How Long Must they Wait?

It's been two years since Katrina. People are still without homes. Without water. Without medical care. Without.

Private agencies, individuals, churches, even foreign governments have stepped up to the plate. But our government is doing... what?

Here's a video from Brave New Foundation. It left me speechless. Please watch it. Then call your Congresspeople.

Read This: "It's Not About The Hair"

Coming soon: my good friend Debra Jarvis's wonderful book, "It's Not About the Hair" which tells about her experience with breast cancer in the way only Debra can tell it. Which is to say: with love, tenderness, compassion, courage and wit.

Debra is an oncology chaplain at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, which gives her insight on many levels. Her courage fills me with awe, as does the special bond she has with her husband, which she shares in the book. She writes powerfully about her relationship with God and her experiences with prayer. She can make you laugh out loud, and just as quickly have you on the verge of tears.

I think any woman with breast cancer — whether she's just been diagnosed, is in mid-chemo, is considered a survivor or is now living with advanced disease — will benefit in some way from reading this book. As will their spouses, partners, parents, co-workers and friends.

You can read more about Debra, the book, her thoughts about life on her blog: It's Not About the Hair

The book comes out in September. You can pre-order it at Amazon today. Go do it. Scoot.

Taking the Bus

It was like a chain reaction. Link number one: Sixth grade son is in a school that for many reasons (and with no malice aforethought) turned out to be the wrong place for him. So he's transferring to another school in the fall. It's much closer to home. He'll be able to take the Metro. Or even walk, if he gets up early enough.

Link number two: The new school is one of our "international schools," which means that, among other things, the kids take three years of a world language. Pretty exciting. Link number three: instead of picking something simple — say, Spanish, which I speak — he wants to take Japanese. OK, fine, but he has to do some serious catch-up. Link number four: we locate a really good tutor. She teaches in the evenings at the Central Library. Um. Gee. Hmmm... Downtown Seattle at rush hour? Parking downtown before the meters free up at 6? And then it hit me: wait! Our neighborhood bus route drops us right in front of the Central Library.

So, no problem. We got bus passes, we checked the online schedule, found out what time to leave home to catch the bus, and it's been working fine. Even the return trip isn't so bad, and we have two options for getting out of downtown.

There's just this: the entire tutoring "event" takes nearly three hours. 45 minutes each way on the bus. And 90 minutes of intense tutoring. And that's if we don't miss the 7:10 return bus, which we usually do. So make it more like 3-1/2 hours. It's worth every minute—Yukie is that good—but it's hard not to think of the 45 minute bus trip as wasted time.

And yet, it's not wasted. My thirteen year old is one of those adolescents who still likes hanging with his mom. He's not embarrassed to be seen with me, and he's generally cheerful and loving. He's interested in everything that goes on around him, and somehow riding the bus has turned into a special time for the two of us. It's a blessing. I'm looking forward to next month when he starts taking two lessons a week!

Why I Drive

The time for gloating about the Biodieselmobile is past. Last week I put 100 miles on the thing in just under three days. Granted, some of those miles were because of two trips across the Lake (in horrific traffic, I might add) that I take infrequently but just happened to occur on the very same day! And my bus-riding son had a scheduling problem that required my (and the car's) attention. But it got me to thinking: what is it that makes me jump in the car, when we live in a walkable neighborhood with two great bus lines and one mediocre one within easy walking distance.

The answer is: time.

The bus doesn't go where I'm going when I need to get there. The bus takes too long. The bus has a bad connection with another bus that requires me to stand and wait. The return trip puts me back at the house later than I can reasonably get there. I get in the car because I want to GET THERE FASTER. I do not want to be inconvenienced.

Another part of the answer is: poor planning. As in "Ooops, I worked on this article for far too long and now I have to be across town in 10 minutes." Leap in the car, drive impatiently in bad traffic, heart pounding and stress level rising in direct proportion to how late I left the house to begin with.

