Driving to save money and gas

This morning I was driving back from my morning swim and I hit a red light. When it turned green, I did what I usually do - I gradually pulled away from the light until I finally hit the speed limit (45) when I was about 1/2 mile from the light. The person behind me responded typically - he sped up, pulled around me, and then pulled in front of me, prevented from further movement by the person in front of him. I'm always amazed at this. Perhaps they don't trust that I will eventually hit the 45 mph if I don't make a jack-rabbit start. I sometimes watch to see just where these people end up, and it is usually not much further than me. So what gives? What's the big hurry?

I can understand if this behavior comes predominately from teenagers, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I have a theory about this: I don't think people have any idea that what they are doing is costing them money, and that if they drove a bit differently they would save both money and fuel. I have a car (Prius) with a display screen that shows me in real time what my mileage is. It is shown below. Because my car was parked when I took this picture (always recommended), you can't see that the bar graph on the right varies between 0 and 100, depending on what my current mpg ratio is is. When I started driving this car, I learned that if I took my foot off the pedal and glided a bit my mileage would improve. I also found that paying attention to how I started and stopped at lights helped. Yesterday my mileage read at about 53 mpg.



So here's the idea for the day: How about just taking your time at lights? If you are approaching a red light, take your foot off the pedal and glide in. Accelerate slowly when leaving a light. You don't need to own a hybrid car to see mileage improvement. Remember, this is saving money and it's saving gas. I keep thinking about the millions of barrels of oil that are spilling into the Gulf right now, in part because our lifestyles require it. None of us know what to do about it. I say let's focus on what we can do. If something as simple as slower starts and stops from traffic lights can improve mileage, require less gasoline/oil, AND save money...well, seems like a slam dunk to me.

Permaculture

Last Saturday night a group of us gathered to hear about a week-long seminar that our friend M.C. had taken on the topic of permaculture. I had certainly heard about it before, but the sum total of my recollections had to do with something about not digging in the soil and disturbing the life down there. Apparently there's more to it than that. M.C. spent about an hour summarizing the important points she had learned and recommended a few books on the subject. We learned that permaculture refers not just to a method of gardening, but to a whole life approach. I had been correct that it focused on a foraging-type system of agriculture (aka - not disturbing the soil), but learned that the system is quite detailed and all-encompassing. I took no notes, and you certainly don't want to rely on my memory, so I Googled 'permaculture' and learned quite a lot more.

'Permanent agriculture' as a term has actually been around since 1911, but the modern system of 'permaculture' started in the 1970's by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Mollison felt that the industrial revolution had destroyed the earth's ecosystems, and developed a core set of design principles that individuals could use to design their own environments and develop self-sufficiency. It has developed as a concept beyond agriculture, moving into the arena of human culture.

As a system design tool, permaculture suggests that you:
* look at a whole system or problem
* observe how the parts relate
* design a remedy from well-known patterns of working systems
* find connections between parts.

An example of a permaculture system might start with the sun providing energy for a plant to grow. The plant provides nectar for bees or can feed wildlife. The bees or wildlife help disperse seeds that grow into tall trees that provide shelter for other living things. The bees can provide food for the birds. The leaves will fall and rot, providing food for small insects and fungus. So it is all one system, each part integral for the health of the other.

Permaculture is far more complex than this, but this gives you a little introduction to the philosophy. We unwittingly began something like this a number of years ago when we dug a dry creek in the middle of our back yard to carry water down to a rain garden, and turned the northernmost section of the yard into what we are calling a woodlands. We planted trees and native shrubs, along with a few dozen native perennials. We figured this was less grass to mow and fertilize, and it would provide a deeper root system for our yard, ultimately aiding in its health. When I read about permaculture, it looks like this is the road we have been heading down. If so, I'm interested in reading more about this.

Transparency and environmentalism

When our little group started in the fall of 2005, we decided that our purpose would be to gradually change our lives in a more sustainable way and discuss the work we were doing each Tuesday morning. It's been 5 years now, and the reporting has been overwhelmingly positive. Most of us have lowered our energy bills, reduced the amount of garbage we are taking out, switched to organic fertilization for our lawns, become more local and organic in our eating habits, and on and on.


