Proud to Be a Boomer Today...

Love ya, gal...

And love those pantsuits...did you see Bill? "I love you forever..." She deserves nothing less, Bill...

Fascinating....

Read for yourself, and see what you think?

The Theory of Anyway...

I've been, as I know many of you have, doing little things that will reduce my carbon footprint and lower some of my expenses along the way - changing to compact fluorescents, unplugging appliances when not in use, trip-chaining as much as possible, buying locally, eating at least one weekly vegetarian meal. These things aren't that difficult and make me feel a little more in control on the Peak Oil issue...

And surely, if you've been by a gas station recently, you've noticed that prices are down a bit...

That might cause us to want to relax a bit. To say, as we're fixing dinner and realize we're out of an ingredient - "oh, I can run to the store now...those few miles won't make a difference, since the price of gas is down" - honestly, my train of thought is more along the lines of "I'll just run a fresh gallon of water for watering the tomatoes rather than using the graywater I save from cooking and cleaning up."

I usually end up feeling a bit uncomfortable, tho'.

My immediate reaction is "What if we ALL do that - get just a little lazy?" My personal code of ethics says to do the right thing all the time, not just some of the time because maybe it's more convenient this time to drop the ball a little...

I was reading blogs today and came across this theory on Susan Albert's blog. (She has links to the original topics - go there, too, as they're good explanations of this Theory of Anyway). It's a good explanation of my discomfort over taking the "little shortcuts" that ultimately lead to a bit more waste...

Because even if we think that now it's okay to run to the store just one more time in a week or month when gas prices have dropped a little, we're still using a limited resource when we don't have to.

I like the reframing of the things we do away from a negative to a positive. It's much more pleasant to consider that we do the things we do FOR the good of the planet, and not as something we have to give up. When I make a choice to contribute to the well-being of the earth, my frame of mind is much happier.

Perspective is so important, don't you think?

Garden Along...Update

All those gorgeous red tomatoes? Not mine. My Dear Daughter's!
The jalapenos and the lone little yellow pear?

Yup. Mine.
(sigh)
This is the difference between planting the tomatoes in the ground and having decent sun, and putting them in pots under trees.

Her tomatoes are great, too! Several varieties and I can't remember which are which, perhaps she said these were Celebrities?

Pit-Stop in the Rat-Race...

I stopped here today and was inspired. Maybe you will be, too?

That Yes! Magazine...I do so like it...

And I picked up the Kingsolver book at the library this week. I hope to finish it quickly...

Fruits of the Earth...

Okay, the only thing in this ratatouille that's from my own garden are the basil and the parsley, but the roma tomatoes are locally grown...

And the bread is from a local restaurant, with bakery and catering wing: Wildflour (yes, it's spelled correctly!).

I saw that Anne was making some and it made me hungry. So I made my own. It's very good and there's enough for several meals!

If only my squash had done something - but you know what? I think this has been a lousy year for it: my sis-in-law was saying she'd gotten 3-4 that were just pint-sized and the skin very tough, and then we stopped at a local orchard for peaches and nectarines today, and even their local summer squash were pint-sized and tough.

(sigh)
Just not a good year around here, I guess...