Eco-Mama’s Muse

…or…My Eco-Conscious Day: An Accounting

Drove the Boy to school. NOT eco (but not late, either)

Drove home and rousted college daughter out of bed and into car on the toe of my boot: NOT eco. Not late for class, but almost.

Brought my lunch to work, consisting of all the stuff I put into two kids’ lunches for the past three days that they refused to eat = half a container of Annie’s bunny crackers, half container of raisins, raw carrots and pea pods (organic!) in a Tupperware without a lid, container of cinnamon organic baby cereal (good snacking). Plus assorted stuff in my desk at work (crackers, hot cocoa mix). VERY eco and NO WASTE (though not super healthful)

Took my coffee to work in a mug= VERY eco (decaf!)

Dropped my car at the auto place to investigate the CHECK ENGINE light (this is the “good” car so we had to deal with it ASAP, as the other car is about to die). Estimate $80. Vehicle maintenance = eco.

Walked halfway to office from car place but got picked up by coworker. VERY eco

Worked like mad dog, as usual. Made deadline, went to meetings, etc. Usual day….until the phone rang from the auto place. My gas cap was slightly loose. They tightened it for me. NO CHARGE. VERY eco (and bonus points for supporting a local business that in turn took care of me when I needed it)

Continued working until 5:05 when I couldn’t find my car keys and realized that — I forgot to pick up my car and they close at 5! Called and begged them not to leave yet.

Grabbed large purse (from Goodwill), canvas bag (replaced briefcase, much more eco), and empty lunch container (reusable!) and ran a mile and a half in gold, sparkly flip-flops ($3 from the Dollar Store, made in China = NOT eco) — Overall balance of this item = eco
Thanked car guy profusely, got into car all sweaty and drove home, changed into another blouse, organized dinner for 3 Teen Grrrls from the pantry, went back out to teach a class at the Adult School. Drove = NOT eco. But extra income necessary to avoid further debt = eco.

Handed out double-sided info materials in class (using recycled or found paper from bin at work, and double printing even though it messed with the copy machine and annoyed my coworkers.) Semi-eco. (Paper = bad. Recycling = good)

Used chalkboard instead of expensive hi-tech computerized overhead projector that I couldn’t figure out. Energy saved! VERY eco!

Taught a roomful of interesting local people how to promote their upcoming events = enjoyable, if not eco

Stopped at local grocery store on way home for milk; did not buy anything except milk (local dairy) and cranberry juice for daughter. Did not buy chips, ice cream or candy. Wanted to, but didn’t. Brought own bag from the car = eco

Came home and wanted to go to bed but Mr Husband (who was out with the Boy and two feral neighborhood kids being semi-raised by very old grandparents, at an Oakland A’s game — for which we were given FREE tickets) was out of shirts for work, so ironed three (to give him a choice) and discreetly listened in on teen conversation in family room = eco

While ironing, discovered that teens (who in another community might be as likely to bash in mailboxes with baseball bats just for fun, if we had that kind of mailboxes and they had a car and a bat) were laughing, drinking water (really), debating the merits of alarm clocks vs the body’s natural rhythms, and — wait for it — doing a giant jigsaw puzzle. The TV was off.

…and then I woke up.

No, just kidding. It’s all true. VERY eco.
Dinner at last at the computer as everyone goes to bed and I get to eat my long-awaited cold cereal (my favorite dinner)…Priceless.

Hooligans Hit West End Home

This is a Backyard Bliss column that I couldn’t post on the other site. So here it is…

They’re getting bolder. They don’t just come for the compost-buffet anymore. The one or two raccoons that live in my neighborhood have become a growing family of four or five young-uns and a couple adults. The pack has been visiting our backyard most nights for a while now, but they have begun to wear on my nerves.

It’s not just my water garden that they mangled. Despite a chicken wire cover on the barrel, the hooligans have managed to grab every specimen of water plant and munch it to bits. The lily pond is virtually denuded of its flora, which means no pretty water hyacinths blooming this fall. And the mosquito fish have no place to hide, which means sushi for the raccoons.

It’s not just the dumping of the birdbaths every night, nor the random tossing of the pretty marbles I keep in the birdbaths to attract birds. It’s not just the senseless digging in every potted plant, or my daily cleaning of the cats’ water dish after dirty coon-paws have swished in it. All of these I have lived with for two years and shrugged off.

But it’s getting serious. The family of raccoons started dumping the gray garbage can out in front every night a few weeks ago, and that cleanup is not one I want to deal with every day. It looks like our Tahoe vacation cabin when the bears have been by. Trash everywhere – and no, they don’t clean up after themselves.

