Trying to be Green...

After spending a week in June on a completely sustainable farm, I took heart in trying to make small changes so as to have less of an impact on the environment. This summer it became a little project: while I was taking classes, looking for jobs, and doing house projects, I was also trying a lot of different ways to be friendlier to Mother Earth. Here is what I did in book report format:

My first and easiest step in being earth friendly was buying a compost bin from the county where I live. It is something I have always thought of doing, but never followed through on. I did all the research and decided on a hidden place in the yard and got all the materials together. I started with a layer of "browns"- a layer of sticks for ventilation, dried leaves, and finally dirt, and then I added a layer of day old grass clippings to increase the nitrogen. Since then I have alternated layers of greens and browns, finally adding foods and especially the forbidden fruit and veggie scraps once the heat was high enough. My compost bin is growing and actually just smells great- like really rich, dark soil. It has reduced both our house and yard waste.

Second, we expanded our vegetable garden. This year we grew or are growing: apples (our tree is so loaded down, I keep thinking branches are going to fall off), basil(s), cucumbers, green beans, lettuce, raspberries, three types of tomatoes, and zucchini. It is no CSA, which we will probably take on next year if we are home enough, but it was a challenge to eat all of veggies.

Third, my favorite change was not using the clothes dryer any more. Since June, I have dried all clothes via the line. It is amazing how much energy I have saved each week by letting the wind and sun do their work while I am off doing something else. I can dry two loads of wash simultaneously in usually about 2 hours. I love spending less time in the basement and more time outside while I am doing laundry. Both husband and I agree there is no smell quite like line dried sheets and clothes. However: one warning: leaving black clothes out all night is no good- you find dead moths in them later.

Fourth, husband and I have both started riding bikes more (although husband gets the prize for this). Some weeks Jff rode the 16 mile round trip to his office every day. When I had errands to run up at the U, I would ride or take the train. Especially now that we are working within 2 miles of each other, my car has stayed parked in the garage without use for the last three weeks. I am either riding with husband when he does drive or using mass transit. Our total gas consumption per month currently is a little over $30.

Our fifth strategy for saving energy this summer was rarely using air conditioning. Our programmable thermostat allowed us to set it to come on only after the air in the house was up to 83 or 84 degrees. In the mornings we have used ceiling fans and closed different blinds throughout the day to keep the sun out and the house cool. When it got really hot during the day and I was home, I would retreat to the basement to work on the computer or read.

Sixth, I have started working on all of our soap consumption. Hand soap is now Dr. Bronner's hemp-based soap or other glycerin based home-made bars- no more anti-bacterial (except one last container). I have started using dish soap mixed with lemon juice and vinegar as a cleaning solution. Our dish soap and laundry soap are marketed as biodegradable (I don't know how much difference this makes, though).

We have also taken a few smaller measures to cut waste:

We started to use cloth napkins and fewer paper products in the kitchen. We take our lunches to work in lunch bags and reusable food containers and wash/reuse ziplocks. When we go grocery shopping or to the co-op we take canvas grocery bags with us so that we don't use paper bags.

Finally, as we are refinishing our basement, we are planning to go to the reuse center to find wood or other reusable building supplies.

On another note, we are also making plans with my in-laws to do a "new nothing" Christmas- where everything we exchange was not bought new, but rather found in places where things are sent to be re-used. I don't know if I am completely able to give up that fondness for new shiny things, so this will be a challenge.

So after all of this, I still feel like I want to do more. Now I just don't know what... last week while at the Great Get Together, I went to the eco-center to find out what else I could do... Other than getting rid of a car, building a completely green house (is this really better than living in a small old house?), or buying only local... I am at a loss.

I mean there is always reading the newspaper online (husband has tried to get me to do this, but somehow, I feel I need the paper) and can't quite embrace energy efficient light bulbs, so I do have a ways to go, but feel free to send suggestions if you have them.

BWCA Trip, the third.

This year’s Boundary Waters trip occurred almost a month ago, classes and new job slowed me down, but nevertheless, here are the pictures and the run down (from my perspective at least):

The following characterized BWCA III:

1. Black flies. Wow. The numbers were staggering. They bit. Through socks and clothes. At times it felt as if you couldn’t do anything besides keep them off of you, if you did anything else, they would take advantage. By the second evening, B had devised a system where she stuck her feet and ankles into a dry bag and cinched it closed for a bit of peace. We were all jealous of her ingenuity.
2. Beautiful Weather. The first year was blisteringly hot, the second was soggy and windy. This year was just right. Sunny days, cool evenings, and beautiful sunsets made me feel lucky to be living outside.
3. An Easy Route. I never thought this would be the case, but we took it some what easy. There weren’t any portages longer than 250 rods, there were no blisters, there was no “Nice F---- Vacations!”, and for two days in a row we were in camp by 2 pm. One day we even did a day trip. It was great fun.
4. River Paddling. It was our first year putting in with a portage first and then a river paddle before we got to the lakes. I liked the river paddling, it was a great way to enter and really appreciate all the wildlife. The only bummer was how low the water was due to the serious drought occurring in that area.
5. Reading. I have always brought books with us on our trips and other than the occasional drowsy tent reading, I haven't really read that much. I have always just been so bone tired. This year, there were long periods of silence in camp when all of us were content reading to ourselves. There were even a couple of periods of reading aloud from various books. (I love it when you read aloud with other people- probably the teacher in me.)

6. Husband Up a Tree? There was a completely "boundary waters moment" when B and Jff were working on the "bear rope". The hiking boot went flying in the air, attached to the rope, and then there was silence. Oops. The boot was wrapped around a branch that was very high off the ground (this is where I got involved). After various rock throwing schemes, Jff took to the tree. Leave no trace (or boots).7. Well I could go on listing things, but it was a good trip. We were lucky to enjoy it with good friends.

End of Summer Dilemma

I keep wavering on how I feel about leaving town for Labor Day Weekend. Husband says it is my decision and I feel like I just wish we could do both. Should we stay or should we go?

On one hand, we were thinking of heading to visit relatives in Illinois. My favorite cousin and her wonderful family including Baby Luke, Jff's Aunt and Uncle and their twins, my two aunts, and my grandma who is very sick. It is wonderful to see family, especially the people who I wish lived closer, and the people who we both dearly love.

Plus Illinois in the summer is something that has a strong reminder of childhood for both husband and I. Since our parents grew up there, fairly close to each other in fact, we spent countless times as kids visiting in the summer. The humidity, the Cicadas singing, the yellow gravel, the smell that is purely, well, Illinois. We both revel in it while there. It is nice to share that very nostalgic experience with husband.

There is also the pull of my "grandpa's bushes". These are a row of bushes in the back and front of the house that need trimming ever year. I used to do it for him every August when I journeyed south to return to college. (For some reason I am really good at hedge trimming, abnormally good at it- it has always made me wonder if I would be good at cutting hair?) Anyways, every year he would stand at the window and watch me, occasionally asking me to hold up my hands to show that all ten fingers were still attached. It is a ritual that I have tried to keep up since he died six years ago. It is my chance to talk with him.

Finally, there would be the chance to return briefly to my college stomping grounds. Klick has been posting pictures of my alma mater recently and it has stirred by desire to go back and walk along the lake shore path before the leaves change and to have a beer on the terrace before sitting next to the lake requires a jacket, plus to see my freshman year dorm before they completely destroy it.

After I have written it all out here, it doesn't seem like much of a competition. Other than feeling like we have been incredibly busy, I have a twenty pager to write before fall classes start next week, and that it would just have to be a quick weekend trip with a lot of driving I feel like we should go anyways. But will it just turn into a drag? Ugh. Strange how life can get complicated and full of these hard decisions.

Husband's five (or fifteen) minutes of fame

I just got done listening to husband being interviewed on a local radio station about his recent policy paper for about 15 minutes. After being published as the main editorial in the newspaper last week, he was offered a spot to discuss this afternoon on am talk radio. I listened to him streaming live from the radio station's website just now. It was a tough interview, but he did very well. I was so nervous for him, that I came to the realization that I don't know if I could ever do that successfully.

At the risk of being redundant and having some of my readers roll their eyes- I just have to say YIPPEE for husband! It is an exciting time for him. His biggest dreams focuses around making effective change through policy research. It is finally happening for him. For the first time in his research career (started several years back in D.C.) something that he has researched up and down is making a big impact on the way that people, including legislators are thinking about energy policy. I am so proud of him, however, more than that I am just so happy for him. Getting published and then getting a lot of media attention in his line of work is comparable to winning a big company's business or getting awarded a lot of money to do your work. Although it is good that he is successful at his job, for him it is more about personal fulfillment and knowing that he is working toward a better world.

Jff, being one of the most modest people I know, has said little about his policy and local media fame. Aside from his family he has told almost no one that he was the featured editorialist last week or that he was being interviewed today. So when people do notice, ekm, our frisbee team, and many of our progressive dinner friends (who were busy calling up the editorial on the web and reading it during our party), it makes me happy for him. He deserves just a little bit of recognition from his friends for doing something that most of us will probably never do and that speaks largely to his intellect and dedication to his work.