Two recent discussions, however, made us realize that all is not perfect in the world of a greener lifestyle. The first discussion happened a few weeks ago, when I pointed to the fact that our dual-flush toilets, while saving us a considerable amount of water each month, were not particularly easy to care for. Because they carry less water in the bowl, dual-flush toilets tend not to look as clean as a traditional low-flush toilet. So instead of cleaning my toilets once a week, I clean them more like 3 times a week. Each time I clean I flush, so this reduces water savings a bit. And it's a nuisance.


That's story #1. Today Martha introduced us to story #2, another disappointment. She bought a front-loading washer-dryer set - more expensive, but using less water than the traditional top-loading model. She has had the set for about 3 years, and reported to us today that she cannot seem to get rid of the mildewy smell that emanates from her washer. This problem has been reported in journals, but the when she broached the topic with the sales clerk at the time of purchase, they told her that this problem had been solved. Apparently not. She has run loads through with bleach (hasn't helped, and not good for the environment), and has now switched from liquid to powder detergent (something about the fat in the liquid contributing to the problem). But the kicker is that she always has to do a second rinse to try to get rid of the smell. So much for water savings!

I just wanted to write this up because many people who advocate for a greener lifestyle often develop an opaqueness about their views. They may find problems with some of the changes in their lifestyles, but don't want to address or report them for fear that the "cause" will be hurt. We simply don't agree. I believe that we are at the very beginning of product development when it comes to a green lifestyle, and some things may work while others need adjustment. This happened with the early CFL light bulbs, and manufacturers have made significant improvements to later models. So as a group, we support transparency in our reporting. If something is working, we want to hear about it. The same goes when it doesn't. I've never known a movement or government that has survived when all of the knowledge was held by a privileged few, and the rest were left in the dark. Same goes for environmentalism. Let's keep our findings out there, positive or negative. Now that's sustainable.

Reusing vegetable scraps

A few experienced cooks in our group - thank you Mitzi and Ayliffe - have introduced us to a new way to reuse our vegetable scraps by turning them into a delicious soup stock. This is especially great for us Michigan people in the winter, when every time we add scraps to our compost buckets we know that eventually we have to put on the high boots and track it back to our compost piles. Right now, the end of February here in Michigan, the boots will have to be pretty high to get us there without getting our legs snow covered. So any time I can keep the scraps inside for reuse is a bonus for me.


The recipe is so simple it boggles the mind that I have never come across it before. Basically, you take any clean vegetable scraps, like a broccoli trunk or carrot shavings, and put them in a gallon freezer bag. Once the bag is full, you take the frozen lump and put it in a stock pot and add 12 cups of water, 2 bay leaves and 12 peppercorns. Put it on your smallest burner and simmer about 2 hours, taking care not to let it boil. Then you pour this stock through a colander and into a large bowl, and then through a strainer. In a blender, mix a 28-oz can of stewed Roma tomatoes with a can of navy beans and some of the broth (I do this is 3 segments). Add this and the rest of the stock back to the pot, and you now have the best stock you've ever tasted. You can make this into vegetable soup - the recipe is on our Recipes page. This is a wonderful recipe to make on a cold winter day - the entire house smells fragrant. What's also interesting about this stock is that, because each bag is comprised of a unique set of scraps, it will never taste the same. This freezes well.


Ahhhh......

A salute to the public library

When you think of a sustainable lifestyle, many people don't fully recognize the contribution of the public library. I use mine all the time as a substitute for buying books and magazines. Most libraries now have a system where you can search for a book and put it on hold if it is unavailable. Once the book comes in, they will put it aside for you, send you an e-mail that it has arrived, and you just have to pick it up. I have a list of about 7 books that I am waiting for right now, and just picked up one a few days ago. The same applies to CDs and DVDs. So instead of spending hard earned money on a book or DVD that you will read/view once, you can borrow it and return it for someone else to use. I can't think of a more sustainable way to use all forms of media.

