Let There Be Dirt!

The glacier is receding, and in about 68 days our seeds will have a cozy home for setting down roots. In the background our compost pile is exposing more of its glories, such as about 150 banana peels tossed in there since freeze up and lots of other refuse just waiting to rot. Come and get it earthworms!!!!

Back to the weather, around here the big Lake has a big impact. Our home is close to the water and down here the high today was 37 degrees, but just a couple miles over the hill it was in the mid '50s. Craziness! Yeah, spring can be brutal, but come summer we can have days 20-30 degrees cooler at a nice 65-70 while everyone else melts.

Winter and Spring Tug-of-War

The last few days have been rather warm. Yesterday it made the low 40's, and the bright sun made it feel even warmer. Therefore, I figured it was time to encourage warm spring thoughts even more. This is my family's first clothesline of our very own. We have been debating where to put it for a couple years now and I finally just walked out there and strung it up, and boy does it feel good. There's something cathartic (not to be confused with catheter - which also brings relief) about taking it slow while hanging your clothes out in the fresh air.

It was 27 degrees when I hung my winter woolies up to dry, and I hope to make this an annual event on the eve of spring. It got up beyond freezing today, but the sun wasn't out quite long enough. A rescue was in order later on as the snow came blowing in for a visit. Anyhow, scroll down to my posting from two weeks ago to see how far we've advanced toward spring. Before you do that though, if you look close you can see my compost pile all tucked in. I can't wait to uncover it for another year in the gardens!

I actually set my favorite woolies out to dry before going to church this morning. This really isn't work for me, and I got so much joy from it. I did feel a bit guilty though sitting in the worship service reflecting on the fact that my new clothesline was seemingly bringing me more joy than worshipping the Lord of the universe. It was a good lesson that simplicity for simplicity's sake is ultimately not fulfilling. We need to simplify in order to quiet our minds, ready our hearts for more peace, and use our hands to labor for things of eternal significance.

Are there any other clothesline afficionados out there? I'd love to hear from you, because as you know we're kind of a rare breed.

The Four-Wheeled Money Pit

Here's another book that you should read. The author comes at it largely from a financial point of view, but clearly there are many other benefits for your health, stress reduction, the environment, a simpler life,... The average American spends 1/5th of their income on cars. This is the dumbest financial move anyone can make. Even if you're like me and drive beaters, the cost of gas, repairs, taxes, registration, title, and on and on, costs you far more than you think, and then there's the stress! For instance, $350 saved monthly and invested at an 8% annual return would yield $64,031. In reality, most folks spend far more than this.

My family has two vehicles, and this has always bugged me. We have small children though so we do sort of need the van, but I'm thinking perhaps we could go car-lite. However, the commute to my boring job is straight up a steep hill and I don't relish biking that every day. The ride home is a dream though. I just need to bite the bullet methinks and try it for a couple weeks, but our hills are much like San Francisco's. Then of course there are the brutal winters, but where there's a will there's a way. Anyhow, I think having just one car is a decent middle ground that just about any family could do. Being car-free would be a dream though. One could still rent a car occasionally rather than pouring money down a toilet. This is one example where the environment and pocketbook could both benefit. The book is worth your time, and won't take much of it either. There are lots of ideas and examples that will at least challenge your car addiction.

A Blustery Day!

Well we just had a pretty spectacular winter storm up here with gale force winds off the big Lake just 10 mph shy of hurricane strength. The 2 feet of snow wasn't particularly spectacular but the drifting, blowing, thunder and lightning was breathtaking at times. The whole city was pretty much shut down for a day and a half, and it sure is nice to slow down for a bit. Cross country skiing through the fluff is great, and in this stuff it is especially exhilirating to ski the rivers downstream cascading down frozen waterfalls all blanketed in snow as you descend 700 feet to Lake Superior. The flying Elvis's descending from 10000 feet couldn't have a better view!