Doing what you love is sustainable

So many of us are so busy with all our various obligations: work, family, kids, houses, mates, that we forget sometimes to make time to do the things we really love.

I was reminded this weekend of one of the things I used to love - birdwatching, which, I haven't really actively done in a long time. I'm actually okay with this, as I've come to discover other activities I enjoy, or should I say, just happen to be priorities at this time in my life.

One - is running, and the second - is writing. I've actually run on and off for exercise since I was in high school. Only in the past year, and perhaps even the past four to five months, have I discovered the joy I can get out of pushing my body to go farther or faster than I thought I could. Of course, running also triggers lots of feel-good endorphins, as does most exercise, so that's an added bonus. There is however, something fabulous about pushing your limits.

The mornings when I run and write are the days which just flow, and are the most even and balanced. The two activities seem to balance me in just the right way. I think because they are two activities I absolutely must do - my body, my soul, call it what you will, but it's like my entire being is boosted when I do these two things.

There is something really magical about the power of training. Just as when I run more and longer, I train my body to handle longer distances, the same is true of writing. The more I write, and the more time I spend crafting my words carefully, the stronger a writer I become. Both of course, like life in general, are works in progress.

Though I could be using my running time to do other things, for me, this is sacred time I need to remain healthy and balanced. And, when we are healthy and balanced is when we bring our best selves to whatever work or task is in front of us, or contribution which is calling us.

I've also discovered a wonderful community of runners. Ironically, many of my friends have been running for years - good friends from high school, past jobs, etc - all run. I knew they were runners, but I never really understood it as something they'd committed to.

Finally, I've discovered the many benefits. Perhaps it's our tribal nature, but there is also some uncanny bond or connection when you talk with someone who runs, participate in or watch a race. You want each person to succeed, and you want to motivate one another. This is also one of the great benefits of running, from my dental hygienist who encouraged me to run my first 5K, to my friend out west who's been training for marathons for over five years, sometimes by our own committment and action, we encourage each other to become our best.

Cultivating discipline, endurance, committment and steadfastness in any activity, whether running, writing, or gardening, especially one we love, can only lead to greater opening and joy. How can this be anything other than essential to sustainable living!

Figs, Fig Wasps, and Pollinators in Decline Symposium

Below is an interesting link/information I received earlier today about an upcoming symposium on the decline of pollinators. This particularly caught my attention since I'm teaching a course on Biology of Ecosystems, and was just reading in one of the texts, Noah's Garden, how fig plants are reliant upon the fig wasp for pollination, and how one gardener's figs didn't fruit because there were no fig wasps to pollinate.

Sounds crazy - I know. Here's a link to some fig 'fanatics', that is, biologists who study figs and fig wasps. And, if you're not believing me, here's a link to an image that describes the process. In scientific terms, this relationship between the fig plant and the fig wasp is called mutualism.

(Double-click the image to read it. Source: Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/bps/media-view/19378/0/0/0)

So, here's a concept, we wouldn't have much of our food resources without our pollinators, so pollinators = sustainability.


Onto the Symposium Announcement:

International Symposium Addresses the Pollinator Declines

WASHINGTON, D.C., OCTOBER19, 2011, --/WORLD-WIRE/-- One out of everythird bite of food we consume comes from plants that depend on beesand other pollinating animals for reproduction, yet Colony CollapseDisorder continues to plague honey bees, stump researchers, and alarmthe agricultural community. While many people are aware of pollinatordeclines, very few know how they can help. Now is the chance!

A week of brainstorming and technology transfer between NorthAmerica’s leading pollinator scientists and stakeholders at the 11thAnnual North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC)International Conference will begin with a film screening for thepublic and press of “The Strange Disappearance of the Bees” at theSmithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Baird Auditorium onTuesday October 25th at 3:30 PM. Attendees will have a chance toparticipate in a question and answer session with the leadingpollinator authorities following the film screening.