When I was a suburban driver of a minivan (a bigger gas hog than I ever wanted to admit), I planned my errand days very carefully. I made a loop. I never back-tracked. I tried to do errands in a central place, found dry cleaner, grocery store, pharmacy and even coffee shop all where I could drive and park just once. No zig-zagging for me. I was proud of that.

Now I'm urban. Two grocery stores within walking distance. (Three, actually, but the third is kinda scuzzy and I don't like shopping there.) I have been known, recently, to send the kids to pick up bread, milk, salad items. They like it and (don't tell them) it's exercise.

It's the other stuff. Getting across town to pick up my orthotics. Going to the doctor (whose office is not really on a bus line, but it's close). Getting to the downtown library in time for my son's Japanese lesson. Going to the movies, church, choir, meetings, and so forth. It's just too dang convenient to jump in the car. And yet...

...when I was younger, and had no car (and no driver's license), I rode the bus all the time. I carried a book. Later on, I carried a tape player (today it would be an iPod) and listened to music. I lived slower.

Living slower - is that such a bad thing?

Change that bulb!

Here's something almost anybody can do. Change a lightbult - or two - or ten - from incandescent, which spends most of its energy as heat, to compact fluorescent, which spends most of its energy as light.

No, they don't flicker... or take five minutes to warm up... and yes, they give out lots of light to read, work, and play by. Trust me. My husband used to take them OUT of the lamps I put them in. At the beginning of this month, we got some bulbs and changed everything we could.

I'd like to know if anyone knows where to get bulbs that work in recessed lighting "cans." I'm checking out some web sites and will report back. In the meantime, you can use the energy savings calculator at One Billion Bulbs and see how much good you're doing when you change just one bulb. Or two. Or ten. Or...

Mother's Day for Peace

Reminder: Mother's Day is this coming Sunday.
Suggestion: Don't send flowers, candy, silly trinkets that will gather dust. Instead, give a gift in your mom's honor - a gift that might just move us closer to peace. Here's a video that takes us back to the original meaning and purpose of Mother's Day. Take a couple of minutes, please, to watch it.

Voting with my feet

We're lucky to live in a very walk-able neighborhood, which is also just gorgeous to look at right now. Everything's blooming. Our street in particular looks like an extravagantly decorated cake.

Last week our much-awaited neighborhood grocery store opened. We've been watching the construction since we moved here about 8 months ago. Now we have fresh produce, a great deli counter, and most of what we need to throw dinner together (which is all I do, in the cooking department) 7 minutes away. It's really hard to justify driving anywhere else, except maybe for paper goods.

Yesterday my son and I were on the way home with our dinner ingredients and I realized: these people are running a grocery store without a parking lot, on a street where there is NO PARKING. And the place has been doing steady, enthusiastic business since the minute they unlocked the door. It makes me feel good about my neighbors all over again.

How far did your breakfast travel?

There's much discussion these days about the 3,000-mile salad. How much fuel was used, and how many greenhouse gases were generated, to get our food from point A, where it was grown, to point B, where we sat down and ate it?

In the steady stream of articles, blogs, and books by and about eating locally and in season, one stands out. I'm reading and enjoying "Plenty" by Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, who also published "The 100-mile diet."

James and Alisa live in an apartment in Vancouver, BC, and I've found their year of eating locally (described in "Plenty") to be a fascinating journey in research, cooking, spiritual and relationship growth.

This morning I used Google maps to find out what falls within MY 100-mile circle. I started making my own map, saving my discoveries as I go. I'm ok on fruits and vegetables, thanks to the many berry farms, apple orchards, and small organic vegetable farms in the surrounding area. We have great farmers' markets (in fact, within walking distance, or an bus ride, I have one on Wednesday, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday, each in a different neighborhood, not to mention the great-grandmama of them all: the Pike Place Market.

And there are several dairies within my 100 miles, so cheese, milk and yogurt are not a problem. A couple of them are well-known for standing their ground and refusing to feed hormones to their cows. So we'll know what we're drinking.

