Pied Beauty

GLORY be to God for dappled things—

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

While I don’t see many trout, rose-moled or otherwise, where I live, I do appreciate the wildflowers popping up all over, the new bird calls that have been added in the last month as species head north, and the rain falling outside my window. Thinking about the details makes me want to protect them all. What particulars speak to your heart? How do you want to protect them this year?

I hope you and your family find many wonderful things to celebrate in the world surrounding you. Happy Earth Day!

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When my family first made a conscious decision to live a greener, more sustainable life, it was made up of only two people – my husband and me. At that point our top priority was saving money so we could pay off our debt. For us that meant scaling back across the board, exploring the world of thrift stores and used cars, and finding hobbies that didn’t involve expenditures. Having such a clear cut objective made lots of decisions easy and helped us make many of changes to our life.

While not nearly as straightforward as our earlier priority, this desire has also proved helpful to my decision making. For example, as I thought through our daily activities, I realized I wanted to focus on what goes into our children. The food we give them now will have a lifelong impact on their health and growth since it serves as the building blocks for both. We concentrate on reducing their exposure to pesticides, insecticides, and other chemicals designed to kill by using organic options wherever possible. We go for high nutrient options, including eggs laid by true free range chickens and grass-fed beef, to protect them from the common shortages of key vitamins and minerals. And, as I learned more, it led to investigating and utilizing local sources as I became concerned about the network that supplies our food.

While we’re deeply concerned about food, I know this is not the top priority for everyone. Nor should it be since the circumstances each individual faces are unique. The important thing is not what one decides but is instead the fact of making a decision and using that decision to guide life choices. Repeating what one did the day before is tempting, especially when time is short and energy is low. However, taking a moment or two to step back and consider what is important and then building a life based on those decisions is infinitely more satisfying.

What decisions have made the biggest difference in your life?

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Image by hortongrou

Like many people, we’ve been reviewing all our bills and looking for ways to reduce our spending wherever possible. Since we’re also trying to reduce our use of nonrenewable resources, finding ways to save energy are bonus items. The Koala Sisters (aka our daughters) got into the act so we bring you four family friendly ways to save energy.

(1) Have a PJ day. This is a favorite of both of our children. Rather than bathing and getting dressed on a weekend day, we all stay in our PJs and hang out at home. We save the hot water needed to bathe, the water needed to wash the clothes we would have worn, and gas for traveling around town running errands. We also gain a very relaxing day together!

(2) Snuggle time. When the temperatures drop, it is a great time to get cozy. We added a couple of blankets to our living room so it is easy to curl up on the couch and read. Rich and I will each share a blanket with the girls when we watch a movie together. Lately we’ve been finding them with a head at each end of the couch and a pile of art supplies in the middle. They also come in handy for fort building! We save energy on our heating bill since we can keep our thermostat set lower. We also gain lots of hugs and kisses.

(3) Use your shower for more than showering. No, not that – this is a family friendly site! If you haven’t already seen this video from Brazil, take a look. My kids think it is hilarious!

We save 1.6 gallons of water per flush saved. We also gain lots of giggles and great opportunities to talk about saving water and why it is so important.

(4) When it is cold outside, make yourself warm on the inside. I’m a big believer in making sure the girls are toasty warm inside and out, especially on those days that we need to head out early. Hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and chai are favorite drinks for us in the winter.

When it comes to hot chocolate, I highly recommend taking the few minutes needed to make it from scratch. It doesn’t take that much longer and it is SO much better! Here is the recipe we use:

1 cup warmed milk

1 1/2 teaspoon cocoa

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

While the milk warms in a pot on the stove, mix the cocoa, sugar and vanilla in the cup or mug you will be using. As soon as you see little bubbles begin to form in the milk, turn off the burner. Take one or two spoonfuls of milk and stir them into the cocoa mixture to make a paste. Then add the remainder of the milk, stir thoroughly, and enjoy! Makes one serving.

We save energy since we are warming up from the inside. We also save money since we avoid overpriced, and not very tasty, pre-mixed hot chocolate packets and all their packaging. We also gain a chance to hang out in the kitchen together cooking and then sipping our cocoa. Some of my favorite winter memories with my children involve hot chocolate!

Our conversation on this topic is ongoing so I’ll continue to add to these.

What are your family friendly ways to save energy?

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Photo by chidsey

Lucas Miller begins the new year with another fun and inexpensive activity that will get you and your kids out into nature. The Christian Science Monitor’s gardening section recently shared planting advice in Annuals and Perennials that Attract Birds to Your Yard so, if you have wee ones, know you can also explore the world of birding by bringing nature to you.