Libraries are also becoming in-demand computer centers. Our library, Troy Public Library, has devoted quite a bit of space to their computer center, and from my unscientific observations, it appears to be consistently full. I sometimes wonder why, until I think about the monthly expense of running high-speed internet in our home and realize that not everyone can afford this luxury. There is a economic justice component to sustainability, and the public library levels the playing field for us. No matter what type of income you have, if you live in a community you have equal rights and access to information, in the form of books, periodicals, electronic media and computer access.

I remember reading a biography of Benjamin Franklin by H.W. Brands quite a while ago. I recall that although his personal life was sometimes less than perfect, he was responsible for developing a public library system in the U.S. in 1731, along with his other achievements. At a time when books were scarce and expensive, he recognized the fact that if people pooled resources, they could afford to purchase books from England. Since then the public library system has been an integral part of all of our lives.

Libraries couldn't be more important than in times of scarcity, like now. Many people stop buying books, end magazine subscriptions and stop internet in their homes in an economic downturn, so the need for a good community library system becomes more important than ever. Unfortunately, when people stop working and businesses pull out of communities, tax revenues go down and libraries feel the effects. Right now my community, Troy, is threatening to shut down the library if a millage is not passed on Tuesday. People understandably don't want to pay more money when they don't have it themselves. But I do think back to Benjamin Franklin's time, when most people in the colonies were without many of life's necessities, and admire their desire to pull together resources for the common good. I hope our ancestors' example helps us understand our own priorities now.

Life without the TV

About a month ago, right in the middle of what I'm sure was a superb program, the picture tube on our TV died. It was actually quite an entertaining demise - the picture began to squiggle around a bit, then all of a sudden it shrank down to a small colorful circle before disappearing completely, kind of like a Big Bang in reverse. And since this was our only TV, that was that.

Now, here's what I find interesting. At first, as in 'the day it died', I was pretty anxious to replace it. I mean, what are we going to do for that last hour of the day if we have no TV? But we decided to wait a while because we have points on our credit card that we can use to buy a new one. So we applied for the points, and within the week they arrived. In the meantime, though, we went to the Sony store at the mall to check out what was available. We decided that since we watch a fair amount of programming on our computers, it made sense to get a TV with internet capability, so we could stream things like Netflix movies onto our new TV.

Now, as I said, the points arrived, but we have not had the time to return to the store to cash them in, in part due to a recent vacation up north, and in part to general busyness. But in the meantime - in the meantime - we have experienced life without a TV for about a month and we either don't know what to make of it or kind of like it, I'm not sure which. But we don't feel the withdrawl that I felt that first day. In fact, it feels somewhat like a liberation. I think I need to explain.

We had gotten into the habit of turning on the TV after dinner, and first up was a program that Tom always recorded called 'Pardon the Interruption.' I never took to the program (a sports gabfest), so I usually went somewhere else until it was over. But I never realized just how much I HATED this program coming into the house every day until I finished dinner one night and realized I was freed from these 2 guys chatting up sports micro-topics in very loud voices. And I'm sure Tom felt the same way about programs I watched, like American Idol.

I had another moment of enlightenment a couple of weeks ago when I was picking up some soup at a local restaurant and I saw, on their TV, video footage of Tiger Woods and his wife, with 3 bars of text scrolling across the bottom of the screen and one scrolling above. I thought: I just don't want this as a part of my life! Really! No Tiger Woods. No scrolling breaking news reports. I think I'm losing my tolerance for it.

Then today it occurred to me that TV, in recent years, has been more of a source of frustration for me that entertainment. If you think of it, there are about 100 channels, and for the most part, they are worthless. I do understand why - revenues to stations have dipped dramatically because no one can attain the share numbers of yesteryear due to the proliferation of channels people have to choose from. So less money turns into cheap programming (meaning they can't pay talented writers), and things spiral downhill from there. That is why you can flip through 100 channels and not find one thing to watch, which continues to surprise me, and finally leads to frustration.

One last point on this. This past month I have experienced a little of what my life was like in Japan. We had pretty much one channel there - CNN International - and that was it. In addition, we lived in a city where English was not the primary language spoken. So I spent a lot of time with my thoughts. I learned to like this, and found that I could do a lot more reading and writing when my mind was cleared of excess stimuli. In many ways, it was a better quality of life. This hiatus from TV has been a little like that.