It gets touchier in the grain department. Wheat might be an issue (it was a big issue for Alisa and James), and requires deeper research. What about corn? beans? soybeans for my soymilk? And forget coffee. (oh no!) What about tea? Who knows. There are packagers of tea in the northwest but I have no idea where their tea comes from in the first place.

Draw your own circle on a map and see what you find! You can use Google maps and create your own map, pinpointing and saving the farms, orchards, markets, dairies, you find. Or get a paper map, a compass & pencil and draw a circle the old fashioned way. Then start exploring.

By the way, Alisa and James are on a book tour. I highly recommend meeting them and reading their book.

FREE HUGS!

No Impact Man shared this video this morning and I want to pass it on. It's worth watching and worth sharing!

Read more about the amazing Free Hugs movement -- and watch some pretty amazing videos -- at Free Hugs.

(music in the video is by Sick Puppies - album out April3)

3308 and counting...

As of today there have been 3308 U.S. military fatalities in Iraq, a number confirmed by the Department of Defense. It's been hard to get my head around that number. Then someone helped me.

On Saturday afternoon, we were on our usual stroll with the Very Large Dog, when we came upon this sight:



This display was installed at Green Lake Park by a non-partisan group called Arlington Northwest Memorial. There's a marker for every service-person who has died to date, with their name, age, and in many cases, how they were killed. It is enough to stop you in your tracks. It certainly stopped me. People were wandering respectfully in and out of the "cemetery" which went on around a sweeping curve, literally as far as our eyes could see.


I just pray that we won't see an even bigger display next year...

Step it Up! Rallying everywhere

If you are concerned about global warming - climate change - climate crisis - Saturday is a day you can make your voice heard. Check out the Seattle-area website for Step It Up! Seattle". For those of you not in the Emerald City area, you can find a rally or event in your area by clicking here Step It Up!

I've been reading about what different groups are planning, and my favorite event so far is in NYC, where people dressed in blue (for water) are going to stand in a line marking where the water level will be if the ice caps continue to melt... There's a map. It's not a pretty sight.

Show up!

Meet No Impact Man!

Here I've been feeling so smug about how we're driving a biodiesel car and have a tankless hot water tank... And then a friend told me to check out this blog: No Impact Man and I did and I love it.

Here's how he describes himself on the blog:
"No Impact Man: a guilty liberal finally snaps, swears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle nut, turns off his power, composts his poop, and while living in NYC, generally turns into a tree-hugging lunatic who tires to save the polar bears and the rest of the planet from environmental catastrophe while dragging his baby daughter and Prada-wearing, Four Seasons-loving wife along for the ride."

I'm not sure about composting your own poop... but today I read a post from a few days back about how he and his family carry cloth napkins with them everywhere - so they don't use paper towels in restrooms, and they don't use paper napkins in restaurants. I'm still trying to get my family to use cloth napkins and swear off paper towels in the kitchen! (I've been trying to figure out why, in a city that frenetically recycles practically everything, and even provides a yard waste/food scraps container, our household is still making so much garbage... and a lot of what I see is crumpled paper towels... hmmm....)

Go visit No Impact Man. You may just find one more small thing you can do to become GREENER.

Almost tax day. Do you know where your dollars are?

Our friends at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) have a new flier called "Where do our income tax dollars go?" The answer is clear: not where I want my dollars to be going.

Here are some numbers from the flier:
41 cents of every dollar I pay goes to pay for the war, obligations from past wars, (including veterans programs) and interest on the military portions of the national debt.
19 cents goes for health programs, including Medicaid and parts of Medicare
12 cents goes to help the poor in the US, through food programs, housing assistance, income supports and energy assistance
10 cents goes for interest on the non-military portion of the national debt
5 cents goes to promote community and economic development
5 cents goes for education, job training, employment and social service
4 cents goes to run the government, including law enforcement, homeland security and benefits for government employees
3 cents goes for science, energy and environmental programs
1 cent goes for humanitarian aid and international cooperation.

