Planet Quaker

The part of the Fukushima disaster I find so disheartening are the stories of those forcibly evacuated from their homes. There have been a number of articles warning of long evacuation times, such as this in the Washington Post, saying that it might be decades before all of the 78,000 evacuees could return. The exposure [...]

January 16, 2012 02:17 AM

Earth has warmed, and the Arctic has warmed at twice the rate. Ironically, says ScienceNow, winters in the Northern Hemisphere have grown colder and more extreme in southern Canada, the eastern United States, and much of northern Eurasia, with England’s record-setting cold spell in December 2010 as a case in point. Now Judah Cohen, et [...]

January 13, 2012 11:26 PM

So sorry I was away for most of December. We were visiting family and spent a lot of time in the car, which brings me to today’s post.

My partner is an avid environmentalist, so our kids are growing up with an acute awareness of the issues surrounding climate change and stewardship of our environment. We try to communicate these values to our kids in several ways.

We have a lot of conversations about transportation. As I’ve said in earlier posts, we live in a village where we can walk to nearly everything. As we were walking one day alongside the morning rush hour traffic, soon after we moved here, my daughter commented out of the blue about how glad she was that we weren’t in a car at the moment. I nearly wept with happiness. I was so glad right along with her.

Every morning now, she and I walk to her preschool together, usually through a park and by the town library. She’s remarked to me twice now how much she loves “the smell of the morning.” That was not something I fed her; I’ve never said anything like that before. Out of the mouths of babes. How wonderful to be able to take the time to walk instead of drive, and to be able to mindfully experience the smell of the morning.

In the afternoons, her dad collects her from preschool and walks with her home, spending quality time exploring the world around them on the way. He is passionate about science and loves sharing scientific ideas and facts with her. They learn about their environment together and talk about ways they can help care for it and stay in balance with it. For those 15 minutes each afternoon, his time is devoted to her and her alone–a wonderful gift from her father, and one that is returned to him many times over in her company.

We moved here from a city where we had to drive to her school. We were able to walk to the store and the doctor and several other places, but every morning and every afternoon, we were in the car, for about 10 minutes at a time. When we were looking for a new home after my partner was offered a job in a new city, one of our most pressing priorities was that we wanted to be able to walk pretty much everywhere conveniently. How lucky we are to have found a place where that’s possible. I am very mindful each morning of our good fortune to be able to communicate the testimony of stewardship to our children in such a concrete way, each day.

And what a dream for more people to be able to do so while living in affordable, safe neighborhoods. What a goal for our society, as energy resources are quickly being used up and people are feeling less and less connected with the earth that sustains us all, and with each other as well. Bike paths, walking paths, crossing guards, smart urban planning… these are all priorities that would change the lifestyles of people all over our country if they were prioritized and put to good use.

January 11, 2012 02:03 PM

Summary: new analysis indicates that the cooling effect of aerosols has been underestimated. Earth will warm as the air clears from lower fossil fuel use, and that warming is likely to be larger than previously estimated. Aerosols is one of those confusing words that mean one thing in popular parlance (something to do with hair [...]

January 05, 2012 05:57 PM

Since the mid 90's I’ve tried to choose one word for the year: whatever virtue or practice I felt I needed to work on. One year it was “patience;” one year it was "breathe," another year it was “balance.” Some years I even had a whole set of resolutions: 2009 2008

Then I discovered the Chris Brogan Three Words of the Year meme:  In 2010 my three words were Faith, Farm, and Finish.

But 2011 was so chaotic there was no way to have a clear intention for the year. It was all I could do not to drown in the waves of change. At the beginning of the year, I didn’t know what I wanted to be true at the end of the year. At the end, the waves of change continue to roll in, but now I feel like I’m better able to keep my head above water as they come.

For 2012, I have chosen four words. Wisdom, serenity, courage, discipline. In that order. And the most important is discipline.

I think I always need to pray for wisdom. To see the truth, to know the right thing to do. That takes all the help I can get.

Second is to accept and let go of the things that are not in my bailiwick, not in my job description, not in my sphere of influence. To not spend time fretting over the things I can not change, at least not right now.

Third is to be bold. To claim my path and strike out for the change I want to see in the world. To have faith that help will come.

But fourth is discipline. To follow through, even when it's boring. To act when I know the right thing to do, even when it's scary. Which is a lot of the time in my life. I am grateful to know I am not the first to not do the thing I most want to, or to do that which I do not want. From Paul of Tarsus to Howard Thurman, I am in good company.Or bad company, as the case may be. But I can do better than I have done. I can set up the structures that help me practice. And this is one of those practices that never ends, like physical exercise.

Here's to a faithful 2012!

January 04, 2012 08:50 PM

For many years I used to say, "this is the best year of my life".
But everything comes to an end.

2012 looms ahead as a stopping point.  There will be many challenges; there will be triumphs-- and failures.  This is par for the course, but right now with greater intensity than ever before.