Additionally, the public is invited to join the NAPPC morningsymposium, “Our Future Flies on the Wings of Pollinators” onWednesday, October 26, 2011 from 9-11 AM featuring keynote addressesby; Bryan Arroyo, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Ed Flanagan, JasperWyman & Son, Rev. Richard Cizik, The New Evangelical Partnership forthe Common Good, and more. During this public session, the Bee SmartTMMobile Planting App and the Bee SmartTM School Garden Kit willofficially be released. The Bee SmartTM School Garden Kit is gearedfor 3-6 grade classrooms interested in learning about the connectionbetween pollinators, food, and people. The Bee SmartTM Mobile PlantingApp is the only pollinator planting app available for smartphones, andprovides nearly 1,000 different planting suggestions based on the typeof pollinator habitat gardeners want to create. “These new toolsgive hands-on support to make a real difference for bees and allpollinators,” said Laurie Davies Adams, ED of the PollinatorPartnership (P2), the 501(c)3 that oversees NAPPC.

The public will also witness the signing of a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU) between P2 and the National Park Service. With thesigning of the new MOU, the total acreage influenced by P2 to promotepollinators will be tipped close to 2 billion acres.

Recipients of the Pollinator Advocate Award will be honored for thework they done for pollinators in local gardens (Dr. Clement Kent –Canada), along utility rights-of-way (Jimmy Brown – USA), acrossagricultural landscapes (Peter and Laura Berthelsen – USA), and atmigration overwintering sites (Dr. Isabel Ramirez – Mexico) at theTuesday VIP evening reception. P2 supporter Spring44 will be at thisevent sweetening the reception with specially crafted cocktails madefrom their signature Honey Vodka; this sustainable spirit is availablenationally and each purchase supports P2’s pollinator conservation.

The NAPPC Symposium is a unique opportunity to get the latest insightson why pollinators matter, what you can do to help pollinators, andwhat are the benefits, challenges, and outcomes anticipated across thecontinent in the next decade. Please join NAPPC and explore theinteraction between humans, plants and pollinators, broadening ourunderstanding of the role pollinators play in major issues facingNorth America. Visit http://www.nappc.org/ to RSVP and learn more about theseevents.

Managed by the non-profit Pollinator Partnership, NAPPC is acollaborative effort of over 130 organizations in the U.S., Canada,and Mexico whose common goal is to promote awareness of the essentialrole that pollinators play in food systems and ecosystems, and toprovide the public with simple, effective ways to engage inenvironmental stewardship.

To learn more about the North AmericanPollinator Protection Campaign visit http://www.nappc.org/ or the PollinatorPartnership visithttp://www.pollinator.org.

CONTACT:
Tom Van Arsdall
tva@pollinator.org <mailto:tva@pollinator.org>
t: 703 509 4746

Olivia Jacobsen
oj@pollinator.org <mailto:oj@pollinator.org>
t: 415.362.1137

10 life lessons learned

It's been quite a while since I posted here. Sometimes life just gets busy...work, more work, house, exercise, meditate, garden, play...it all takes time.

However, in my commitment to follow through on those things I say I will do, below is my top 10 list of 'insights' I came away with on my trip this summer out to the Pacific Northwest to visit friends.

Most are inspired by the stories and experiences shared with people I have known a long time, some almost twenty years. Most were friends who were at one time a daily part of my life, but now mostly we exchange occasional 'hello' and 'how are you' messages via Facebook.

I spent a lot of time one on one, catching up on the intricacies of life, the loves come and gone, the kids that have grown up and graduated, new jobs, illness, weddings. Life moves forward, and yet, I find with people whom I've known so intimately, we easily fall back into a familiar rhythm.

I know this post seems a bit off topic from 'sustainability', but living sustainably, in my opinion, means cultivating deep community. My community expands far beyond the borders of Saratoga, where I live. I still rely upon these friends, near and far, to help nurture and support my creativity and sense of purpose, as I hope I do for them. Of course, cultivating community locally is really essential for what I call deep sustainability. Still, these connections we have with people who live afar are equally important, though perhaps less frequent. Some simply feed some aspect of our soul, and keeping those connections is essential.

So, here's my list of the top 10 great insights/reminders I came away with - inspired by my Oly friends!

1) Good friends who care deeply about you will always be your friends regardless of where you are located - learn to carry them in your heart and you can call upon them at any time.
2) Love takes time - the kind that's really lasting anyways. And sometimes, 'being in love just isn't enough', as one friend said to me of her brief but passionate long-distance romance
3) There is always someone whose life experience has been more difficult than your own - learn from those people's challenges and strengths
4) Change happens - to us all
5) Keep in touch with the people you care about-sometimes they need you more than you might expect
6) Love deeply and care about what you do
7) Laugh a lot!
8) Sometimes it's not so essential to take everything so seriously
9) Enjoy what you have while you have it
10) Be thankful !