With all of this, you probably think we'll never get a TV again. And you would be wrong. We've got our points, we'll get our TV, but it does have us thinking about using it differently. Tom has characteristically decided not to watch any TV any more even when we get the new set. And I do appreciate this, as I don't think I can take PTI even for one minute more. But I do like to watch some things, particularly movies. So our compromise says that I'll wear headphones when watching, so Tom can work nearby without being disturbed. And since this is a flat screen instead of a traditional TV, I'll be able to close the doors of the cabinet when it's not in use. We'll see how this goes. I have to concede now that I'm glad the tube decided to die....we've been given a chance to shake things up a bit, and that's not all that bad.

Buyer Beware

This past month 2 of our children have purchased homes, one in Ann Arbor and one in Northville. We counseled both to ask to see utility bills for a year, just to get a sense of the costs they will be facing. This past Sunday, as we were going through the Northville home, Tom asked the realtor about these bills, and she replied that she can ask the family, but under Michigan law they are not obligated to produce them. In fact, our future son-in-law, Brad, asked for the bills for the Ann Arbor home repeatedly but never did receive them.

Tom and I were pretty surprised by this law. Tom likens it to buying a car without knowing the mileage. The Northville realtor tried to explain the situation by stating that since everyone sets their thermostats at different levels, it would be hard to know what the true cost for another family would be. Keeping with the car analogy, that would mean that since we all drive differently, there is no point in giving out mileage ratings. So right now we have a situation where new homeowners are buying a home without any understanding of the amount of energy they will use and the associated costs. I think that information would be helpful.

Perhaps this was a moot issue a number of years ago when energy costs were not as exorbitant as they are today. I never remember thinking about the affordability of heating and cooling my homes as I bought them. But energy costs are rising rapidly, and it's foolish to think they will ever go down. We know people with large homes and multiple furnaces who have racked up heating bills of $900 per month in the winter. That's a bucket-load of money, folks.

At our GLGI meeting yesterday, we all decided that this is an issue we'd like to take on. Every once in a while you discover something that makes absolutely no sense, seems like a slam dunk, and so you have to go for it. Our first conclusion was that this is a matter for the Michigan legislature. So first, we're going to do a bit of research and see if other states allow prospective buyers to review utility bills. Then Tom Bradley has volunteered to contact his representative in Royal Oak to discuss the matter.

The implications of an overturn of this legislation are quite significant. If people were required to show their utility bills, they would be more inclined to weatherize their homes, and this would eventually make quite a dent in overall energy usage. After all, would you be willing to pay $900 a month for utilities if this were known to you up front?

Enjoying Michigan Winters

It's tradition in Michigan that this time of the year is prime time for complaining about the weather. As I move through my day, visiting the grocery store, dry cleaners, mall or vet, I hear the same thing repeated again and again. 'How are you doing?' I ask. 'OK, except for the [freezing, gloomy, snowy, icy...insert your own adjective here] weather. I don't think I can make it until spring...winter is so long!'. When I tell people that I actually like winter, I am regarded with suspicion. I'm not following the party line. Worst of all, though, is listening to the weather reports on TV, which hearken thoughts of the apocolypse whenever a snowfall is expected. So I gave up on TV weather long ago. Couldn't take the drama.

I'd like to suggest that our weather isn't all that bad, and perhaps we (shall I say it?) exaggerate a bit. Keep in mind that right now, early January, that days are actually getting longer. It is cold, but unless you don't have a home, I'm guessing most of us are adequately warm most of the time. And can I suggest you look at how other people around the world handle weather to gain some perspective? For example, I lived in Tokyo for a number of years, and they have a typhoon season that lasts from August through to mid-October. One day early in my stay I looked out my window and saw a green sky with high winds whipping the rain horizontally. I had to be somewhere for a meeting about 1/2 hour walk away, and since I had no car, as most people did not, I assumed the meeting was canceled (wimpy Michigan person that I am). When I called my Japanese friend to make sure my assumption was correct, I found that not only was the meeting on, but that she was a bit puzzled as to why I was even calling.

