6.2 Miles

First bicycle commute.

From my apartment, to the farmer's market, to a friend's apartment, and then on back up to mine.

My knees are not wrecked, though I did have a bit of wobbly legs when I got off at the farmers market, and my right knee was aching some throughout the ride. And though it was 96 out when I left, no clouds or shades to spare me. My thigh and chest seems a bit darker. Next time, sunglasses a must. Was a great idea to bring a tupperware for the peaches- but no complaints now, except peaches are still a bit bruised and I ran out of crackers for my goat cheese..

Got Me A Bike ... Finally

I don't know why the instant I got my first college refund I didn't go out and buy myself a bike. I really don't.

Because the first year I still had my car and was using that as a supplement to my bus riding, and to help my escapes on the weekends.

The second year I parked my car and went through my metamorphic walking stage, and learned the ways of Amtrak. During that year I did buy a bike, less than the bike lock cost me. And that cost me my knees.  The brakes never worked, but it was a start.

But it was stolen during my third year. More like, I left it unlocked when I went abroad and set it free in the world. If it was stolen - fine, if it was still here - maybe I could learn to love it. At my new place, I was within "walking distance" of everything essential - school, work, groceries, Big Lots, and the ABC store. Even the Amtrak station was walkable if I was feeling spunky. Or for the bigger adventures, I could spend 1.5hrs using the bus system to make it across town.

My fourth year I began feeling stuck and thus brought my childhood bike down here. Still original everything I'm sure. Definitely too small for me. My knees are still recovering, maybe its permanent. I would be out of breath and dogged tired within a minute of leaving home (the steepest hill on my route is the one to leave my neighborhood). But it got me where I needed to go - and nobody got in my because the rusty chain made me sound like a flock of bats shrieking out of hell. Eventually the rust got so bad that people were literally walking to class faster than I was riding - that was when I knew I had to get a new bike.

And so here we are at my fifth year in this town. The journey has been a long, arduous trial. I even still have a car out in the parking lot, broken down since it rolled me into town last year (and the tow truck had to tag-team the last 5 miles..) - unsure what to do with it, just certain that I don't want to drive it. And so I have gotten my replacement vehicle finally. No longer feeling stuck. Quite the opposite - that my possibilities are endless. As long as I can stop and take a breather every now and then.

There Comes A Day in Activism

when you have to get off the sidelines and get onto the field. This means no longer waiting for the wayward petition to come strolling by your way, where all you have to do is sign your name, and maybe pass it on to a few more friends. When you have to start sending it to EVERYBODY on your contacts list, especially the ones you know are proponents of the thing you are petitioning.

Likewise, you have to stop relying on others forwarding you causes. You have to find your own causes. And you have to be the initiator, the one who types up the petition and is the first to sign it, and the one who ensures it gets all the signatures it needs and gets to the person it needs to get to.

Today, I took a step in that direction.

If you see something that is not right, then dissent. In this day and age, most things are not right and that is the norm. As it is, civilization - capitalism - does not encourage environmental stewardship. That is not right, but that is the norm. We have to speak out against it as a whole, but for real change we have to speak out against the small contributions.

Like just now I composed a message to the business Planet Smoothie regarding an email I just received:

Yes, this isn't right and I just had to speak out against it to their faces. Here is my message:

I would like to comment about your "Earth Day Special."

I appreciate the fact that you have reusable MacDaddy Mugs available for your smoothies. This is somewhat in the spirit of Earth Day, but not quite there..

Please answer me: Where do the mugs come from, and what are they made of? How much do you pay per mug? Cheap products are not good for the environment.

If you really care about the environment enough to recognize and celebrate Earth Day, then instead of using it as a marketing ploy to draw in more customers (what American can deny a freebie?), then please consider the impacts of the production (including transportation to your stores) and the materials of your mugs. This concept of a reusable mug is a good start, but maybe by next Earth Day you can offer reusable mugs that involve all aspects of being earth friendly - choosing a country of origin that has strict regulations of manufacturers, and also choosing a material that is sustainable - like from recycled  plastic bottles. If you already do this, then Kudos to you, but typical American business ethics would imply otherwise..

While I enjoy your smoothies greatly, I will not be participating in this special. When I do come in again, I will be bringing my stainless steel insulated Klean Kanteen and asking you to fill that instead.

If you offer a discount on smoothies purchased by people who bring in your "MacDaddy Mug", I hope that you would extend this discount to the other customers bringing in their own containers.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

So here's a task for you:
-next time you see something that you isn't right, speak out against. And let others know about it too. Strength in numbers. Our voice needs to be heard, but first we must speak.

And please, if you see any other marketing ploys violating the spirit of Earth Day, let me know, and like I did here, send them a comment about what you see that is wrong and suggestions on how to fix it. Some businesses do listen to their customers. And they don't know what the customers want, unless you tell them yourself.

Spring time! GARDENING!

Its spring, and you know what that means.. plants!