It may all seem so simple, but sometimes we need simple reminders to be thankful. Life can change instantly, as I learned of one friend who had a serious illness come upon fast.

And, as people come and go in our lives, there will always be those constancies. They can help you get through the tough times. In the meantime, reaching out to people near you - like my neighbors with whom I share a kindred feeling of 'neighborliness'. We even gardened together this summer. Sharing resources, ideas, information, creativity - that's an essential part of a thriving life, and, in my opinion, for building deep community and sustainability...

So, connect with an old friend, and have a cup of coffee with your neighbor - both may surprise and delight you.

Mid-summer dream

Sorry it has been some time since I posted. I was out of town in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) for two weeks, while most of the east coast sweltered in 100+ degree weather. While I was away, some of my garlic dried up (boo hoo), but otherwise life went on and my garden is slowly growing.

This was a significant journey as I lived out west for nine years, so it's much like going home, except this time I felt more like a tourist than resident. I've now lived back on the east coast for ten years - one more year than I did out west.

I knew I'd become a true east coaster when about 20 minutes into the drive down I-5 toward Olympia, I asked my friend who had picked me up from the airport, "So, what's with all this rain?", in true east-coast fashion, direct and to the point. I couldn't get over the gray skies and rain coming down in the middle of the day.

Granted, the PNW is experiencing an unseasonably wet and rainy summer. Typically by mid-July, the summer weather consists of sunny blue skies with temps in the 80's. Still, it does rain out there a lot the remainder of the year. I was surprised at how tall the trees were, and how dark it felt. I suppose after living on the east coast for so many years now I am more accustomed to four seasons, hot summer, warm pleasant fall, coooold winter, wet spring waiting for snow to melt.

Still, after numerous folks telling me, "be glad you're not in the heat, it's oppressive", I have in retrospect appreciated the mid-60's, low 70's temps I was in while other friends and family were boiling. Except, what I also came to realize was how intimately tied our physical bodies become to our surroundings. After our cold snowy winter, I relish walking out of my air-conditioned office building into the warm summer heat.

Ahh, still, so many wonderful things learned and experienced. I've often used the Pacific Northwest and west coast in general as a sort of sustainable living/community benchmark. For example, 'sustainability' is all the buzz-word here on the east coast, which is great! Still, the City of Olympia was talking about 'sustainability and climate change' twenty years ago - and incorporating these issues into their comprehensive plans. As always, I often have some great environmental insights, and this trip I had several environmental Aha's:

1) Food waste/yard waste composting with roadside pickup is possible! Seattle, Olympia, and many surrounding communities now have this curbside service. That's been a dream of mine for Saratoga/Capital Region for a long time. They are doing it, so it is possible!



2) Seattle/Tacoma finally constructed a major section of Light Rail, connecting downtown Seattle to Sea-Tac Airport! What a dream, and multi-modal experience. I carpooled with friends from Olympia up to the Ferry in Seattle, that took me to Bainbridge Island to visit friends. On my way back I walked by foot from my friends house down to the ferry terminal on the island, rode the ferry over to Seattle, from there walked 5 blocks to the light rail station, then rode light rail to the Airport! A great experience.

3) I was reminded of what a 'bike-friendly' city Seattle and others are. Here is my friend Bryan, who rides the ferry over to Seattle, then bikes another 40 mins to get to work - like many people who live on the Island, he and his wife share one car. The ferry terminal had an entire small building dedicated to 'bike lockers' - where commuters could pay a certain amount per month to store their bikes while they rode the ferry over to Seattle. Even the light rail train had a special area to hang bikes.





And of course, on a personal level, I had many wonderful exchanges and sharing and lessons and reminders which are always wonderful reflections and gauges of how far one has come in their personal life, and perhaps, the next direction to go. I've decided to share these in a later post.

The most important thing I learned though, is it's official, I really am an east coaster - and with that - I'm going to the beach! (Though, for the record, there is still nothing like fresh-grilled salmon from the Pacific Northwest, yes, it even beats fresh lobster from Maine - me thinks!)

Practice Inspiring Yourself

This is somewhat off topic - but an important recent experience I really want to share. And that is, I recently ran my first 5k - the Freihoffer's Run for Women in Albany a few weeks back. After, as friends asked me how it was, I realized, perhaps one of the most significant outcomes of training for and completing that run, was that I inspired my self!