So there was a big lesson for me. Don't worry about the weather! Throughout my years in Tokyo, I walked everywhere (often in a dress and heels) in all weather conditions, and found that, surprise, it wasn't all that bad. I learned to bring along a handkerchief to sometimes wipe off my legs, kept an umbrella with me, and came to accept that my hair was going to have some bad days.

Another discovery was that being outside year-round did great things for my spirits. I recognized that in the USA I usually moved from cubicle (home) to cubicle (car) without fresh air intake, and perhaps this wasn't the best thing for me. So when we moved back, we began biking and walking more. Tom is still biking, even into January, for part of his commute downtown. And although I'm more of a 3-season biker, I have recently picked up a new form of exercise, swimming, that is also wonderful for lifting my spirits in a cold Michigan January. There's something about being in contact with the elements (fresh air or water) that must be a fundamental need of ours.

So, right now in the middle of a [can we try the word 'beautiful'?] Michigan winter, let's relax and enjoy each season our wonderful state has to offer. Our Tuesday group is going to be discussing various topics that are winter-related these coming weeks, and feel free to join us. We start next Tuesday with ice-removal and humidifiers, and will also tackle dressing for the weather, hibernation/need to sleep in winter (including food cravings), setting up a comfortable winter environment, seasonal cultural expectations, and inspirational reading.

Another way to do Christmas lights

This year we decided to forsake the traditional strings of lights we normally display in the front of our house. Instead, we purchased 2 lanterns at Pottery Barn and put candles in them. We light them every night for a few hours, and we love the subtle effect.

A new kind of Christmas tree

When we were in Montreal last month, we biked up a mountain (less impressive than it sounds - not a very steep grade), and at the top was, in addition to a breathtaking view of the city, a series of interesting gardens. One idea that caught our eye was a simple teepee-like structure that was built from sticks and vines.



We've got a lot of that type of material in our yard, as we are adjacent to a woods. So on Thanksgiving day, Tom, Molly and Tommy built our own structure from sticks and some invasive vines we found in the woods. We used tufts of goldenrod as 'ornaments.' We also attached lights for illumination at night.

Making stock from scraps

A number of months ago Ayliffe and Mitzi introduced the group to a new way of making soup stock using vegetable scraps. The process is actually quite simple: Every time you find yourself with parts of your vegetables that you don't use, like broccoli stems or potato peelings, instead of putting them into your compost, stick them in a freezer bag (gallon size), and keep it in the freezer. When the bag is full, put it into a stock pot, and fill the pot with enough water to cover the vegetables (about 18 cups for us). Put the pot on the smallest burner you have, on low. It will take a long time for the water to heat up, but keep it below a simmer for about 2 hours (you don't want foam to develop). Check it at the 2 hour mark, stir it a bit, and then check it about every 1/2 hour after that, for a total of about 4 hours. Pour it into a strainer that is over a large bowl. Compost the vegetables now. Then, you can make your favorite soup from this stock. You can also do this with chicken carcasses.

Anyway, Tom and I have been experimenting with this, and the results have been superb. I don't think I have ever eaten soup this good before, and the stock makes all the difference. And it's a great way to use your (clean) vegetable scraps.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Training the Neighbors

Many of you may know that Tom and I begin to gather our neighbors' leaves this time of year to put on our woodsy area in our backyard. It serves as a good mulch and provides rich nutrition to the soil. Right now is prime gathering time but we are currently distracted by 2 things: the Green Garage work, and our recent vacation up north. So we haven't been able to take the short drive around the neighborhood yet to rob our neighbors of their organic gold. I'm sure they're disappointed because it has to be great fodder for neighborly conversations for months to come. Anyway, we arrived home from vacation late Monday night, and Tuesday morning while I was sipping my tea waiting for the sun to rise, I saw some forms out in the garden that I couldn't quite place. Was it a deer sleeping out there? As the sky lightened, I saw that our considerate neighbors behind us had taken their leaf bags and deposited them in our garden, knowing that we needed them. I think I'll take them over some cookies, and hope they spread the word. Maybe next year ALL of our neighbors will make a donation, saving us the effort of even going out. And that, folks, is how you train your neighbors.

Biking in the Cold Weather

At our last Tuesday meeting, we talked about biking in cold weather. In this video, Tom describes the process of preparing for his morning bike commute.