This month I’m thinking about birdwatching, or just “birding” as it’s usually called by the pro’s. Yes, there are professional birdwatchers.

I will freely admit that I’m a very poor birder. I was a reptile and amphibian guy in my college zoology days and completely obsessed with sea turtles. I loved seeing birds but didn’t have an overwhelming temptation to be able to identify them.

Since then, however, I’ve had the privilege to spend some time with some great birders and they have me paying more attention to our fine feathered friends. I’m still pretty poor at identifying them but I appreciate that it’s something I can do wherever I am: driving down the road, on a walk, paddling in my brand-new kayak (finally!!!!), or even sitting on the living room couch. Birds are just everywhere and, when you learn to identify the 20-30 most common species in your area—cardinals, mourning doves, red-tail hawks, turkey vultures, chickadees, etc., it helps keep you tuned into the natural world a little more. You’ll also be much more likely to notice when something unusual does cross your path and you might even find yourself a little excited by it all.

I’ve seen kids get positively obsessed with birding so it’s good to at least give your kids a chance to participate in the pastime. So here are a couple of quick points from a guy who likes birds but is never going to be a “pro:”

1) Get yourself a good bird guide. I like the Sibley Guide to Birds (there regional editions that are smaller/cheaper), but check out the guides by Peterson, National Geographic, National Wildlife Federation, and Audubon Society, too; you may find you prefer one of them (some have photos, others illustrations). These are just a pleasure to browse and your kids will do so if they’re close at hand. Just remember the adage, “look at the bird, not the book.” That is, take note of as many markings and features as you can while the bird’s before you. Open the book after it has flown off if you want to check yourself or learn more.

2) Give birding software a try. Our Birds from Thayer Birding Software is great. It allows you to see a number of photos and hear their calls rather than try to figure out the often baffling written descriptions in the books. There’s a wealth of other information and you can even take quizzes. I hear there are some good phone apps, too, although I have not tried any. Leave a comment if you know of any worthwhile ones.
3) Get some optics (a.k.a. “binoculars” to the non-birder). Kids just love looking through them so make sure whatever you put in their hands can be dropped and/or broken without too much heartache. A little magnification is fine; too much and it’s hard to get the bird in the scope and the more the view will shake. Another tip: maintain your gaze on the bird while you lift the optics up to your eyes. This way you’ll be pointed pretty much in the right direction already and you won’t look so much like the other bird-novices who look away, grab the binoculars, and then rubberneck like crazy while they try to find that bird.

4) Watch the birds. It sounds silly but birding should be about seeing what they’re doing and not just identifying them. I personally just feel like an ignoramous when the focus is on naming as many species as possible. I find it more fun to try and discover something curious about them. Take note of how they use their beaks and how they walk and perch. Do they soar or do they have to flap their wings a lot? Notice the different kinds of tails and wings they have and see if you can tell how they might affect their flight. Also, watch for the interactions between birds; they can be amusing and/or amazing. Have you ever seen a group of little birds mobbing and chasing off a great big hawk? Have you seen a male bird strutting his stuff to impress the ladies and show up another male?

There’s a good reason birding is one of America’s fastest growing pastimes—it’s just plain fun. So set your eyes on the skies and see what you can see!

Lucas is an award winning children’s author and songwriter from Austin, Texas. He’s heading into a busy year, so this will be his last article for Greening Families, but we’ll let you know when his new CD and new DVD (we weren’t kidding when we said busy!) are being released. In the meantime, check him out at www.lucasmiller.net.

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Pondering the future of Greening Families...

The last several months have been exceedingly busy for my family. My business has been more in demand than ever. As someone who is self-employed, I always feel an internal pull to make hay while the sun shines since future projects (and thus future income) are never guaranteed. I’ve had additional reasons to do just that since Rich launched his own business with his partners in 2009, making our family completely self-employed. It is fair to say that switch caused my normally high level of concern about finances to go up a couple of levels!

We believed in the new business, obviously, but expected it would take some time for Rich’s work level to ramp up to a point where he would bring in much income. As a result I took virtually every job that came my way happily. Then things began to move faster than we had anticipated for KELL Partners and Rich’s work level went up significantly. There are start-up costs to cover so his income still hasn’t rebounded but everything looks promising. Suddenly Rich and I were both working very long hours and trading off caring for our daughters, pets, and home to give each other uninterrupted time to complete work projects.

