People have no idea what I sacrifice for the work I do. Grump grump grump. This time- it was apple blossom time. I was gone for a week. The apple orchard I planted and grafted decades ago was just bursting into full flower as I drove out. Coming back- the blossoms are all, all gone. Sigh.
Partly the weird weather- 3 days ago we had high winds and 95°F. Really. Took the flowers fast, I'm sure, though I wasn't here. Now- last night- we had frost. Gosh, I wonder what's going on?
Vanessa - I'm delighted!! You've made up for the missed apple blossoms.
Hopefully Fridgeless
For those of you who missed the original conversation on unplugging your refrigerator (which we haven't actually finished) it basically started here, and went on for a couple posts: Unplugging. I do think you'll find it easier than everyone expects- particularly once you're a bit used to it.
One more quick bit, then I gotta go do chores. The NYT has a business section story today- basically an INSTITUTE has announced that "energy standards" for, well, everything, are inadequate, and need to be fixed. Golly, must be serious. Then they go on to say how taxing this, and that, could help- but gosh, it's a big mess. Energy Standards
Very seriously - this is a perfect example of the quagmire we always tend to descend into when something is "out of whack", and we try to fix it with governmental tweaks. The tweaks always cause new problems- so the tweaks get tweaked..
Very, very seriously - HERE IS A BETTER ANSWER: A Possibility. If energy cost more- the MORE you used- for everyone- then EVERYONE would find ways to use less. Universal motivation. Vastly easier, faster, cheaper, permanent, and more effective than taxing.
Pass it on- there ARE folks already trying to get movement in this direction into legislation; but it'll take a lot of people doing a lot of talking, and pushing, to get there.
Tomorrow- last post for a while on the Planet Picnic - and other options. Next post- summary on the Potty House. Then- on to a new topic. Whew.
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38 years living "ultra" green- still going. How to. How not to. Why. Why not.
about me-
It's a play on Grandpa, and green, as in environmentally aware, and Pa, as in ... Pa. An actual grandpa twice, and a Pa three times.
68, kids from two marriages, currently with a 12 year old zooming around the house. The house is as advertised, a very small log cabin in the woods. Tiny. It's like living on a yacht; no closet space, which is maybe half of why #1 went away.
I've been living "ultra" green for 40 years. Off the grid always, business too. Electricity from solar; and a little gas backup in winter. Composting toilet, heat with wood. Not vegetarians; hunter/gatherer/gardener. Not opposed to people living in cities.
Good health; bad health. Good times, bad times. Poverty, intentional and not. Great friends. Unfriends.
The good news: STILL living Ultragreen. It can be done. I'll talk about how here; including towns and cities.
Education: MS and an "ABD" (all but dissertation of a PhD), in Biology. Focus: evolutionary ecology, botany, genetics, parasitology, mammalogy, behavior, ethology, psychology, language,... marketing...metallurgy... No, really, and I left some out, because you won't believe me anyway.
68, kids from two marriages, currently with a 12 year old zooming around the house. The house is as advertised, a very small log cabin in the woods. Tiny. It's like living on a yacht; no closet space, which is maybe half of why #1 went away.
I've been living "ultra" green for 40 years. Off the grid always, business too. Electricity from solar; and a little gas backup in winter. Composting toilet, heat with wood. Not vegetarians; hunter/gatherer/gardener. Not opposed to people living in cities.
Good health; bad health. Good times, bad times. Poverty, intentional and not. Great friends. Unfriends.
The good news: STILL living Ultragreen. It can be done. I'll talk about how here; including towns and cities.
Education: MS and an "ABD" (all but dissertation of a PhD), in Biology. Focus: evolutionary ecology, botany, genetics, parasitology, mammalogy, behavior, ethology, psychology, language,... marketing...metallurgy... No, really, and I left some out, because you won't believe me anyway.
Key to the Characters:
Spouse: my ex-wife
Spice: plural of spouse, obviously; current wife
Smidgen: 12 yr old daughter
Beelar: oldest son; 39 yrs
Middle Child: next son; 36 yrs,
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Basic Green Practices in the Little House
1) Off the grid. 38 years. Solar electricity
2) Limited power- house electricity has 4 golf cart batteries.
3) Composting toilet. Outside. (eew, you do that indoors!?)
4) No road to house. You gotta walk.
5) No running water in house. Water pumped by wind.
6) Showers solar heated; outdoors.
7) Heat with wood. One stove in house-..
8) Cook with wood 8 months, propane in summer
9) Most of our fuelwood now is from trees we planted
10) No refrigerator. 40 years, now. You don't need one either.
11) Big garden.
12) Eat locally when possible, not obsessive about it.
13) No pesticide use ever, gardens or crops; not even organic (ok, except a little in the outhouse and the greenhouse...)
14) Earth sheltered solar greenhouse (aren't they all solar??)
15) Shut up about it. Nobody likes preaching.
16. These are our choices- yours are yours.
2) Limited power- house electricity has 4 golf cart batteries.