Arthur and Me

In early October, Tom and I took a 10-day vacation to 4 cities in Canada. We dropped our car off in Stratford, Ontario, and then took the train to Kingston (by New York state), then Montreal, and finally to Toronto. We have done train travel before and find it fits us very well. Unlike car travel, we can sleep or read, and there is no 2-hour wait at an airport like plane travel. Besides, the leg room is to die for.

But can I suggest one more hidden benefit? Sometimes you meet the greatest people. Once, when I was traveling alone to Milwaukee, I sat next to a man who worked for a major TV news organization, and spent many hours discussing the changing role of media today. I had such an occasion once again on this trip. This time, Tom and I boarded a crowded train from Kingston to Montreal and couldn't find 2 seats together, and finally settled across from each other on aisle seats. My seat mate was an elderly gentleman who welcomed me with a warm smile. I noticed that he was wearing some sort of a uniform jacket and that the jacket was decorated with numerous medals. I assumed he was a veteran. Almost immediately, he began speaking with me, friendly sort that he was, and since I love meeting new people we quickly got to know each other. His name was Arthur Brough and he was from England, but was currently in Canada visiting a niece. He was to turn 90 on October 24th, and was heading to Montreal to catch the plane back to England for his party.

I asked Arthur about his history in the armed forces, and he told me a fascinating story about his time in the army in WWII. He told me, in fact, that he had been a prisoner of war in Poland for 5 years. He said that he had put down his remembrances into a book. I told him that I certainly would love to read that book, at which point he reached into his bag and pulled out a book titled 'My Wasted Years - 1940-1945'! Would you mind, I asked him, if I read it right now? He was delighted to have me read his story, so I spent the next 3 hours or so reading Arthur's story, pausing to have him clarify points. I can't tell you all of the details of his story, but he was captured in France, taken to Poland via cattle car, and taken to a main stalag (Stalag 13, in fact), where he was put on various work details and sometimes sent out to Polish farms. He tried to escape numerous times but was never successful. Two things I'll remember about his story: First, he had an uncanny ability to remember the food he received from the Red Cross or kind Polish citizens (he mentions any special food in great detail), probably because he was half-starved most of the time. Also, I was struck by the kindness shown by British soldiers to their guards. When they received food packages from home (yes, they did get through), they would share the food with their guards because, he said, that was the British thing to do. I wonder if I would be so generous.

After he was liberated by the Americans in 1945, he married a young woman named Vera and worked as a crane operator. He and Vera had no children, and he lost her 5 years ago. As he told me this, he pulled a small locket from inside his shirt. On one side was a photo of Vera, probably taken at the time of their marriage, and one the other side was his photo. He had to wipe away the tears when speaking of her.


So there is my train travel story. Tom took a photo of us before we got off the train, and I promised Arthur I'd send it to him. He gave me an address card with a picture of him and Vera on the front. Tomorrow I'm making a special batch of my chocolate chip cookies, and I'll send them along with the photo for his birthday. After all, he really does love packages of special food.

The Marshmallow Effect

I was reading Paul Krugman's column, Cassandras of Climate, in the New York Times this morning and it made me think of kids and marshmallows. Perhaps I need to explain. The point of the column is that climate scientists have become Cassandras, meaning that they have the ability to predict upcoming disaster, in this case accelerating global warming, but they are equally cursed with the inability to get anyone to believe them. Krugman points out that our models show that the decline is happening much faster than earlier predicted, and we still are not, as a nation, paying attention. At least not enough to agree to do something about it.

Why is this, he wonders. I wonder too. If you'll allow me to dredge up an old gem from my college days, I'll offer up my 2 cents worth. I was a psychology minor, which as life has gone on has proven surprisingly handy. One study that stuck with me was called the marshmallow experiment, a way of measuring the ability to defer gratification. In the study, 4-year-olds are given a marshmallow and told that if they wait 20 minutes, they'll receive another one. Some children waited and some didn't. They found that those who waited grew up to be better adjusted and dependable, and scored over 200 points higher on the SAT. What this study told me, too, was that those who were able to foresee consequences probably came out ahead.

