holiday

As we enter into the Thanksgiving weekend of 2006 I am in the midst of quite a few projects. For those of you interested in the sorts of things I am interested in, let me recommend some reading. I will make time soon to post here with more original work.

From Sharon Astyk on self sufficent suburbia... "I have been talking a lot lately in various places about adaptation - the ways in which we can use our existing infrastructure to live a lower-impact life. And so, I wanted to describe how that might work. I chose as a model the suburban home of a college friend of mine, who coincidentally has become aware of peak oil and asked for my advice not long ago. She lives in an exurb of Boston, with no direct public transportation (there is a train line 15 minutes away), in a fairly conventional suburban home with her partner and two children, 1 1/2 and 5." more...

From Zane on floor boards and stillness ... "It is now already well into the evening as I write, and soon I will be ready to head up to the cozy loft, above my office here, and read for a while before bed. I have largely grown accustomed to these long days of work. I am starting to understand that this schedule is not a short-term thing, while we get set up, but it is the new rhythm of my life, and I like it. Projects for living, like building a house or growing a garden—these are satisfying jobs." more...

From Liz Deane on frugality... "I started reading about what is called "voluntary simplicity", "frugality", or "tightwadding", and devoured just about every book on the subject. I don't own any of them, having used the interlibrary loan system, but if I had one of those books lying around, I could probably open it up and find a list of things the average person can do to save money. Since I don't, I thought I'd make a list of things that we did to put more money in our bank account, where it belongs. These are all simple suggestions for anyone who is looking to cut back on the flow of money that makes it's way out the door each month." more...

From Douglas Barnes on Seed Balls... "Seed balls may be obscure in North America, but in parts of the world already badly damaged by human activity, their use is easily recognised. The BCIL Alt.Tech Foundation of India uses seed balls to regreen Bangalore. And as most of the planets deserts are the creation of mankind, we can follow their lead to undo the damage we have done." more...

Best wishes on this weekend of reflection and family.