ago out of hiding and filled it with citrus fruits. I have been eating lots of clementines and blood oranges. These are the fruits to savor this time of year, and I am trying to do so.

I'm also heading out to lunch today with a possible new friend. She's a mom from my daughter's Brownie troop. I picked up our Girl Scout cookies at her house the other day and got up the courage to ask her to lunch. (I'm not sure why I need courage to do such things, but making new friends--not just aquaintances--in a new place is hard.) She seems smart, funny and down to earth. I get that feeling that we could be good friends.

Silly Super(?)market Stuff

2010-02-02T07:07:00.000-08:00

I have always been simultaneously fascinated and horrified by the supermarket. What makes the produce at Wholefoods so appealing? What makes a deli manager think we will be more attracted to the meats and cheeses in the glass case if they are surrounded by plastic vegetables and greens? Who comes up with some of the odd products and does anyone buy them?

I took my camera to a local Stop and Shop yesterday and found products that exemplified the overpackaged and/or nutritionally deficient fare I generally avoid.

Check out the amount of space dedicated to powdered drink mixes.

I was primarily intrigued by these containers of Crystal Light, artificially flavored Peach and Natural Pink Lemonade flavor with Other Natural Flavor (?). These plastic containers each contained 8 separate plastic envelopes that are added to water. So much packaging so little nutrition.

I'm a great fan of oatmeal. I can buy the organic variety from the bulk bins in Whole Foods for about $1.25/lb. This morning I cooked it in about 20 minutes with raisins, apples and cinnamon, then added pecans and a little maple syrup. Delicious. Here's a shortcut from the supermarket shelves. For $12.63/lb you get lots of plastic, lots of sodium (320mg in this serving), and a long list of ingredients. Easier? At what cost to your health and the environment?

Check out this cereal:
Just look at the cover art. Would anyone want to eat a green circle with red dots? The characters on the box look so creepy. Kellogg's has now added FIBER, and claims it has the SAME GREAT TASTE! Perhaps that's because it has 12g of sugar per serving. Who buys this?

Here's a traditional product with new packaging. McCormick spices packaged in premeasured plastic pouches. At $1.99, the common spices in these packets (pepper, chili powder, thyme, paprika, etc.) sell for up to $122.46/lb. Yes, buying these spices in larger packages would initially cost more, but over time this kind of monetary and packaging waste would really add up.

Finally, a virtual early anniversary gift for my hubby. Here's a product with a brand tie-in you would appreciate. I would have gotten it for you if it had any nutritional value at all. But these fruit flavored snacks made with Real Fruit have corn syrup, sugar and apple puree concentrate as their top 3 ingredients along with a plethora of odd food colorings. Perhaps, you'll appreciate just knowing they are out there.

Are there any products you can't stomach?

February at Last

2010-02-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

Another snowfall:

And snow continues to coat the ground... since mid-December. The temperature may only be about 5 and 10 degrees cooler here than in NJ, but that has made the difference in preventing snow melt and making any precipitation snow instead of rain. But relief is on the horizon.

February is here, and February makes me hopeful. After the excitement between Thanksgiving and New Year's, January always seems endless, dark and severe. But the short month of February zips by with my upcoming 17th anniversary, Valentine's and my birthday on the 28th. March is on the horizon with its longer days, occasional warmth and the promise of spring.

Psyching Up to Get Strong

2010-01-28T05:28:00.001-08:00

For those of you who like the video I linked to on Light and Macaroni, here is another one of my favorites. I found it while looking for ways to stretch my back when I was in a lot of pain last year. This was NOT the way, but I love it. It's not professional and a little hard to hear, but very inspiring. The wonderful Michael Franti sings a song of peace while 2 amazing yoga practitioners demonstrate their skill and strength. I wish I had been at this event, surrounded by the positive energy. I would love to feel this free and strong in my body.

Lately my exercising has consisted of long walks and weekly Zumba. The few times I have tried yoga, I often felt faint. Sometimes the room was too warm or the positions seemed stressful. I would get light headed and have what I imagine a hot flash is like. I don't know why this happens, but something about yoga overwhelms me. I just took a video out of the library about Alexander technique. I'm going to try before the weekend. I want to get more flexible, healthy and strong, but often my willpower lags. Any suggestions?

"One for the Lorax who speaks for the trees."

Later this day: Proud of myself. Followed through. Did First Lesson Video of Alexander Technique with Jane Kosminsky. Very relaxed right now. Thinking about alignment and floating my head on the spine, keeping the neck soft.

Icicle Physics

2010-01-22T08:03:00.000-08:00

Can anyone out there describe how this icicle could form? I couldn't figure out how to get a photo that doesn't include our window screen, but I hope you can see this unusual icicle that reminds me of the spoke of a snowflake or part of a spiderweb. It was hard to photograph ice on a grey sky, but I'm glad I didn't wait until the sun was higher or the sky was blue. By then it had melted.

Here is a bit of art journaling I did recently inspired by Teesha Moore. I painted the backrounds with acrylic paints then quickly chose magazine pictures that inspired me at the moment. I think they came out well.