Is this how you want your dollar to be divided up? Personally, I'm concerned about that big, fat 41 cents at the top of the list. (It would be semi-palatable if most of it were spent on veterans' medical care -- but judging from recent news stories about the treatment the Iraq War vets are receiving, I'd say it's not.)

Perhaps you feel the same way. If you do, you can download a pdf of the flier here

Make copies. Pass them out at school. Give them to your friends. Send one to your congressman or woman -- and tell them this is not how you'd like them to be spending your money.

(Source: Friends Committee on National Legislation, 245 Second Street, Washington DC 20002)

We're Greener!

Here at Chez Byrd, we got tired of weeping and gnashing our teeth and wailing, "Oh, what can we do? The ice caps are melting! What can we do?" So bit by bit, we're trying to make a difference in our little corner. The latest New Thing is that we have chosen to pay a little bit extra to our electric company to join the "Green Up!" program.

For a mere 12 bucks a month, we are now purchasing 100% of our household electrical power from renewable energy sources, one of which is the Stateline Wind Project. We think there's enough wind to go around, if we can just harness it, and you can probably do that without fighting any wars. I even think those stately silver wind turbines are beautiful in their own way.

Click and visit the Stateline Wind Project to learn about their other renewable energy projects and see some cool photos of the windmills.

For the cynical among us, it's good to note that part of our monthly $12 goes to the renewable energy (which includes construction of programs that are in the development stages), and part of it goes to local demonstration projects. Which is fine with me. The more people learn about the alternatives that already exist, the more people will be willing to chip in — which is so much more productive (and less painful) than all the teeth-gnashing that's going on.

Iraq Veterans Memorial Launch

I'm proud to share in today's launch of the Iraq Veterans Memorial, conceived and produced by the Brave New foundation. Here is their statement about the Memorial:

"This memorial was conceived as a place to honor the service members who lost their lives over the past four years during the Iraq War. By watching the videos, you will have the opportunity to learn about these heroes from those who knew them best -- their family, friends, and fellow servicemembers. Each man and woman represented in the memorial had attributes and qualities that made them unique, but they all have one thing in common - they were truly loved and are deeply missed. Sincerely,
Jim Miller and the team at Brave New Foundation"

Along with 500 other bloggers, I ask you to take a moment now, click the arrow below, and watch these videos.

Are the Democrats coming through?

Can it be true? The Dems have a plan to withdraw the troops... not nearly soon enough, but at least it's a plan. I'm vaguely encouraged and need to learn more. Read about it at CNN.com.

I know bad things will happen - very bad things - to the Iraqis who have worked with the U.S. And we managed to destroy the fabric that holds the country together - even basic services for daily living, like electricity and water, which we seem unable to restore. But I want the troops home. No more legless, armless 20-year olds. No more closed head injuries that change young people's lives forever.

Coming Soon: Iraq Veterans Memorial Video

This is a preview - an announcement - and a request.

The fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq conflict is March 19th. Four years. Over 3,200 U.S. servicemen and women dead. Thousands more wounded. Uncounted Iraqi civilians killed and injured as well.

Here's a way to remember and honor all those U.S. servicemen and women who have been killed in Iraq. Take a moment and watch the preview (just click on the arrow to view the YouTube video preview):



On March 17, people all over the world will simultaneously upload the Iraq Veterans Memorial video to their web sites and blogs. If you're a vet, or loved a vet who was killed, visit Iraq Veterans Memorial to find out how to share your story.

Be well.

"Stand Up Against the Surge" - Molly Ivins

Oh, no.

Molly Ivins died yesterday. Her column "Stand Up Against the Surge" was my catalyst for re-starting this blog, and for the political protest I am making in my own small way.

Here's the column: "Stand Up Against the Surge" by Molly Ivins.

If you don't have time for the whole column, just read this. Molly wrote:

"We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on January 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'"

OK, now. In honor of Molly, get up and walk away from your computer. Buy a yard sign. Start a petition. Call Congress. Do something, anything, to show that you believe the war is wrong.