We’re still in that zone and I anticipate being here for some months to come. We’re still working to green our life but right now I want to spend my free time with my daughters (and my hard working husband when our work stars align!) rather than more time with my computer. What does that mean for Greening Families?

I’ve really enjoyed writing this blog and helping others who are interested in greening their lives but need to cut back right now. I’ve decided to post here to once a week, on Fridays, until things settle down a bit. We also tackle the broader topic of sustainable living on Family Profits, so check for helpful information there as well.

Why do you read Greening Families? As part of my “working smarter” push, I want to make sure I’m hitting the topics you’re most interested in so please let me know how I can best help you green your family.

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Photo by tatlin

Greening Families is pleased to be hosting November’s APLS Blog Carnival. I’ve appreciated the conversations on sustainability and green living that the APLS Blog Carnival has sparked so am glad for the opportunity to directly support their continuation. If you are interested in serving as a host of a future carnival, simply contact Robbie from Going Green Mama at goinggreenmama[at]gmail[dot]com. December’s carnival will be hosted by Erin at The Conscious Shopper. Be sure to visit her site in a month’s time to read where the discussion goes next.

The topic for November’s APLS Blog Carnival was how people have been affected by their efforts to live a more sustainable life. The questions posed included:

What have your efforts to live a more sustainable life taught you about yourself? Have you been able to change a behavior you initially thought you could not? What has surprised you about your own capacity in your efforts to live more sustainably?

Here is what folks had to say.

Frugal Maman joins the carnival for the first time with Behind the Times and Loving It. I love both her ideas and her window box garden! Her statement that “now that I am not so distracted, I have and take the opportunity to savour simple pleasures and share these with my husband and children” will ring true with many APLS readers. Welcome Frugal Maman!

Green Bean from the Green Phone Booth wrote about her Thousand Mile Journey. From Lean Cuisine consuming and Target cruising to making home-grown meals from scratch and creating award-winning green Halloween costumes, Green Bean has clearly made many changes. She explains how she did it in this lovely post.

Retro Housewife Goes Green asks Does Sustainability Equal Happiness? In it she states, “We think we are making ourselves happy with all this stuff but the studies and drugs tell a different story. We are always in a mood of want. What if we slowed down and learned to be happy with what we have? This is a great question to ask, especially as the holidays approach and the incessant messages to buy, buy, buy grow louder!

Going Green Mama discusses Three-season Sustainability. I used to live in the midwest so remember all too well the long winter days there and their concomitant lack of fresh food flavors. Between the new location for a winter farmers’ market and online four-season gardening classes, it sounds like Going Green Mama isn’t the only one with a desire for tasty and healthy eating.

Our family has learned that each purchase that we make, or don’t make, is a declaration of the kind of world we want for our kids. The same kids who are much happier spending a relaxing PJ Day (the Koala Sisters are in the midst of trademarking that term, I believe) reading library books and creating beautiful items with materials from the recycle box than they ever were running from store to store in our previous weekend dashes. As we move into the season of thanks, we are ever more thankful for the changes our switch to a more sustainable life is bringing to our family.

Thanks to everyone for participating in this month’s carnival!

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Photo by Ivan Rahn

With the days getting shorter and the nights getting longer, what is a nature-starved family to do? Once again, Lucas Miller has the answer! This month he discusses how to go on an owl prowl with your kids. With a little preparation, warm clothes, and patience, you are sure to have a good time. And the possibilities for learning about the world around us are owl-t of this world!

This month we’re going to talk about owls.  Owls have fascinated and humans for millenia (they appear on many ancient petraglyphs and artifacts) but, with Harry Potter and a number of other children’s books featuring them prominently, they seem to be especially hip at this cultural moment.

Most owls are non-migratory so, even in the winter, you can still hear and even see them. Winter’s actually a great time to go on an “owl prowl” because you won’t have to keep the kids up way past bedtime since the sun sets earlier.

What do you need? First of all, dress for the weather; it’s no fun searching for owls if your ears are going numb (but try to choose clothes that don’t make a lot of noise, too).  Also, choose a calm night because the owls will be more active and you’ll be able to hear them better when they call. A night with a bright moon’s good, too. Bring a good bright flashlight but use it as little as possible; you’ll scare away the owls if you use it too much and you’ll actually be able to see a lot better if you let your eyes adjust to the darkness. You really don’t need to take along The Sibley Field Guide to Birds but you can bring it if you want. It’s going to be dark and, for the most part, owls are pretty easy to tell apart.