I love people who inspire me - they are the kinds of folks I want in my life - friends who ask me the right questions at the right time, or help me to be kinder, or more gentle with myself and others, or pursue my dreams. And, as a teacher - I love to help inspire others.

I think I can say though, I am accustomed to looking to others to somehow inspire me. Finishing that run - running the last stretch down the Madison Ave hill and under the State Museum overhang, then crossing that finish line - I felt like a true winner. And, I was, myself and all 4,000+ other women who ran it.

Besides crossing that finish line intact, the next best outcome of the run was how my decision to run it and train for it - inspired me. I realize now it's because I took the time to set a goal, train for it, and then complete it. It's been a while since I've done training of any kind, and so on race day, as I turned the corner at the end of mile #2, I was feeling burnt out and exhausted. But then, something kicked in - and I told myself, I can do this. I've been running and training since March.

So a few days ago when a good friend asked me how the run was, I told her, most important was that I inspired myself. I've wanted to run the Freihoffers Run since I first moved to Albany in 2003. A few weeks ago - I did it! My goal was to run the entire way, no stopping or walking, and to finish it. And, I did! Now I'm looking to run another 5k in the fall - and focus on improving my time.

So, I ask others - do you have a goal or a dream - something you've wanted to accomplish but haven't? Have you been looking to or waiting for others to somehow inspire you to complete it? What can you do now to begin that goal - to accomplish or complete something this year which will Inspire Yourself?

Whatever it is - Just Begin - Just Do It - because I can promise when you cross that finish line, the most important person you will have pleased - is yourself!

It's Planting Time!

'Tis the season to be planting your garden. Like many, the past few weeks I've been cleaning up my garden beds, adding compost from my compost pile to the beds, and building up the soil using a technique called sheet mulching.

Sheet mulching is a standard permaculture technique used for growing vegetables. Rather than digging down and turning over the soil, in essence, disturbing the natural layers of soil and various organic matter and critters (think worms, and other detritus-loving invertebrates), instead, sheet mulching builds up the soil, creating additional layers.

For my existing beds, this meant a narrow layer of leaf litter, covered with single sheets of newspaper wetted-down to act as a weed barrier, then several inches of compost. Once I plant into this, I'll then cover the beds with a layer of straw. The straw helps hold in moisture.

Above is a photo of the weed-barrier step in sheet mulching, from my friends house in Maine last summer.

Sheet mulching is also an ideal technique to use when you want to convert lawn to garden. Here's a link that outlines the sheet mulch method for converting lawn to garden. They use cardboard, which is essential when trying to cut out the grass and other weeds. For existing raised beds, newspaper will suffice.

And for those interested, I also often try to follow (loosely), the Farmer's Almanace Lunar Planting Calendar. See my earlier post from last summer that discusses the technique of gardening by the moon in more detail. Here's the current lunar planting calendar for the northeast.

Happy Gardening!

Register for Bike to Work Day - Friday May 20th

Register today for Saratoga Healthy Transportation Network's 3rd annual Saratoga Bike to Work Challenge!

As a SUNY Empire State College employee and participant in last year's challenge, which by the way, the College won for most # of participants, I hear we have a serious contender this year. So, join me in registering for Bike to Work Day.

This is a great opportunity to help generate interest and awareness in bicycling and bike-safety.

In case you didn't know, May is dedicated as National Bike Month, this week is Bike to Work Week, and Friday May 20th is National Bike to Work Day,

Healthy Transportation Network is our local bicycling advocacy group, sponsoring their 3rd annual Saratoga Bike To Work Challenge.

Over 120 riders have already registered, and lots more are expected. This is a great opportunity for your Company/School/Organization to claim one of the great trophies offered (the GearHead, SteerHead, ForHead trophies)

Saratoga Springs Mayor Scott Johnson has also proclaimed May 20th Bike to Work Day in Saratoga

Healthy Transportation Network will also offer a FREE BREAKFAST at the Arts Center on Broadway Friday morning, May 20th, from 6:30 until 9 am. So stop by for a quick breakfast and support your fellow riders.

Stewart's Shops has donated coupons for ice cream cones for all participants.

Sign up today! http://www.healthytransportation.org/