Molly Ivins, you were a heckuva writer. And an inspiration to us all. Rest in peace.

Join the Virtual March today

It's time to stand up and be counted. We have to let Congress know we are opposed to escalation of any kind in Iraq.

And here's one way you and I and everyone we know can do our part: join the Virtual March at MoveOn.org today. Here's the link: VIRTUAL MARCH Calling your Senator's office is not as scary as it might seem. In fact, it is our right — our privilege — our duty to keep the democratic process rolling. In my case, it took me just a few minutes to call both Senator Murray and Senator Cantwell's offices. Both phones were answered almost immediately and I was able to leave my message. It doesn't have to be a long message, although the staffers are prepared to answer questions if you have them.

MoveOn.org provides the phone numbers. They've made it so simple. And once you've made the call, there's a link to click on the MoveOn.org web page, to share your results. They're counting calls and you can scroll over their map and see how many people have actually made phone calls in your Congressional District. Add yourself to the number. Do it now.

Diplomacy. Not.

The other day I said I was going to call my Congress-people daily about the Iraq war. I realized later — of course — that calling every single day would be a good way to be labelled a "flake" and have people pay no attention to me at all. New plan: I'm following legislation as closely as I can, and calling when I have specific questions.

Today, I called Senator Maria Cantwell. Her staffer was very polite, and said that Sen. Cantwell is opposed to the President's plan for escalation (good news), and that she is looking toward a diplomatic solution. I asked for more details about the "diplomatic solution" but the office is making no formal statements at this time. Also no comments on the various Iraq-related bills being proposed by other senators.

A statement on Sen. Cantwell's web site says:

"The president’s statement tonight hangs our Iraq policy moving forward on 20,000 troops to stabilize Baghdad. Our strategy must be to significantly change the course by holding Iraqis to sooner timetables on taking security control, passing an oil law, and making the other political compromises necessary to ease disagreements among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.” (posted on January 10th, 2007).

I don't undestand how we will ever "do diplomacy" in a country that neither likes nor respects us. It's as though we took a baseball bat to a hornet's nest, and now we want the hornets to sit still and quit being so angry. (Way too simple, but you get my point.)

The thing is: while we're doing all this talking, people are dying. Even more people are returning home maimed — whether their homes are in Baghdad or Boston.

Last week, Danny Westneat, one our local columnists, wrote about some protesters who have finally given up their protest, due to lack of participation. Read it here It was heart-wrenching to read. The kids and I have actually saluted that ever-dwindling group of protesters while walking the Very Large Dog. Now they're gone. What does that say?

If there are so many of us who care about the war — ending it, that is — that we actually succeeded in overturning the balance of power in Congress, why have things seemingly come to a standstill? What should we be doing? Any ideas out there?

(Gratitude... oh, gosh. It's hard today. But: it's not snowing. It's not raining. And I think some crocuses are coming up in my front yard.)

Contacting My Congresspeople

Yesterday, I did two things about the war, my two small drops in the bucket. I'm aware that there are several bills (some binding, some nonbinding, some even bipartisan) working their way through the Senate and the House.

This statement from Sen. Ted Kennedy is a start: "Our bill will say that no additional troops can be sent and no additional dollars can be spent on such an escalation, unless and until Congress approves the President’s plan." Read more about Kennedy's bill here.

Read about several other bills and resolutions about the war here.

So here's what I did:

First, I called Senator Patty Murray's office in Washington, D.C. My previous conversations have been very quick. I say: "I'd like to register my support for SB Number -- whatever --" They say: "Thank you." and that's it. I always have the sense that the aides who answer the phone are sitting there with some sort of tally sheet. (I'm old enough to visualize a handwritten tally on a legal pad, but it's probably electronic, now that I think of it).

Yesterday, I wanted more details. I asked what Senator Murray was going to do regarding Senator Kennedy's bill, among others. The aide said that Senator Murray was not going to issue any statements until the language of those bills (and others) was finalized. I suppose that's wise, politically. I guess I'll have to watch the news, and call back as things progress.