So here we are, at a time when there is near consensus on the existence and dangers of future climate change, when we are nearing or have passed peak oil, when our homes and cars in recent history have grown to enormous proportions, and we are tooling along, too busy or distracted to really bother. We haven't spent the time to think ahead and defer gratification so we can alter the future of this planet. We are the kids who can't wait 20 minutes for the next marshmallow. Wendell Berry considers the most urgent question of our time: How much is enough? We haven't been able to answer this question yet. So why do we continue to consume and ignore warnings from our most respected scientists? In my opinion, just like the impatient 4-year-olds, (and to paraphrase Bill Clinton): Because we can.

So, I ask you, is this our model of behavior? Is this truly the best we can do? I know there were some kids in this experiment who waited the 20 minutes. Let's hope at least some of them have seen this huge hurdle we have to overcome and can help keep us focused on the future.

Fall Biking

We have been serious bikers for a number of years now, but have never been able to move beyond our immediate vicinity because we didn't have a bike rack to transport our bikes. This past week, however, we got a new rack attached to our car and took our first long-distance trail ride to Romeo. We got the bikes up on the rack (very easy!) and drove up a few miles to Rochester Hills to pick up the Paint Creek Trail. After many years of riding along the sidewalks of Troy and Rochester (and some portions of street) to get up to Rochester, this was a luxury. It also enabled us to go much farther along the trail. In fact, we left the Paint Creek trail and biked another 10 miles along the Macomb Orchard Trail until we arrived at Romeo, where we stopped at a nice Irish Pub for lunch. Then we biked back to Rochester, about 30 miles round trip. I must admit that 30 miles represents my limit right now - but it sure did feel good, and I had no soreness the next day, always a good sign.


Today we are heading up to East Lansing to have brunch with our son, and will be bringing the bikes, as we have located a Lansing River trail that winds through the beautiful river walk on campus and extends another 7 miles or so west. This ride should total 20 miles - more to my liking. Next up: Taking the Paint Creek Trail up to Lake Orion. This is a great way to see Michigan in the fall.

Rain Barrel Update

Since we are nearing the end of our rain barrel use for the year, I thought I'd poll the group to see how things went with our barrels this year. I sent out an e-mail asking for input and received a number of responses. I'll summarize.

First, it was a wet, cool summer, so for most of us our rain barrel use was somewhat down. A couple of us did drain our barrels once or twice over the summer, but rain did seem to come at regular intervals, so that situation was amended quickly.

One trend I noticed was that - no surprise - rain barrel use accelerates if you have potted plants. Even in a rainy season like the one we just had, pots pretty much need to be watered every day. Same for vegetables. They require more water than most flowering plants - and double that for tomatoes. Erica used rain barrel water as fertilizer for her tomatoes.

Some people did attach soaker hoses to their barrels. The Bradleys report that their barrels drained quickly with soakers attached.

A few people expanded beyond plants with their rain barrel water. The Carters used it to wash their car and to clean their driveway after some work. I also used the water to wash our car and rinse out things like my compost bucket. We had some work done here over the summer, and I was able to direct workers to rinse their materials in the rain barrel water.

Regarding maintenance, the Bradleys report that they will be fixing the stand for their 55-gallon barrel this year. It's leaning and needs to be enlarged. Martha found that an old fashioned rag mop was great for cleaning it out.

This is our 3rd or 4th year with our barrel (can't remember), and I will say that each year I come to rely on it more. When it is dry, I somehow have found it inconvenient to have to use a hose, and besides, the water from the hose smells funny, like chlorine. And then there's the whole thing about unwinding and winding up the hose after a small use - I just don't want to do it. So I think I have entered the 'other side' and have become a full rain barrel convert. I don't want to speak for the others, but I would guess they have too.

Car sharing - how it's working out

It's now mid-August and Tom and I have been sharing a car since May, ever since our son arrived home from college and confiscated our other car. For the most part, it has been surprisingly painless. Of course, a lot of this has to do with the fact that this is summer. Our usual schedule has Tom biking in to Pleasant Ridge every morning (about 40 minutes) to catch the bus downtown. I join him (with the car) after exercise, and we throw the bike in the back of the car for the ride home. So we technically do take a car downtown and back each day, but if you think about it, to keep me on my morning exercise schedule, we would have had to use both cars.

