Gasoline crack of history

It recently occurred to me that my husband and I have been sharing a car for the past 2 months. It also occurred to me that it hasn't been much of a problem. When our son came home from college this spring, we told him he could use our second car for work, and we would borrow it from him when it was needed. And, aside from moving our daughters into a new place, we haven't had to borrow it. I find that kind of interesting. We have discussed going down to one car before - after all, we are 'retired' (in the loosest sense of that term). But it has never been seriously considered. Now I'm beginning to think about it.

How are we getting by with one car? Bikes and buses. If we can bike anywhere, we usually do. Today Tom biked a couple of miles to Big Beaver, where he picked up a bus heading downtown (to United Way in Detroit). He puts his bike on the front of the bus and uses it while downtown. I biked to exercise and back. We have been doing this for a couple of years now, and now it just seems natural to get out and bike places -- and we're always looking for another way to get in some exercise.

This past week we also celebrated our 30th anniversary, and instead of taking another long-distance trip (last year we went to Wales), we decided to stay local and do things we enjoy. Who knew it would be so much fun to tour the DIA, have tea at Greenfield Village's Cotswold Cottage, see Manhattan Transfer at the Power Center in Ann Arbor, or enjoy a beautiful morning eating breakfast outdoors at Zola's? We agreed that it was just as much fun as traveling, and without some of the hassle. We do enjoy seeing new places and visiting different countries, but we were surprised at how much fun a local vacation was.

So with all this lifestyle adaptation we are just beginning, I read something yesterday that really struck me. I was finishing up the book, Second Nature - A Gardener's Education by Michael Pollan (really excellent by the way), and I came across this quote by a man named J.L. Hudson (no, not our J.L. Hudson): "We have only a brief moment in history when fossil fuels will continue to allow us rapid worldwide travel. Let us use this time wisely." He refers to a quote from a man named William Burroughs: "Migrants of ape in gasoline crack of history." Is this true? Do we live in a 'gasoline crack of history'? Is life as we know it quite fleeting, and will the age of easy global exploration one day be a thing of the past? It reminded me of a discussion we heard while on the above-mentioned trip to Wales, all about peak oil. Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum production is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. No one really know when peak oil will be reached - some say it has already come - but the main point was that if we want to do research on other sources of energy, doing it before peak oil, when we are still flush with money, makes sense.

So anyway, all of this is swimming around in my mind when I hopped off my bike this morning and entered the community center to exercise. I almost passed an elderly woman who looked at me and spoke in a thick accent, saying: "Good for you." I wasn't quite sure what to say, but soon it occurred to me that she might have seen me get off my bike, so I said thank you. Then she said: "If everyone did what you're doing, we wouldn't have so so much pollution in the air. I used to ride everywhere, but here they don't want me to." Given her age and the fact that our city isn't the most bike-friendly, I understand what she was saying. But what a shame. I have a feeling that if she were to be born 100 years later, she might receive a different message.

Using that rain barrel water

With all the rain we've been having lately, I'm assuming all those rain barrels we sent out from the Rain Barrel BBQ are full to the brim and providing you with all the water you need. This week I took advantage of the heat and washed my car and my bike with rain barrel water. As you can see from the picture, I washed the car on the lawn so the excess water would drain into the ground and not into the sewer system (where it would have to be processed). Here's how I do it: I dump 2 buckets on the car to do an initial rinse, fill a bucket with soapy water, wash, and dump 2 more buckets for the final rinse.

This is my third season with a rain barrel, and I can see my mind set shifting a bit. At first, I wasn't too sure I liked the idea of lugging buckets of water over to my plants, bird baths, cars, etc. It seemed like more work. But I did it because I was not tapping into our house water system and that felt good.

Now, however, 3 years in, I'm finding that lugging buckets is no big deal. Of course, I've learned to make sure the buckets aren't too big, and if I have to make more trips, what's the hurry anyway? This year, it also occurred to me that when I use rain water I don't have to disentangle my hose and haul it around the yard. I never liked that either. The water is also pleasantly warm, not chilly like hose water -- much nicer when washing the car. I'm also grateful for my rain barrel when rinsing out my compost buckets. I feed the residue to my plants.

So, like everything, this is a process. I'm sure many of you have come up with unique ways to use your water that wouldn't have occurred to me. I'll post them with pictures if you'd like to share your ideas.