Next, I took my own picture with a clear message to Congressman Jim McDermott. On the day before the "war" began, my family met Congressman McDermott following a giant protest at Green Lake. We walked together and told him we opposed any military action in Iraq. It's time to send him a message again. MoveOn.org is collecting photos like this for a photo petition they'll be delivering soon. (You might want to check that out, too, and participate!)

Gratitude today? I suppose I'm grateful for our political process. But I really, really want it to work. "Checks and balances" will be my mantra as I walk the Very Large Dog.

Sad. Mad. Doing something about it.

Last night my husband looked up from the newspaper and said, "What would our country do if 65 university students were killed? Why is this on page 10?"

The San Francisco Chronicle, as well as many other newspapers (including our own Seattle Times - on page 10), reported that twin car bombs killed at least 65 students at Iraq's Al-Mustansirya University on Tuesday. Most of the students were women. I'm so sad. I'm so angry.

There are at least three stunning things about this news.

First, that universities in Iraq are even open during the fighting and chaos that we've created. Classes are being cancelled, and many students are giving up, but there are still students who brave actual, physical danger to go to class and pursue a college education. Picture that on a college campus here at home. Go ahead, try to picture it. I'll wait.

Second, that most of the people killed were women. Because that means that in a place many of my countrymen mistakenly think of as "backward," women are actively participating in university education.

Third, that 65 -- SIXTY FIVE!! -- students died that day as a result of car bombings, which are a result of un-rest, which is a result of de-stabilization caused by something that my government is doing -- without my permission -- in my name.

So I'm sad and angry, and I've been thinking about what one small person can do about this.

I considered flying to Washington for the march on January 27th. Family issues dictate my staying home, but if you can go, GO! (Check it out at United for Peace

So today I'm committing to call my Congresspeople to ask them what they are going to do about the war. I'm going to call daily. I'll be polite. I'm an inquiring constituent. I donated money to their campaigns, made phone calls, and voted for them so that we could do more than just "send a message." I voted for them so that we could end the war.

I'll keep you posted.

I'm grateful today for free long distance. And I'm grateful for each and every one of the lives that has been lost in the violence in Iraq.

Three Cheers for Swim Fins!

I had a little NPR-moment today. During Writer's Almanac Garrison Keillor informed me that Benjamin Franklin invented, among other things, the swim fin!

Now, I don't know about you, but I think of Ol' Ben Franklin as a serious guy. I use his bifocals every day (much to my dismay), and am very grateful to him for his part in bringing electricity into my home and my computer. But picturing Ben swimming had me chuckling all the way to the grocery store.

I did look this up, (Inquiring Mind) and found out that Franklin's swim fins were shaped like lily pads, and were worn on the hands. I wonder why not feet? Who thought up the frog feet kind?

So: happy birthday Ben! And thanks for the fins.

Today's gratitude list:
1. Bifocals (hate that I need 'em, glad to have 'em)
2. Garrison Keillor's "Writer's Almanac," which I almost always catch by accident. I don't read nearly enough poetry, but Garrison reads to me while I drive, and I love the poems he picks.
3. NPR. Oh yes, indeed. Where would we be without it?

"Where's the van???"

I wonder how long it's going to take us to get used to seeing the small, economy-sized, biodiesel-loving Golf outside instead of the gas-guzzling mommie van. (Which served us well, for as long as we needed it, until we realized we didn't actually need it at all!)

Snow Boots Made for Walking - and Talking

Today I am grateful for snow boots. They've been in the back of the closet, still in the box, since I bought them on sale at the end of last season... I had forgotten all about them until our Pacific Northwest snow "events" began in November. (We're having wind, snow, ice, and more wind - and in New York they're lying on the beach. But there's no such thing as global warming, no sirree.)

In the day-to-day sense, I'm glad to have warm, dry feet, and thick soles that don't slip on ice. I can walk the Giant Dog without being too afraid of falling. In a more global way, my boots provide an avenue to touch base with my adolescent son, who is sometimes fairly hard to reach.