3) Composting toilet. Outside. (eew, you do that indoors!?)
4) No road to house. You gotta walk.
5) No running water in house. Water pumped by wind.
6) Showers solar heated; outdoors.
7) Heat with wood. One stove in house-..
8) Cook with wood 8 months, propane in summer
9) Most of our fuelwood now is from trees we planted
10) No refrigerator. 40 years, now. You don't need one either.
11) Big garden.
12) Eat locally when possible, not obsessive about it.
13) No pesticide use ever, gardens or crops; not even organic (ok, except a little in the outhouse and the greenhouse...)
14) Earth sheltered solar greenhouse (aren't they all solar??)
15) Shut up about it. Nobody likes preaching.
16. These are our choices- yours are yours.
Blog Archive
Once and Future Topics
- pushing on icebergs
- Death by Retirement
- you can't have your Earth, and eat it, too.
- let's all chant "I can't."
- non-corrosive - culture
- real "sustainability"
- Toxic Growths
- The Walls Of The Erlenmeyer Flask
- you DO live what you believe
- We Have Not Yet Begun To... think.
- does my lightbulb make a difference?
- loopholes - Lost Horizons
- worms
- unintended consequences
- such a promising species
- purpose
- what's best for my kids?
- government
- predatory lenders; parasitic business
- primates
- change- and barriers
- violence for kiddies
- cultural senility
- genetic engineering
- the Religion of Science
- biodiversity
- the wealth of nature
- the nature of wealth
- salt
- work/ time
- how to talk to a normon
- the phone is a joke, right?
- finger pointing
- "the only way"
- where have all the mammoths gone?
- the odyssey of communication
- thermodynamics and the waterwheel
- small wind turbines
- grab that toid and run
- fad fad fad
- teflon? antibiotics? RF?
- compact fluorescents - lead in Rome
- 30 years of quietly NOT holier
- spare time
- the THWASPCO
- fat fat fat
- one size gives all fits
- unstated assumptions
- unplugging your fridge
Basic Practices On This Blog-
1) I do not have time to dig out all the references for you- if you doubt something I say here, google it immediately- and don't bug me if I'm off by a couple of degrees.
2)"Eat compost and die" type comments will cheerfully be deleted. They won't even tick me off, I just feel pity. Really. So if I were you, I wouldn't bother. (Note to other bloggers- this requirement for basic politeness works- total # of mean comments deleted by me so far ~ 5; spammers deleted ~ 10)
3) Long comments on posts are quite welcome; don't worry about it.
4) I WILL try to answer questions, but it may take me a while to get to them.
2)"Eat compost and die" type comments will cheerfully be deleted. They won't even tick me off, I just feel pity. Really. So if I were you, I wouldn't bother. (Note to other bloggers- this requirement for basic politeness works- total # of mean comments deleted by me so far ~ 5; spammers deleted ~ 10)
3) Long comments on posts are quite welcome; don't worry about it.
4) I WILL try to answer questions, but it may take me a while to get to them.
5) I don't do memes. Sorry- fun, I know, but I really don't have the time.
6) I can't do email, either; I'm already drowning in the stuff from my other life; and I can't get into giving personal advice. If you want to contact me, just make a comment with your email address in it; I'll get back to you if I can.
4 comments:
Welcome back, Grumpa! I can't wait to hear the latest on your Potty Picnic :)
Thanks for the shout-out! Sad about your apple blossoms, but there's plenty of other stuff blossoming out there...
I hate when governments start tweaking tweaks with more tweaks... very annoying isn't it?
On the 'Hopelessly Fridgeless' front I'm having not having a bit of success with Companion. Heretofore, every step to better living has been met with overwhelming gratitude.
"Honey, you were so right, I feel so much better biking to work, we really don't need the car."
"Darling, it's true, I don't miss central heat at all, I sleep so much better"
It was a regular love fest until I shut the refrigerator off. Cold stare and "I. Will Not. Go. Without. THE Refrigerator. Enough!"
I had no idea a cold beer was so important to Companion. I am working on what temp is the cut off. We have a stream nearby and I threw one in hoping ...We'll see.. Thanks for that advice!
Chewy Poulet- many thanks. And I do find your Fridays thrilling. 8-)
Vanessa- worse than annoying; moving towards dysfunctional. It's not that tweaking per se is a mistake philosophically; on the contrary, I think- no matter how well something works, there's almost always a way to improve it. The problem with government tweaks is- they tend to be half-witted compromises, written into law. When they turn out to be lethal for somebody, it takes another law to quit killing people. Would be nice if we had some way to say "this isn't working for me" - and just fix it without the whole world getting involved. sigh.
New Greenie- :-) ah, I do sympathize. Do you think it might be possible to get Companion to agree to just a week without it? Earth Lent? My guess is it just seems too huge. I'll bet if you can get Comp to do it just for a week- the idea will start to sink in. It might be another year or so before Comp will be really ready- but then you'll have a "reformed sinner" on your hands- just watch what a loud advocate may develop. Hang in there.
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