How do you get to the bush? You go to the bush.

Posted on by May 24, 2017

Here’s a short film about a couple who live in the New Zealand wilderness.

Every couple of weeks, she goes into the city to play music and buy groceries with the money she makes….so they don’t live completely off the land….but, still, it’s a pretty lo-tech existence.

I’m fascinated by back to the land and living in the woods stories!

I could watch YouTube videos of people doing it all day!

(Kidding….you have to get out and do it. Don’t be a dreamer….be a doer. Lace up your boots….get the kids in the minivan….do it. You have to do it. Right?)

Here’s a link to Miriam Lancewood’s book on Amazon.

what if we change?

Posted on by May 23, 2017

I listened to some talks that Yvon Chouinard gave a while back while I drove the mail around today.

Noble stuff….capitalism with good intentions.

I don’t involve myself with ecological activism much….

We’re too busy raising a family.

We recycle….grow organically….all the good stuff that is pretty easy once it becomes a habit…but we’re not radical environmentalists.

Our habits could be better, I suppose.

Whose habits couldn’t be a little better, though….right?

Here’s a short film about damage that’s happening to the environment….and possible solutions…..called “What If We Change?”

You can’t back up from things that have gone too far, though.

Some of the damage we do to the environment is hard to fix.

That’s depressing…unless knowing about any of this stuff becomes a motivator to make a change.

Action is the only thing that keeps bad environmental news from depressing the heck out of me.

I better get a move on.

 

money to the good

Posted on by May 22, 2017

There are a lot of ways to use your money.

This is one of the good ones.

From the YouTube description:

Almost 50 years ago, fried chicken tycoon David Bamberger used his fortune to purchase 5,500 acres of overgrazed land in the Texas Hill Country. Planting grasses to soak in rains and fill hillside aquifers, Bamberger devoted the rest of his life to restoring the degraded landscape. Today, the land has been restored to its original habitat and boasts enormous biodiversity. Bamberger’s model of land stewardship is now being replicated across the region and he is considered to be a visionary in land management and water conservation.

I don’t know what I can do on a large scale.

I don’t have the money for that….yet.

But, I will bet that I can start with making something better on a small scale.

Make something better?

Sounds good to me.

the edges

Posted on by May 17, 2017

We went to an arts festival this weekend.

The streets were closed and people walked down the middle of the road….looking at the art….eating the food.

We stayed outside the middle….on the sidewalk.

We were behind the booths and exhibits.

It wasn’t as crowded.

When you have little kids with you, the easy thing is the necessary thing.

Later, I thought about staying outside on the edges because it’s easier.

What did I miss because I stayed out on the edge of it all sometimes?

People talk about bucking trends, staying outside the mainstream….innovating….not just blending in with the crowd.

But….sometimes, you really do have to “engage” for anything to happen in your life.

It was easier to push a stroller when we weren’t in the crowd….and I doubt that I missed any life-changing artwork or crafts.

I don’t know if the edge is a good place to stay for long, though.

120 divided by 26.2 equals….

Posted on by May 16, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsL-9i8rd30

A two-hour marathon.

Imagine that….

I’m running a little again…..”running”.

My “pace” is “probably” …..oh, about 10 or maybe 12 minutes per…..OK, I’m bragging….maybe 15 minutes per mile now.

I’m slow….but….I go.

Lets do the math:

120 minutes divided by the length of the marathon (26.2 miles) comes out to about 4.58015267176 minutes per mile.

(The runners round that number off a little, I’m sure).

That’s insane.

I ran a 5:20 mile once and thought that my body would explode.

That was one mile…..one time.

One time when I was really young.

I was in the middle of the pack, too.

These guys run fast for a long ways.

Two hours is a mark waiting to be broken.

What kind of perfect race do you need to run to break two hours?

That’s nuts.

That’s FAST!!

Artisphere….Greenville….Mother’s Day….

Posted on by May 15, 2017

We went to Artisphere after eating a good Indian meal at Saffron’s …and, while the guys were getting some shaved ice, I walked down the street and heard a couple of songs by this band….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgyAh3fp1wo

It’s good to hear live music.

We don’t go to festivals or concerts very often…..maybe we need to start?

There’s a lot of street festivals this time of year…it’d be good to get to some of them.