I am so lucky that he still wants to talk to me about important things. Even on days when he's been snarly and impossible and I want to steer clear of him, he'll perk up around dinner time and say, "Are we going on our walk tonight?" and I find myself pulling on the boots.

Last night he and I walked around the lake just as the real snow was starting. The flakes were so fluffy and dry, they looked like cartoon snowflakes. Our neighborhood quickly became a fairyland. Nobody was out except for A. and me -- and the Giant Dog, who is made for snow and was ecstatic. We tromped around our usual route, making the only tracks in the fresh snow, and talked of this and that. It's our main connection as mom and teenager, and a routine I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I am glad, though, to have dry feet while it's happening.

So, thanks for snow boots and a reason to walk in them.

Taking a Golf Swing

As a family, we have grown increasingly concerned about carbon emissions. Last year we took a big step to reduce our use of fossil fuels by moving out of the suburbs and back into town. We chose a neighborhood where we can walk to almost all the daily errands, with our pharmacy, cleaners, vet, coffee shops, library, park, and small restaurants only minutes from our door. We're flanked by two bus lines that connect us to almost any neighborhood we need to get to. Our elder son, who is 16 and "should" be driving, actually prefers the bus.

But there are always times we need to drive: our neighborhood's former grocery store closed, and the next closest one is just a bit foo far to walk with several bags of groceries. (A folksy little neighborhood store is being built, but nobody knows when it will be finished.) The kids' pediatrician is five miles away and not on a convenient bus line. (And I always need to get there in a hurry, it seems.) It does pour bullfrogs here in the winter and some days I'm less noble than others. And so forth... I felt I was still putting too many miles on our aging mini-van. We put our heads together and decided to replace my car with a biodiesel car.

We had visited the Green Car Company last summer (thinking we might splurge on a Smart Car, the cutest thing we've ever seen on the road), and were impressed with the owners' commitment to the planet and their down-to-earth way of selling cars. So, who better to consult about a biodiesel car? Last night we traded the mommy van for a 2003 VW Golf.

When I went out the door this morning, my first thought was "Where's my van!?!" No green behemoth at the curb. Instead, just a cute little blue car, ready to take us to church without melting any arctic ice.

Gratitude list for today: Getting a great trade-in deal. Being fairly close to a biodiesel fueling station. The fact that my family is all of the same mind on this issue. Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." (Watch it if you haven't already.)

Thursday was.... well... full.

Ok, first: what I'm grateful for. I read this article that said you'll be happier if you cultivate a grateful heart -- so even if you don't feel it at first, to practice thinking about things you're grateful for each day. So here goes:

1. It only took me an hour to get the computers back online this morning after the router mysteriously went to sleep overnight.
2. I got all the way caught up on today's projects by the end of the day, after starting out way behind (see #1 for reason why)
3. It didn't rain (much) today.
4. It was choir day. Which always makes me feel better even when it's hard.

Thursdays are complicated though. It's a truncated day -- I have a standing appointment that eats into the afternoon and it seems it's always just at the time when someone is waiting for me to e-mail them a piece of finished writing. Hurrying just makes me tense & unable to finish sentences clearly. And for sure, if I try to squeeze out an extra 15 minutes (which I did today), the traffic is backed up and moving at a snail's pace. So here's gratitude thing number 5:

I did take an extra 15 minutes, and other than the freeway entrance being clogged up, we sailed across the bridges and got where we were going with 3 minutes to spare. For Seattle, where the traffic gets more congested by the day, that's saying something.

A whole new year

It takes me a few days to dip my toes in the pond of a big new scary year. I don't want to fall into the humdrum group of new year's resolutioners, with the "going to lose 25 pounds" or "going to cook a healthy dinner from scratch every day" entries in my journal. Yet I do feel a certain lift in my spirits contemplating a blank calendar, starting a new diary, and yes, cooking two healthy meals from scratch all in a row.

It could just be that after days of torrential rain storms, the sun came out today.