A Lesson and Hope in These Tough Times

"Somewhere along the way, we, as a society, got lost. We thought that having it all would lead to happiness. Truth is, having it all only erodes the value of having. It leaves you with less. Less satisfaction. Less understanding. Less meaning. And less joy." - Green Bean

I just read this quote over at The Green Phone Booth. It really struck a chord with me. I can see this so much in children. The more toys they have, the more they seem to destroy them and treat them poorly. they do not find value in their toys. They are not "special".

The more we have, the more we want. It becomes an unquenchable thirst for things. I remember growing up the wonder and excitement of going through the Sears Wish Book, daydreaming about the toys I might have and what I might do with them. But, it was the dreaming and fantasizing that was the great thing. It reminds me of another quote. This one is from the kids movie "Escape to Witch Mountian". The older sister (what's her name?) tells her brother: "If we have everything we could ever want, we would have nothing left to wish for." Okay, I'm paraphrasing here. That always stuck with me.

Having things comes with a price. You have to manage these things and worry about them. Things tie you down. You give up a little piece of freedom and a little piece of time with each possession.

Choosing to have fewer things this year and choosing to buy more food locally and make more food from scratch has truly been a wonderful experience for us as a family and for me in particular. I appreciate my raspberry much more knowing that I can have it fresh only within a certain season. I appreciate my basil spice, fresh from my own garden. I am more sensitive to where these things come from and the cost to the society to create them.

Lord knows, I have so much further to go. By most standards, I don't live simply. It is only in comparison with the way I used to live. But with the little steps I have taken, with each thing I let go of, the more full my life feels.

WOW!

I am just filled for hope and optimism for the country right now. McCain's pick of Sarah Palin for Vice President just put me over the top. For the first time in my life, I feel like we have two presidential candidates that I feel good about. I agree with each of them on some issues and disagree on other issues, but with regards to their character and their passion for making this country better - have we ever seen an election which such great options? Usually at this point in an election I am deciding which of two evils I am voting against. Now, I have to decide which of these two good options am I going to support.

But, if I had any doubt, McCain did just seal the deal with me. I did not even know Sarah Palin's name. I had heard some news stories about this reformer overtaking the incumbent in the Alaska governor race, but I did not pay much heed. However, the more I hear about her, the more I like her. Mother, strong woman, feminist for life, reformer, energetic - all these words describe her. I would choose her for president let alone VP.

However this election turns out, it will be MONUMENTALLY historic. However this election turns out, I feel this country will be headed in a more hopeful direction.

34.4

That is the average number of kWH of electricity usage for the month of August. I was floored by the energy bill this month. That is way below the usage at any season over the past 3 years. I’m giddy with excitement.

So, I thought I’d list the specific things we have done to cut back on our energy usage. We must have been so wasteful before.

• Temperature. First and foremost, was using the heat and AC less. We lived with a temperature of 78 F instead of 76 F this summer. It was totally bearable.


• Thermostat. Bought a programmable thermostat and scheduled it to adjust the temperature of the house when no one is there and in the middle of the night.


• Fans. Opened the windows on cool nights and used a fan. If the temp was below 78 F at night, we opened the windows and turned on some fans to circulate the cool air. This week has been a great example. It got in the mid 80s during the day, but went to the low 70s at night. The kids actually wanted blankets at the breakfast table in the middle of August!


• Timers. We put many devices that are constantly draining energy (such as cable boxes, digital picture frames, wireless router) on timers. These things don’t need to be on in the middle of the night or the middle of the day when we’re not home. So, we used our Christmas Light timers to manage them. It’s been working really well and we never have to think about them.


• Clothesline. We installed a clothesline to run the dryer less (dryer is a huge energy hog). I especially like it for sheets and stuff that take a long time to dry.


• Lights. Turn them off. It is so basic, but I have always been the worst at this. I am 33 yo and still scared of the dark (especially a dark basement). But I have been MUCH more diligent about this.


• Bulbs. Switch to compact fluorescent (CFL). We just have to make sure that we dispose of them properly as they do contain mercury.


• Weather Stripping. We’ve been making sure the weather stripping around the doors is in place. Next step will be to revisit the insulation.

I think winter is still going to be a challenge. The HVAC cools much more efficiently than it heats. We have a whole slew of other ideas to try out for the winter, but hopefully our efforts will continue to pay off.

We've Got Worms!

... and this is the good kind of worms! In our "year of improvement", DH and I have really started composting. We've had a composting bin for years, but we didn't know what we were doing with it. We had it next to the shed in the shade and we only put yard clippings in it.

So, as our gardening was going so well for us, we thought we were ready for the next step of composting. We moved our bin to the sunlight. We started collecting kitchen scraps, old cardboard boxes, along with the yard waste to balance out the bin. DH religiously waters and turns the compost. At first, it was a pile of garbage (surprisingly, not too smelly). Now, it is a beautiful pile of rich topsoil that we can use for next year's planting. Yeah.

And, we've got worms. I think this is the holy grail of composting. Many people will purchase worms to help make their composting successful, but ours came of their own accord to feast on the glorious coffee grinds, banana peels, and junk mail. Oh, glorious day!

Composting gets two thumbs up from me. Here's my top ten list for why composting is great.

10. Lots of free pet worms!

9. A chore little kids love - adding their banana peels to the composter.

8. Makes it fun to clean out the refrigerator. The moldier the better for the compost.

7. Switch to fewer garbage pickups and save money.

6. Organic fertilizeer for your landscaping.
5. Less waste has to go to waste processing facilities which saves energy.

4. Use fewer plastic trash bags.

3. Great free topsoil for the garden.

2. How often can you get excited about dirt?

1. No stinky food trash smelling up the garage.

Interested in composting? Here are some good resources:
Nature.org
HowToCompost.org