The quotes in the page above:
"When you're stuck in a spiral, to change all aspects of the spin you need only to change one thing"
"When facing a challenge, if your first instinct is to think, I can't, it's time to retrain your brain. Next time say to yourself, I can--or at least, I'll try. You might surprise yourself."

I need to get these thoughts into my head, not only down on the page.

Attempts at art (?)

2010-01-17T06:40:00.000-08:00

My mom is visiting for her birthday this weekend. We tried a new restaurant for her special dinner. It was Elephant Walk in Waltham. The menu was Cambodian/French, a mix of Asian flavors intensified by French techniques. The food was unique and flavorful. Yum.

I am inspired daily by the amazing art and craft and self exploration of fellow bloggers. I don't really consider myself an artist of any sort, but perhaps many of them started out feeling the same way. We must start somewhere. So I have been participating in little swaps or trying techniques and challenges.

Inspired by a little art book swap I did with Amelia of 101 Bird Tales, I made my mom a little Birthday book card. Here are some of the pages made with recycled materials, photos, and stuff found in my craft box.

The finished cover:

First open page:

The 4 signs of aging:

The story of Mighty Joe Rollino, a true Coney Island strongman, who recently died at age 104. He was hit by a minivan on his daily 5 mile walk:

Grandmas must have pictures of the grandkids in the mix:

My Mom's Passion, Knitting!

2010-01-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

Inspired by the beautiful knitting over at My Bit of Earth, I decided to post my mom's latest gifts to us. With regard to my last post about passions: knitting is definitely my mother's passion lately. In the last 3 years or so, she has taught herself to be one of the best knitters I have ever seen. Here we are in cold Massachusetts, and I get to wear cozy handmade hats, gloves, scarves and sweaters every day.

Here are my daughter's newest scarf and gloves. I love the heart that matches the ruffles on the cuff of the opposite glove. She likes the pattern with 2 fingers and the mitten. (Sorry about the colors, I have to figure out how to correct them.)

My son's scarf has beautiful cables and my mom's label which reads, "Made with love in every stitch by Grandma R"

My latest scarves and gloves. The wool on the blue one has tiny beads on it. The multicolor scarf is the softest wool with matching silk fringe. Gorgeous. Thank you so much mom!

Do You Have a Grand Passion?

2010-01-10T05:26:00.000-08:00

This morning I read an article in this week's New Yorker (Jan 11, 2010) about Mark Fuller and his water fountains. From the time he was a teenager he was passionate about the movement of water along with engineering and set design.

In college he learned about laminar flow. Bear with me for a minute and read this quote to understand his breakthrough or just skip this paragraph and continue.
Here's a quote to explain laminar flow:
"In an ordinary garden hose, the water flow is turbulent. Water molecules bounce off one another chaotically, moving at different velocities, under changing pressure. When the water is projected out of the nozzle, it splinters into spray. In a laminar stream, the molecules all flow in the same direction, and surface tension binds the water as it emerges from the nozzle into a glassy rod that holds together, like a laser beam and looks heavier, ropier, and wetter than water in a turbulent-flow stream."

Anyway Fuller made the first laminar-flow fountain for his college senior thesis, he became a Disney Imagineer and eventually started his own business called WET (Water Entertainment Technologies).

Today, his fountains are breathtaking spectacles around the world. Steve Wynn, the developer of Las Vegas' Bellagio was instrumental in the backing Fuller's company at the outset. Wynn gave Fuller a giant platform to test and create his dreams in the mid-1990s. Since then, WET has built fountains around the world. One of his latest is the new fountain at the center of Lincoln Center.

On first seeing the Ballagio fountain Wynn was overcome:
"I'll never forget that moment. Within sixty seconds I knew--this is it. It was the most incredible feeling."
A WET designer said:
"There's something extraordinarily emotional about that fountain. The waster is so alive--it is life. And people get very emotional around it. You see people crying--just overwhelmed by the spectacle"
Here's some video of the fountain:

Now I've never been to Las Vegas, and I'm more likely to be in awe of Niagara Falls or Yosemite's Bridal Falls than the Bellagio's fountain. But I can see and appreciate passion, the passion of Mark Fuller to pursue his interests and create something unique and spectacular. Most people (myself included) capably move through their lives holding jobs, caring for their families, etc. What would it be like to have a passion and make it happen on a grand scale? I'm still searching for mine.

Oldest Friends

2010-01-05T02:06:00.000-08:00

Back to real life after a busy vacation. In a week and a half we visited CT, NJ, New York City and Rochester, NY. I spent more than 20 hours in the car and my back is hurting again. Thus I am out of bed standing at the counter on the computer at 5am. I can't be on my back or sitting one more minute! I'm trying the Aleve, standing, gentle stretching cure. I hope it starts to work soon.

In Rochester we visited our oldest friends, Doug's friend from 4th grade who married my friend from graduate school. Yes, we introduced them. We were all in eachother's weddings and now between us we have 6 kids ages 1 to 13. (They have done double duty to contribute to this total.) I am so grateful to have them in our lives. My family is small, and I feel like they are extended family without the family baggage. They are always in our hearts even if we don't get to see them very often. (They just came back from 4 years in England. And we did get to have a super visit there during that time.)