We have a history of being chintzy with cars.....Decades ago we bought a little Civic that our kids used through high school until it was ready for the junk pile, and none of them had cars in college. Part of our history, you should know, also involves living for 3 years in Tokyo, which got us used to public transportation and the most ancient form of transport possible, walking. I tried biking there, but there were way too many people.

So anyway, now that Tom is retired and our schedule is a bit more flexible, we are back to figuring out a way to get around that requires the least amount of expense and carbon output. We have been adapting to the biking lifestyle more and more for the past few years, but this is the first year that we have been on a more scheduled life, with a 9-5 summer at the Green Garage. And so far we're not missing the second car. Now, I'd like to see how this is going to work when winter sets in. As I recall, though, last winter the second car spent quite a bit of time parked in the garage. We're on more of a schedule this year, so we'll have to see.

But for now, today I take the car and Tom may fight the raindrops. Tomorrow Tom will take the car and I, as we are in wedding mode, will bike up a couple of miles for a pedicure, bike back, and then Maureen will pick me up to get to Berkley for a dress fitting. If anything, car sharing is great for family coordination and cooperation!

Let the feasting begin

This is the best time of the year for vegetable gardeners - the stuff is coming in! Tonight we had fresh beans and cherry tomatoes with our dinner. We're picking every day. We moved our vegetable garden close to the house this year, and I'm loving it. It's only a few steps out the door to retrieve something good for dinner.

I've learned another lesson this year. For most of the growing season, I have been discouraged by a succession of problems - deer eating our broccoli, the peas browning up on the vine, our basil deciding it didn't want to be planted with our sage (tempermental). Our tomato plants were also pretty tiny for a long time. A few weeks ago, however, I was excited to see lettuce coming in (yes! in July). And then the beans took over for the peas. And now the tomato plants, still a bit spindly, are beginning to produce. So, as with so many things in life, patience is the rule. It will all come in time.

Biking becoming a lifestyle

I haven't made many updates to the blog this summer because we're not doing much new. But we are accelerating our adaptation to a different lifestyle in some ways, one of which is our use of bikes for transportation. Many people use bicycle riding for recreation, and there's nothing wrong with that, but we are primarily destination riders, and I think that has helped us keep bicycling as part of our daily routines.

By destination riding, I mean that we use our bikes as a substitute for a car when we have to get somewhere. Our most consistent use of destination biking has been getting to the fitness center in the morning, which is about a mile and a half away -- perfect for a short commute and perfect for a great warm-up. We usually start in April and ride until October or November, giving us about 7 or 8 months of riding. It's hard to describe why this has worked for us, but I'll try. First, it's wonderful to get out in that fresh Michigan summer early-morning air. The temps usually range between 50-60 when we're riding (around 7:30 AM - 9 AM) - great biking temperatures. Also, you get to park your bike right up next to the building instead of the parking lot and stroll right in. Nice. In addition, you pay attention to things you wouldn't normally see when driving, such as the neighbors' flowers or the interesting clouds that day. Finally, I guarantee you'll smile at someone somewhere along your ride - it's courtesy if nothing else. Watch people's faces when they're driving. I do when I'm paused at an intersection. They all look grumpy. Bike people usually smile and wave.

This summer Tom has been working at the Green Garage every weekday 9-5, so he has had to adjust his exercise schedule. His solution has been to bike about an hour down to the Pleasant Ridge area and catch the bus to Detroit (he puts his bike on the front of the bus). I'm sure it's no surprise to you that he has lost weight.

Yesterday I was thinking about our daily rides, and considered the fact that so far I haven't been rained on. So I asked Tom if he had encountered rain in all of his commutes, and he has not. Amazing. I don't know why this is, but we were thinking that perhaps it doesn't rain as much as we think it does. Even if you have a rainy day, it usually only rains for a short period before clearing up. We have learned that biking when the skies are threatening is no problem - 99% of the time nothing comes of it. But it takes a change in mind-set to head out on the bike when there is a questionable sky. I would encourage you to try it - you may find that regular biking becomes a habit that's surprisingly hard to break.