Then they discovered my clothesline. I hang our clothes to dry in the sun, and if I hang them out late in the afternoon, the clothes might not be dry by sunset. So I’ve left them out all night, to finish drying in morning sunshine. I also have a cute little striped canvas bag in which to keep my clothespins.

This is a fantastic reuse story – it used to store our folded-up hammock, but too many teens in the hammock this summer ripped the hammock, and it has now become a picnic-table-cloth. The storage bag became my clothespin bag, and is especially helpful with its handy clip to keep it within reach on the clothesline.

Well, the raccoons saw that nice striped bag and obviously said, “I must have that chic purse.” I began to see bite marks in the bag, and find it pulled to the ground. Within days I discovered the clothespins dumped in the grass and the bag gone. I found it a few houses away on the lawn. Apparently the stripes clashed with the raccoon’s ring-tails. Not fashionable, clearly. At least I got my clothespin bag back. But every few days I find it on the ground or with fresh teeth-marks.

Then they discovered the laundry. How soft it is. How nice and clean it is. How sweet it smells. How lovely to wipe your hands and face upon after eating. Sun-dried towels are especially crunchy. The down comforter is perfect for blotting your whiskers. And the teens’ clothing is worth stealing altogether. Somewhere at Alameda Point there are some very well-dressed raccoons — if you like saggy pants, rude T-shirts, loud boxers and a gold lame bikini. Watch for them.

When we had that heat spell last week, our house was warm – well, hot – inside, and we left our upstairs windows open for the night breeze. Mr. Husband and I went to bed early Thursday night and left the teens watching TV. Then they went to bed and forgot to close the back door.
When I came down in the morning, I was so annoyed. Darned teens never clean up after themselves. They leave food out, knock over the trash, spill stuff and don’t even clean it up. They – huh? Eat all the cat food? Wash their little hands in the water dish and then touch everything, leaving telltale paw prints? Those darned teens!

Truly, I didn’t need CSI to tell me what had happened. The raccoons had held a party in my kitchen (and ate up all the wasabi peas). And then I couldn’t find one of my daughters. Perhaps they’d kidnapped her to be their queen! (Turned out Daughter had left early for school.)
I quickly looked for the car keys – raccoons can drive, you know – but I saw the cars outside. I checked the safe and found my stash of gold bricks intact, next to Mr. Husband’s collection of “Early Taco Bell” Pepsi glass collection and several of my wedding dresses. Too smart for the raccoons! Maybe…

Needless to say, we no longer leave the laundry hanging out overnight, and we definitely double-check the doors. I keep an eye on my car keys and count my clothespins in the morning.
The raccoons have opposable thumbs. It’s only a matter of time before they pick the lock. Before they learn how to use the computer and the espresso maker, the cell phone and the Wii. I’ll be forced to listen to Guitar Hero and Project Runway full-blast, pick up their discarded laundry and plates, wait on them hand and foot…hmm, just like teenagers.

how I spent my last 10 days

We got home from our mountain vacation at fabulous Daveland a few hours ago and I have been trying to catch up — but with some 1,500 messages, my index finger on the mouse finally gave in. A pity, because all of the stuff I missed was really interesting but my finger says get over it and move on.

I spent some time on the quiet deck of the cabin thinking about the joy of stillness and wanted to say again that sitting still and not being busy (“Idle hands are the devil’s workplace,” of course) are a huge challenge for me. I’m always working off a massive to-do list and have a lot of trouble being here now. At least I recognize that, so I’m getting better — very slowly — at it. Still not comfortable without busy hands. Knitting helps a lot with this, though.

Withdrawal from my invisible Internet friends was a tough one, but it was very nice to sit on the deck of the cabin and watch the sun come up or go down, with fresh hot coffee or a glass of wine (respectively).

Green issues that came up: There is no recycling program in the area we stayed, and a bear problem, so no composting food. We had to take our garbage with us every day and toss it in a Dumpster. It was really horrid to have to throw away “good” compost. But we had to — there was nowhere to put it and after even one day it stank in the house. We dropped our cans and bottles in a recycle bin at the gas station, and I had to fight for that one bec family said it was easier if we just dumped everything in the trash. I couldn’t do that. Nope.

There is no cell coverage or Internet at the cabin so we were truly cut off, and I loved it (despite missing 1,500 fascinating conversations!). Whenever we ventured out and got within range, the teens got onto their cells nonstop, which drove me crazy. One daughter started asking when we were going home on the 2nd day, and partway through asked if her friend could come pick her up and take her home (to an empty house for 3-4 days…uh, right…not likely). Some of the confines of a smallish cabin and 6 of us did get a bit wearing — not so much to me but to the teens, definitely!