So-go ahead and roll them, if you need to. To the friends of ours who have taken time to acknowledge, even in tiny ways, Jff's exciting time: Thank you. You are true friends and illustrate what it feels like to have a community of supporters for all the small and big successes in life.

Partying like bikers

A couple of months ago, some friends and I concocted a plan... We all live close to each other's houses- why not have a party that travels?

Different courses at each house, about 20 participants, riding bikes in between, four or five stops, two cities- over and back across the river...Could be fun.

Well, the 1st annual bike progressive dinner took place this last Thursday night 6~11:30. It was a blast!


Our starting point was N and E's house... here we are getting ready for the longest ride of the evening to our house.


All 20 of us arrived at our house and hung out on the deck and backyard for about 25 minutes. We happily ate cheese, bread, edamame, hummus, drank beer and wine, and enjoyed the evening.



Then we hopped back on our bikes and freaked out all the cars as we rode through the streets to our next stop: R and Ja's house. It was there that we had margaritas, homemade salsa and chips.

On our way between houses it was fun to talk to different people you were riding next to. Some of the participants were good friends, others I had only met once or twice before. Overall a great mix of people.

Our third stop had spiked iced tea and guacamole and more cheese, by now it was dark and we sat outside on the grass while A played his guitar and sang. K's love interest also showed up on bike, which was cool.

Finally we headed back to our starting point- about 12 miles later. N fed us lasagna and later, ice cream. In the end, it was a good thing that we had actually burned some calories in transport, because we sure ate a lot!


What a great summer night! Beautiful weather, in the company of friends, and a visit to many local neighborhoods. Definitely, something we will do again next year.

Leo's Magic

One of my favorite pictures of the summer:

This was taken right after a run when I found Leo sound asleep on his back with all four legs in the air on his favorite place on the futon. What a guy.

Even though I love him more than any pet, ever, Leo has always been his own cat. He has far exceeded his "nine lives" as far as I am concerned, but there is no stopping him. He knows what he wants and he is incredibly smart in getting there. When I recently told our vet that we let him outside nearly every day, I was expecting the admonishment most vets would give, but Dr. O. just said, "Well, don't advertise this but I let my own cat out also, I figure he is going to have a much happier, healthier life even if it is shorter."

I took that comment seriously and began to think about the fact that Leo may be that bright flame that burns out a little sooner than indoor kitties. A couple of weeks ago, as we were leaving for the Boundary Waters, Leo left for longer than usual. He was gone for about 48 hours. We had to leave without him coming back. He returned the following morning when my mom came to look for him, but I was convinced that "this was it". I was surprised at much it affected me to think that this really might be the time that he wouldn't pull through.

Well, the story obviously ended happily, Leo returned with the sort of air of, "well, where's the food? I'm hungry." and we returned from our trip happy to see him (although husband was referring to him as the bastard cat). Since then, however, I have been more careful to enjoy his wonderful vocal range, his fabulous personality, and his very entitled behavior. He is what I love about him.

It must be August...

I have an itch to sleep under heavy blankets and revel in the coziness of the bed, I have begun to reach longingly for my sweaters, and I am hearing advertisements for the State Fair.

Oh, yeah it must be August...

I now wake up with red-rimmed, itchy eyes feeling like I have not slept for days, I sneeze and blow my nose throughout the day, and I perpetually think about laying back down... for... just... a ... little......nap.

Oh, yeah it must be August (and allergy season)...

In the mornings, the air has a little bit of crispness to it - no longer full with musky humidity, the sun sets earlier on evening activities, and summer frisbee season has officially ended...

Oh, yeah it must be August...

The sun is beginning to change from the bright overhead summer light, to that of the slanting fall sunlight, the squash and tomatoes are in their prime, while the heady raspberries are done for the season.

Oh, yeah it must be August...

There is that reassessment happening that takes place at the end of every season, what did you harvest this year- what will be saved and treasured into this fall, which dreams are to be packed away and saved up for the next summer season?

Oh, yeah it must be August...

Our camping and outdoor gear shelf in the basement has returned to being tidy- after the constant use of the summer, my legs are returning to normal now that the scrapes, bug bites, and other summer mishaps are fading, my hair will begin its return to "brown" after the summer of being classified as "kind of red, kind of blond, but also light brown"...

Oh, yeah it must be August...

The First Day of Work

The First Day of Work included the following:

• an introduction to a very small cube with my name on it.

• a jar of fresh flowers from my supervisor's garden.

• a lunch with the co-director, a senior fellow, and my supervisor (where I answered so many questions that I ended up really eating my lunch later).