The last thing you’ll probably want, and those tech-savvy kids are going to love this, is an mp3 player and some portable speakers. No, you’re not going to introduce owls to hip-hop—you’re going to play some owl calls and use their territorial instincts to draw them in. Don’t worry, as long as you don’t do this for hour after hour or night after night, you’re not going to stress them out or cause them to move out of the neighborhood.

Where do you get your calls and which calls do you choose? You can do some research to find out all the owls that live in your area but, in urban settings, the common ones are the great horned, barred, Eastern screech, Western screech, saw-whet, and to some extent, the barn owl.

You can learn about each species at Owling.com. There are other sites with different recordings and it may behoove you to have a few variants on your player. Each owl has a page and includes calls which you can listen to and download. Right-click, choose “save target as” and put them all in a folder called “owl calls.” You’ll need to import these into your mp3/iPod software and you might want to put them all in a playlist (accidentally playing “Crazy Train” would be a naturalist faux pas).

If you think all owls go “who-whoo,” you’re in for a surprise. The Eastern screech sounds a whole lot like a horse and prepare yourself before you click the barn owl’s call—their blood-curdling shriek might scare your socks off! If you live in barred owl territory, I encourage you to save that call in particular—they’re very territorial and you should have an easier time calling them in. When they really get excited they can make all kinds of crazy sounds!

Oh, and if you’re good at imitating some of the calls and you don’t want to haul along the speakers and player, you can just try calling yourself—some owls are pretty easy to fool (I’m thinking of you, dear barred owl).

Before you head out the door, think about some different types of habitats in your neighborhood. Is there a stream in the area? Some owls prefer to be near water. Are there areas that are more open or wooded than the rest of the neighborhood? Is there a park you feel safe walking by in the nighttime? Is there pastureland and/or a barn nearby? A little research about the specific microhabitats the various owls in your area prefer can really pay off.

You can play the call every thirty seconds or so. Wait quietly and have everyone look in a different direction so you’re more likely to notice if an owl flies in to check things out. Listen carefully and try to be patient, give it a good 10-15 minutes before giving up. If you do spy an owl, it’s okay to shine that bright flashlight on them; you and your kids will want to get a good look at your avian neighbor! The owl probably won’t stick around for long so follow the famous birder’s aphorism—look at the bird NOT the book. Try to make as accurate a mental picture of the bird as you can. Then, when to you’re looking at the bird book (or computer) you’ll be better able to determine what you saw.

A note: most of us don’t spend much time outside at night and your kids may be fearful. That’s certainly understandable so try and focus on the excitement of the search and this may be an experience that, once they’re used to it, is a whole lot of fun. If they’re just too scared, don’t force it—the last thing you want to do is make a lasting, memory of fear. Also, you could just stay right there on your porch; you’d probably be surprised just how many owls are out there in your own neighborhood.

Be safe, of course, and have fun. Let us know what you heard and/or saw! And it might be a great night to read Owl Moon….

Lucas is a professional children’s author and songwriter from Austin, Texas. Check him out at www.lucasmiller.net.

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Photo: macfarlando

We spent the last half of October not only preparing for Halloween but also dealing with various illnesses. First we faced the flu, which swept through my eldest daughter’s class and infected all the kids and both teachers over the course of five days. Both our daughters caught it but fortunately had mild cases. Just as things were wrapping up on the flu front, however, Richard caught a cold, which quickly morphed into an awful upper respiratory illness complete with hacking cough. The cold lasted much longer than the flu so we’ve had lots of chances to implement our favorite natural cold remedies and try out some  that were new to us. Most of them would also help with the flu. If you have sickos at home, I hope you find some relief for your family members here!

Here are the seven natural cold remedies that made the biggest difference for our family:

(1) Get lots of sleep. One of the first routines that is suspended for sick folks in our house is our typical sleep schedule. Both bedtime and wake-up time become very flexible for the ill one since extra sleep is the first thing I encourage. Research has shown that too little sleep can lower immune response. We want fully functional immune systems so strongly encourage resting while ill. Lots of books to read in bed and cozy PJs help with this, for our kids and for us!

(2) Use a neti pot. Lots of folks use neti pots to combat allergies but they are equally as useful in treating cold symptoms. A neti pot is a small teapot-like container than allows for easy irrigation of nasal passages with salt water. We use this one. While prepackaged salt water or mixes are available, we make our own with body temperature tap water and 1/4 teaspoon of noniodized salt per pot. Don’t use iodized salt as it will burn.