However, we cleaned up some junk in the river (North fork of American River) — including a large blue paint tarp that was clogging it up. I picked up lots of cigarette butts (that’s a filthy habit — shame on those of you who drop these. Please stop. Who cares if you smoke? Just don’t litter, please.) Lots of plastic bits, too. Yuk. I also scattered a large canister’s worth of alpine wildflower seeds around the cabin in hopes of adding some plant life to the area. (I checked with the local lumberyard and made sure they were native-types, not tropical beauties). We always try to leave the cabin better than we found it, and another thing I left behind was a reusable coffee filter rather than the bleached white paper ones we found there. Hoping to influence the next set of guests and our dear friends the Getzlers (thanks. Dave and Steph!).

We spent our days at the lakeside beach but I got a bad burn the first day so wasn’t in the sun much after that. Yes, I did use sunscreen, but I was reading and the way I was sitting and the reflection of the sun from the page onto my chest was apparently magnified so I’ve been blistered and am still not over it yet. Lots of aloe and sea plasma have helped. The best thing was not being connected to the phone and email (double-edged sword for me), and sitting in the deck chairs and endlessly knitting. I knitted a cotton washcloth for our kitchen, since I have been longing for some washcloths lately, and made headway on scarves for gifts. I finished one (very cute, pink and cocoa brown stripes) that’s been sitting around for 2 years and also did some needlepoint.

Mr Husband and I went on a terrific hike in the mountains above the cabin, and behind the cabin. Giant boulders, lots of brush underneath, evidence of many animals but none sighted besides dogs, beautiful clouds, the sound of the river, alpine meadows, cool dirt tracks, sugar pinecones, blue jays, and a chipmunk or two. Nice way to reconnect with nature and Mr.Husband of 1 whole married year (though it’s getting closer to 5 years of togetherness already).

We brought all our own food and still have some that didn’t get eaten. And we ate constantly! Luscious dinners, delicious lunches, fabu breakfasts, and each of the kids and us took turns in partnership making meals. Hands-down winners were Simone’s waffles with strawberries and bananas; Savi and Ana’s sub-sandwiches, and Mr Husband’s grilled London broil. Dessert was a toss-up between Mr Husband’s root beer floats or the Boy’s S’mores. All good. And I think I gained 10 pounds just eating and sitting. I re-start the exercise plan tomorrow. (oink)

I took one daughter with me to the thrift store in Tahoe. She scored some back to school clothes for herself, and I got a dozen half-pint Mason jars with all but 2 lids for $2.50. Woo hoo — at the local grocery store, it’s $10 a box or more these days. Found a darling vintage jacket for another daughter, plus some matching yarn to what I was knitting with on the deck, so I was able to add stripes to the scarf. The prices were very, very low and the stock was not picked over by the hip and fabulous as it is down in the Bay Area. I ended up buying a couple of holiday gifts for a buck each and happy to have them on hand already. That’s not “just shopping,” that’s planning ahead.

And finally, we stopped at a farm stand in beautiful rural Dixon on our way home and I got a lug of peaches for $15. Now I can put up some sweet honey peaches for the year. Yay! My garden got really ripe while we were gone and so I picked veggies today and will have my hands full with catching up tomorrow.

Idle hands…

In the "Unbelievable" category

Just got invited to be on “Wife Swap” — yes, reality television rears its ugly head. Because of the AP article, which is ALL OVER the world today and yesterday (Eric K’s mom called from Baltimore to say she’d seen it — and it’s all over Canada, etc.), a producer at NBC saw it and thought I’d be good fodder for the show.

Fodder would be the word. Like, something to put through the machine, get chewed up and shat out. Seriously. Can you imagine? With whom would they match me — to be my opposite family? I’m not a super crunchy granola hippy, as I said in the article — but I’m not straight-laced either. I love shopping, and shoes, and dressing up — which is why that Compact is such a challenge for me. That’s the point. If they stuck me with a bunch of people who like to shop, hell, I like to shop, too. But I’m trying not to add to the general piles of crap in my house and on the planet.

Just for a moment — just for one tiny second — think about how much plastic you throw away every day. Every time you shop. Every birthday. Not even thinking about every Christmas.

Seriously. Is that the legacy you want to leave behind? I’ve got news for you. We are a family of 6, with guests — usually 5-7 people per day in this house, and sometimes way more. We almost NEVER fill our small gray garbage can. Maybe half-way most weeks. And that’s still too much. We always overflow the large recycling can, though. We have 2 composts going and compost paper towels, filters, paper plates, greasy wrappers, bones, etc. If it’s really “meaty” we put it into the green can with leaves, etc. Otherwise, we compost it. And STILL we have too much plastic and garbage for my taste.