Now that the sun is shining hot and the nights are staying warm and i'm not shivering in my apartment, i know that  if i bring plants into my life they will survive. and hopefully, thrive.

over spring break i retrieved my beloved jades from asheville, and justin did a wonderful job taking care of them over the past year. in fact, i had given him just a leaf from my original jade, and first plant for that matter, that itself had died, and he has propagated it into a healthy beautiful stalk with many tiers of leaves. very wonderful. he is the jade master. kudos to him. i hope one day my littleuns will grow into beautiful trees like his, we'll see. i did manage to keep the large one that i had bought from the store alive through out the winter, so i think i'm getting better at jade care. they're all looking pretty outside right now, basking in the spring afternoon. oh, i guess i am doing well because i managed to propagate one from a leaf too, had to transplant it last week into a bigger pot, its still looking good.

scorched my aloe, poor thing... didnt transition it slow enough from inside to outside. the leaves were yellow and getting mushy, so i put it back inside yesterday and its greener and harder today, so i think its recovering. will wait a few days before i try again. dont want to lose my large aloe. but my baby aloe is doing fine, didnt get scorched in the transition.

bad news, none of my herbs from the fall seem to be coming back. still waiting to see if the mints will, but i'm not so sure now. i just kind of abandoned them once winter started, so i dont blame them.

We went to the farmers market yesterday and it was popping. all the plant vendors were there which was awesome. my wallet was emptied. i got: 4pk early girl bush tomatoes, 4pk red leaf lettuce, 1 lemon grass, 1 rosemary, and 1 greek oregano. 4pk lavender, and 1 strawberry plant. also a few days before from Ace I had gotten 3 pk hot banana pepper and 3 pk big bertha bell pepper. went to the logan trading co. after that, and im disappointed i just now found that place after living here for 4 years. big well kept garden store in an old train station. huge selection of organic/natural products. so i got some organic potting mix, and some of the black nursery pots because they are the cheapest and i think work the best as pots. planted most of it, but it got dark so i need to finish today. im waiting on the tomatoes because i want to try upside down tomatoes, need to get large 5 gallon paint buckets first though. posted an ad on craigslist, but no response.

i think that is all the gardening news for now. on this side of my building, we definitely have the greenest porch. though i give credit to the other girls, they've got a few pots and plants out, they at least have bird feeders. we have so many robins and cardinals and blue jays around. i like to sit on my porch and watch them play in the big tree in front of me. found 5 blue jay feathers at the garden store, kept them even though greg kept telling me they carry diseases. i know that, but they are SO pretty and i like to decorate with them.

I'm going to try my hardest to have a healthy container garden. Won't be doing as much travelling as I usually do, so i should be easier.I may not get to eat any of the fruits/vegetables of my labor, as they will probably mature while I'm gone to Mexico, but that is okay. I get so much joy and pleasure and calmness from gardening, don't mind someone else eating all my food.

The Logan Trading Co. participates in a program around here called PAR- Plant a Row, in which you plant one row in your garden, or container, and then bring that food back to them and one of the food bank comes and picks it up. I think I'll be doing that. I like that idea, and the idea of community gardens. Really want to get involved with that area.

OH, while I was in New Zealand and we were at the gardens of the castle, i got 2 packets of seeds for 2 different kinds of trees native to there - the Kowhai and the Tree Fuschia. I am germinating those seeds now. The Kowhai were easier to prepare, poured boiling water on them and then when the seeds swelled potted them. They were 5 large seeds. The other seeds are a bit trickier. They are very tiny, and i had to soak them in water over night, then lay them in a moist paper towel put that in a plastic bag and keep it in the fridge for 4 weeks. So, those won't even get planted until May. The Kowhai take about 2 weeks before they sprout, so we'll see then. I'm very eager. Super eager. Super wanting this to work.

Have a wonderful day, I'm going to my porch =]

Still Life Mosaic Dream Land

taken from someones blog who obviously didnt take this photo, and didnt cite their source. their blog had annoying music ruining my pandora experience, so i left it before i could get it, but i think its something like thecrystalkiss

ANYWAYS, I would love to live here. My house might look a bit differently.. perhaps a log cabin or some version of a tree house, but nonetheless this looks like an outstanding forest. I love fall foilage - ther various vivid colours enveloping everything, such natural euphoria engages my mind when my eyes lay upon this image. 

on farther inspection the site crystalkiss is filled with collection of images that could suck me in for mindless twilight internet fail

Air Drying

Doing good, still have yet to use paper towels to dry anything. A few times I have used the bathroom blow dryer, though I try to avoid it as that does consume energy. Wet hands in winter just equal cold hands. And now that I'm consciously avoiding paper towels, I always feel like I am missing something between washing my hands and leaving the bathroom, even though I rarely used paper towels before. Funny how that works.

Still haven't used the dryer either. Courtney is a dear friend and lets me borrow her drying rack when I do my laundry every few weeks, as my one drying rack is not enough to cover a full load.

the right thing

Very stressed point from my exboss friend: there will be things in life that you have to do, but dont want to do. and you will probably hurt from doing it, but it will hurt alot less to do the right thing, than to not. be tough, you will know what is right and what you have to do, and you will just have to do it. you will be better off somewhere down the road.

This is something I am definitely working on to be the me I want to be... identifying and defining what is right and what i need to, and getting the courage to do it.

I wish I had some practice for my current battle, as I feel it is the toughest one I will ever have to face in my life. Unless I have a REALLY tough life ahead of me..