If you have never seen anyone use a neti pot, here is a quick video. My apologies for using a commercial for the video but it was the clearest non-comedic video I could find.

(3) Drink hot beverages. Since dehydration is an issue for people with colds, especially little ones, providing liquids in soothing forms is beneficial. Staying well hydrated helps your body produce more liquidy mucous – yucky but important because it is easier to expel through coughing and nose blowing. Getting it out reduces the odds of a cold turning into an ear or sinus infection. In addition, drinks such as tea and warmed apple cider simply feel great on a sore throat.

(4) Eat chicken soup. This remedy has been around so long that many assume it doesn’t really work but research has shown chicken soup is effective in relieving the symptoms from colds. Consumer Reports featured chicken soup in an article on Home Remedies That Work: Colds and Coughs and said,

Steven Rennard, M.D., a pulmonologist at the University of Nebraska, and his colleagues used his wife’s grandmother’s recipe to cook up a batch of vegetable-filled chicken soup. They conducted test-tube analyses of soup samples and found that it prevented excessive buildup of virus-fighting cells called neutrophils, which trigger the inflammatory responses that make cold sufferers feel so rotten.

I make a quick homemade chicken soup with organic chicken broth, loads of garlic since it enhances immune functioning, barley, and cut up veggies. The research mentioned above found that there was an interaction between the compounds found in chicken and the vegetables so be sure to include vegetables even if your child is not a fan.

(5) Take steamy showers. As I type, Richard has been hacking away in the shower. Poor sweetie! However, breathing in all the warm steam is helping to loosen the mucous in his throat and chest, making it easier for him to get out of his body. He feels much better for hours after each shower.

(6) Gargle with salt water. This action not only helps soothe a raw throat and loosen mucous but also kills the bacteria inside the throat. Simply add 1 teaspoon of salt, either iodized or noniodized, to an 8 ounce glass of warm water and gargle away. Make sure your kids can spit out the water once they are done gargling, rather than swallowing it!

(7) Have honey before bed. Now that the FDA has strongly recommended that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines no longer be given to any child under the age of two and is reviewing the safety of these products for children under the age of twelve, parents are wondering how to help their child. In studies, a spoon or two of honey was given at bedtime to children with upper respiratory tract infections at bedtime. The honey reduced nighttime coughing and improved sleep sleep at well as one of the most commonly used over-the-counter medicines. As you likely know, honey should not be given to any child younger than one as it can cause a rare but very serious form of botulism.

I hope these natural cold remedies find you and your loved ones relief during cold and flu season.

If you have remedies that have worked well for you, please share them!

Note: This article was not produced with any support from the Rest and Fluids industry.

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This post is part of October’s APLS Blog Carnival. Check out what others have to say about October’s topic of proselytizing green

This month’s topic immediately made me think about a headline I saw recently that read “Are Your Friends Making You Fat?” The article, which discusses how two social scientists, Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, used data collected as part of the Framingham Heart Study to measure the impact people had on others in their life, included this quote:

By analyzing the Framingham data, Christakis and Fowler say, they have for the first time found some solid basis for a potentially powerful theory in epidemiology: that good behaviors — like quitting smoking or staying slender or being happy — pass from friend to friend almost as if they were contagious viruses. The Framingham participants, the data suggested, influenced one another’s health just by socializing. And the same was true of bad behaviors — clusters of friends appeared to “infect” each other with obesity, unhappiness and smoking. Staying healthy isn’t just a matter of your genes and your diet, it seems. Good health is also a product, in part, of your sheer proximity to other healthy people.

Friends also help people go green, I wondered?

When we first started making changes to green our life, we often felt alone. That feeling of isolation was, in and of itself, a barrier. On Tuesday mornings, it was tempting to sleep in a bit and let the recycling truck pass us by since we were then the only family on our block who would drag a recycling bin to the curb. I could feel the influence of our neighbors’ actions even though they hadn’t said a word.

On the flip side, a number of the changes we have made were spurred by everyday interactions with others. A helpful parent stopped me in the school parking lot to let me know one of our tires was a bit flat; as a result we started regular air pressure checks. We saw a lady at the grocery store using pretty reusable produce bags and asked her about them; now we have eliminated that source of plastic into our home.

And I can see times when we have had an impact on others as well. A dinner party turned into a discussion about our CSA after folks saw information posted on our refrigerator, with one of the families then joining the CSA themselves. A birthday party shifted to a conversation about reuse after a mom commented on our sand/water table and I told her we bought it for $5 at Goodwill. And, thankfully, we are no longer the only family on our block recycling!