I would think with Wife Swap they’d put me with a bunch of hicks in middle America, who eat at McDonald’s and don’t recycle anything because the pinko-commie-tree-hugging-hippy-bastards who hate George Bush and want to kill unborn babies are trying to take our guns away in Washington. But guess what? I can throw down with the Bible verses. I can match wits with the Fundies. Not a problem, because luckily, about anything you can argue one way in the Bible, you can also argue the other way. But I fear the stupidity. I’d be stuck with ignorance, and that’s a disease that’s sadly incurable.

And my poor husband would have to play nicely with what kind of “wife”? What’s the opposite of a earth-loving, recycling, do-gooding, workaholic writer for whom money isn’t everything? Who knows what they’d think up as a 180-degree “match.” A consumerist, narcissistic, gum-popping spendthrift in a gas-guzzler? Uh. Sorry, not this time. I think we’d all be happier right where we are.

So — despite the fat chunk of change they’ve offered to pimp out our happy little lives, I’m gonna say no thanks. Although it is rather entertaining to tell people we’re into Wife Swapping. Just for laffs, I mean.

the end, and the beginning

I think, I think Measure H passed — by 105 votes? That’s the last I heard, and we posted it to the Web but our story for tomorrow still says losing by one vote. At least we didn’t say it had totally lost in big letters. That’s a plus-one for us this week. However, there is a distinct disadvantage to a weekly cycle, mainly, that life goes on no matter when your press run is. So there we are.

Tonight our Mia comes in. Friday our Moni graduates. Our Ana got perfect attendance and a prize (tix to see the A’s) and a B average, which means she’s earned a TV in her room all summer. Our other ones are doing well, and so looking forward to summer. We’re down to one occasional sofa surfer, and that’s nice, but it feels quiet around here — if a houseful of 6 or 7 can be quiet, ever. But so it goes.

Just put a bunch of sliced apples on the dehydrator and whipped up a batch of cat food. Whipped up is an exaggeration — it bubbled in a crockpot all day and I just did the blenderizing and put it away. Ask me about this activity if you really want to know. I’m trying to pass the time until 10:30 when I leave for the airport. Not easy when I go to bed at 10 most nights. We’re going to Chico Saturday for my dear friend Catie’s wedding. Road trip! And we’ll do it the eco way, taking our own lunches and snacks and mugs and water.

The veggies are up and taking over. I seem to have more pumpkins than anything else and that is just not OK. I have one zucchini producing already and a crookneck squash right behind it. There are a couple of mystery squashes growing; my luck they will all turn out to be pumpkins. I also have a couple of gourds growing. Cukes, not so many. I think I have two, and they are very small and not blooming yet. I want lots of those but I may have blown that. May be too late. However, corn is a-coming in, 52 stalks so far and it’s about 3-4 inches high. Growing half an inch a day, it looks like. I also have an abondanza of tomatoes. If they all fruit, I have about a dozen bushes and will be swimming in red and yellow.

Grapes are coming along, though someone/something knocked a branch off. That is tres annoying. That’s months of growing, gone. I have some raspberries that will not likely bloom and fruit but I wanted it as much for the leaves for tea. So that’s actually OK. Any fruit is a bonus. Same goes for the strawberry patch — which is doing OK. We’ve lost some with hot spells and then chilly weather, but they are doing all right. I haven’t had much fruit, though. Raccoons? Maybe.

I thought I had finished putting the fourth grade’s poetry book together when I just realized that half the pages printed upside down. Damn! That’s a $50 loss in printing fees and I’ll have to go back and print it again. Before Friday! Such a bummer. Waste of paper, too. That’s all I have to say about that because I am so annoyed that I want to throw something. Grrrr!

And…looks like we’re not moving to the West End just yet. We are back on the market for another office. Other place didn’t work out, which is a serious bummer because I loved the space, the location, the cheerful color scheme, and all the potential. Sigh. We’re working with our good friend Kathy Moehring of WABA (West Alameda Biz Assn) to find us a better space. Watch for the announcement here…

And…had a great visit with my parents and Aunt Barbara over the weekend — truly fun and pleasant and good food and lots of laughing. Her only regret was that she didn’t get to see all the kids.

This begins to sound like a to-do-list in reverse. I-did-em-all, I guess you’d call it. Well, I did. And I’m justifiably tired but proud. What have you done lately? Drop a line and let us know.

Lesson recently learned: Get it in writing.

Another lesson recently learned: I’m happiest when I’m at home. And glad I have one.