• an over-whelming amount of information, especially related to the Center's financial reporting.

• a very laid back office climate, where I was helped, but given tons of freedom.

• a friendship forged with the IT guy (very important for work-place success, happiness, and regular software updates).

• and most importantly, a totally "tripped out" phone that makes me feel like I could even call the Almighty.

All in all, a good start.

Classy Learning

I wrote this post last Friday and am just now getting around to posting it:

This week, I have been taking a class called School, Family, and Community Partnerships. It is about collaboration and the benefit that can have on student achievement. Although, it is Friday and I am now just bit worn out from class all day every day for the last five days, I am really enjoying the class. I have met such interesting people, who are doing such great things, with such different outlooks, and to top it off, have a professor that is extremely knowledgeable and active in everything he talks about. It just helps me realize how much I appreciate being in grad school at a major university. I appreciate that in my class there are three people from India, a man from Liberia, a Hmong School Board Member, a pre-school teacher, a lawyer for the NAACP, a PR person from a local school district, and a parks and rec employee.

My experience in this class, and grad school in general, has been so rich because of the great variety of classes I have been able to take, the great variety of people I have met, and the fascinating backgrounds of my professors. This week has been a great reminder that what I am doing right now is exciting, spectacular, and has been a fabulous experience for me.

If I could just find out...

I often get teased by husband for being a sucker for movies and books that I have never seen or read before. I have a hard time putting them down until I ‘find out about how everything turns out’… This often causes problems in terms of too-late bedtimes and lower productivity when I have homework in the evenings.

I have the same problem in real life sometimes- I want to know how things will work out. I want to plan, plan, plan when really nothing ever turns out the way you think it will. All summer it has been all about waiting to find out about ‘how everything turns out’. What job will I get, how will that impact my personal decisions, how will it impact the classes I take, when will I graduate, and will the graduate school accept my thesis proposal? Now that things are finally coming into view and everything is more settled momentarily, I find myself craving that in the larger sense.

I want to know how everything will turn out in a year or two… Will I be able to find a job in my new career? When will husband’s car finally die and will be ready to purchase a new car? Will we move or stay put for a long time? It is hard for me not to know the answers to these questions and many more.

I think this is all a sign of needing to get involved in my job, start new classes in the fall, and to just start moving forward again. Too much waiting and wondering this summer has lead me to stand just a bit too still, to look ahead a little too far, and to want to know a little too much. Back to thinking about the little successes and exciting bits of every day, enjoying the slowing unfolding future. No need to stand too long at the overlook just to see everything- back to the hike- and the unknown journey of the path.

Bursting with Pride

As many of you know, Jff, a.k.a. Husband, is a policy researcher at a small, national think tank. He works on issues of local ownership and green energy development.

After toiling for the last 9 months on a report about different forms of renewable energy, he has finally been published in a extremely professional, fascinating report- well-written, informative, and well-researched.

Today, he became famous (or sort of). He was interviewed, live, on a radio program out of California about his report and its impact on energy development.

I just finished listening to the full 15 minutes of his time on the radio. Although it is no surprise that he was articulate, succinct, and extremely informative, it was amazing to be listening to someone like I would on NPR, but at the same time realizing that it was my husband speaking on a national radio program.

He is of course very modest about the whole thing, but I can't be. While listening, I swear my heart almost burst with pride and admiration for him. It is wonderful to be married to someone whose talents continually amaze you.

If you get a chance, listen to the interview. You will walk away with an appreciation for just how hard he has worked, how much he knows, and how much you can learn in 15 minutes of a podcast.

Zen and the Art of Changing Careers

As of today at noon, I am gainfully employed once again. Yippee!!! The Center at the University offered me the position in their office this morning and since I was already in the same building for class, I accepted in person. Yes, Yes, Yes.

This is the job I had started thinking about in May. Maybe it was all meant to be.

I start on Monday, and since I am in class full-time all this week, summer ended for me sometime last week. Even though I have two big papers to write and a few books to read before the end of August and will now do it while working, I am happy to have a job.

And another thing... I have never been so ZEN about the ending of the summer and the coming of fall. It may be the first time in eight years that I have some time to enjoy the changing of the seasons. I have not had scary, dreadful classroom nightmares, I have not wanted to cry at the sight of school supply ads, I have not melted down at the thought of returning to wearing long pants, I have not put a lock down on Labor Day Weekend since school starts right after, I have not started writing syllabi or other "handouts".

I am returning to work on Monday with a nice boss, a challenging and interesting job, a cubicle few feet away from my classes, free tuition, and no need to drive my car. Again: Yippee!