I want to influence others positively so will continue making green choices and looking for others who can teach me how to live a greener life. I believe strongly that actions speak louder than words so am more likely to proselytize the green life through my behavior but have seen again and again behaviors leading to conversations. And I am always up for a chat about greening families!

As I was wrapping this up I came across an article on the need for sociologists to study conversations around climate change on Nature.com. It is an interesting read so check it out!

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In the past couple of years, Last Child in the Woods, a book by Richard Louv, has had parents, environmentalists, and educators contemplating, discussing, and making some pretty big changes.

If you haven’t read it I suggest you do, but I will summarize. Louv presents a heap of scientific evidence and a whole lot of anecdotes that compellingly show that children need nature. They suffer emotionally, mentally, and physically when it is denied them and show tremendous benefits when they are reunited with it. Children have never been more inundated with scientific factoids by multiple cable channels dedicated to wildlife and “discovery” (and singing zoologists) but information is trivial compared to unstructured time spent in contact with nature (that means soccer practice doesn’t really count). His term for our children’s lack of free-time in the natural environment is “nature-deficit disorder.”

Anyone reading this blog probably already intuitively recognized this but Louv’s case is supported by so much research that it feels like we spokespeople for nature are suddenly armed with an arsenal of persuasive arguments that can really change some minds, attitudes, and educational practices.

Professionals and volunteers at parks, preserves, and numerous other organizations are creating opportunities to help your family make contact with the natural world. The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) is a great place to start with a wealth of ideas and initiatives. I also encourage you to seek out the local nature centers, local & state parks, and wildlife societies (Audubon, Master Naturalists, to name a couple). There are so many nature enthusiasts, scientists, and conservationists eager to share their knowledge and get you outdoors. You can participate in scientific endeavors (listen for frog calls, tag monarch butterflies, etc.) or work up a sweat while you lend your muscle to habitat restoration efforts. You can pick up trash on the beaches or just bliss out by a stream.

But remember, you don’t have to load up the camping gear and head half-way across the country to find nature. I was helping clear a trail last weekend with a smart and thought-provoking fellow who is writing his doctoral dissertation about what he calls “marginal nature.” He makes a good case for paying attention to and appreciating the nature at hand. His belief is that the neighborhood drainage ditch can be more interesting (and ecologically diverse) than your neighbor’s spectacular wildlife habitat or even the space we set aside as a “natural area” that is groomed and managed.

Here’s a quote from his Marginal Nature blog that sums it up nicely:

Native and exotic plants colonize open spaces. Insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals readily inhabit these unintended “spontaneous” habitats (Sukopp, 1987, Adams, 1994, Kendle and Forbes, 1997, Wheater 1999). The result is a so-called successional mix of native and exotic organisms. What emerges in these margins is the unintended product of human activity and nature’s unflagging expressiveness whose marginality is its defining characteristic both physically and culturally. By traditional landscape standards, these margins are usually not aesthetically pleasing, but they can have their own rough beauty that draws nature writers and others there to seek encounters with “unofficial countryside” (Mabey, 1973) or the “urban wilds” (Pyle, 1993). However, what they encounter is not wilderness or countryside – but a kind of natural place that strains conceptual categories of nature, because marginal nature in the urban landscape is neither pristine nor pastoral, but rather it is a new kind of nature whose ecological and cultural value is an open question.

This “smart and thought-provoking fellow” also happens to work for a sewage treatment plant that is a national model in sustainable recycling and reuse of yard wastes and, yes, human waste. Talk about someone dedicating their life to the living green! Check it out at An Introduction to Dillo Dirt.

I know this is all a bit rambling but it really just comes down to getting families outside. We tend to envision major, outdoor camping adventures but it can be just taking a walk and paying attention to the “weeds,” “bugs” and “eyesores.” Nature is all around us. Sometimes it’s pretty and sometimes it’s not but it ALWAYS rewards closer inspection.

Readers will be excited to hear that Lucas has released his first DVD, “Animals Rock with Lucas Miller.” We’ve had it for almost two months so have watched it quite a bit in that time. The Koala Sisters still love it and, even higher praise, Rich and I continue to enjoy it as well. As I mentioned earlier, the DVD comes in a plastic-free case made from recycled materials so you won’t have any Unnecessary Plastic Guilt. Below is a different DVD selection than the one featured last month to give you another taste. The DVD can be ordered online and, with the holidays approaching, would make a great gift.

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