Two years ago, when Ellie took up Blake, a great new vitality came into our lives. What had been my (occasional) obsession became a primary interest for us. For two years we have posted on William Blake: Religion and Psychology, one or the other each day (ramhornd.blogspot.com).

That was a new discipline for me; heretofore I did Blake sporadically for a few months and then something else for a few months.   But every day!! No way, until two years ago. A salutary development.  (It occurred to me that this
might have been the shape of my life, had not ten wartime years intruded over
most of my twenties.)

However this intensive mental activity came at a cost.  After an intense two hours doing research I discovered I was sleepy (you might say my brain started getting sluggish).  Strangely enough it was much like what happened to me after two intense hours of tennis.

Wow! a Discovery! Intense mental activity and/or physical activity led to a mininution of energy- for one or the other.

 For an old man the challenge of this is to learn balanced habits that use the appropriate amount of the two activities-- to go from one to the other.  Perhaps this was simple second nature to many people much younger that my (advanced) age, but for me it was a Revelation.

Memory is the greatest problem.  Strangely enough a fairly large vocabulary was still in force, but I was frequently guilty of making up a sentence with appropriate words, only to the find the appropriate words forgotten before I got around to writing it;  like going to the bathroom for something and forgetten the purpose before I got there.)

Memory is something to fight for.  There are in fact two levels: the immediate memory continually diminished, but a (largely) unconscious reservoir exists available under certain circumstances.  The challenge is to learn how to use it more consciously.  Memory loss is one of the primary concominants of alzheimer's disease and similar disabilities.

How can we learn to remember?

January 01, 2012 08:34 PM

We old-timers (especially if we have heart failure) tend to see our balance getting precarious.  Although I've played vigorous tennis 4 or 5 times a week for the last forty years,  I've only rarely tipped over; that was when my wife lobbed over my head and I (indiscreetly) peddled backward with my head turned up to follow the ball.  My scalp was repaired with several stitches.

But as the years go by my balance seems to worsen.  No doctor has ever spoken to me about this, but I found (through the internet) that it's a natural consequence of inactivity.

I'm not inactive; in fact I'm very active, but much of the activity is mental, such as writing this post, so I should say that a diminished balance is a natural consequence of physical inactivity.

But I'm not that either (obviously).  I recently came to see that balance requires special care to provide a boost.  Balance,  mental acuity and physical strength all depend upon practice.  Use it or lose it holds true in all three cases (how many other cases?  I wonder!)

So I'm practicing my balance, doing things like standing on one leg (how long can you stand on one leg?).  Once upon a time I could stand on my head with ease, but that was before ageing 'got to rolling'.

January 01, 2012 08:33 PM

How do you feel about the old (or euphemistically the elderly?  All too often negatively.  We don't want to think about getting old; it's not the world we live in.  But many of us have a loved one who's old! and we have to think about it. (I'm old, and if you're reading this, you must be aware of that.  Think about it.

You may not be aware of the fact that old people are often much happier than you are-- or I was.  I retired from salaried work 23 years ago, and for a long time I used to preach the gospel that life begins with retirement.  Maybe so, maybe not! Actually it depends upon how much of your life is invested in your job.

I know people (closely!) who dread retirement; they virtually equate it with dying.  For me it was otherwise.  I worked for bread to put on the table and welcomed the end of 'wage slavery'.

Once a young doctor had to visit an old woman; he asked her how she happened to get in the retirement center ('nursing home').  She explained that her husband had passed after 73 years of marriage.  He asked her how things were; she replied it's heaven.  He was shocked, but she smiled and "proceeded to describe how she had endured decades in an unhappy marriage with a gruff, verbally abusive man." Now she had her life back, and enjoyed every minute of it.

I can tell you that that sort of life script may be about as common as the kind with 'heavenly' marriages.  (I'm happy to report that my marriage belongs to the second category.)

The moral of this story it don't start off feeling sympathetic when you encounter an old man or woman.

December 31, 2011 03:33 PM

On Sunday, there wasn’t a First Day School program at our Quaker meeting, so our boys were going to be with us all through meeting for worship. I pulled out the two little books that were in my purse and offered them to my 13 year old son: a very small print King James Bible or Thomas Kelly’s The Eternal Promise. He chose TEP and proceeded to actually read it. At that point it occurred to me to worry, “Am I going to regret this?”

Have you read any Thomas Kelly? (1893-1941) His more famous book is A Testament of Devotion. He writes about Quakerism and the religious life as if he was serious about it. Back in the late 1930’s he had some kind of mystical experience after a professional heartbreak in the middle of his career. Then he wrote several classic essays on religious experience: “The Blessed Community,” “The Gathered Meeting,” “The Simplification of Life,” “Have You Ever Seen A Miracle?”, and “Holy Obedience.”

"I have in mind something deeper than the simplification of our external programs, our absurdly crowded calendars of appointments through which so many pantingly and frantically gasp. These do become simplified in holy obedience, and the poise and peace we have been missing can really be found. But there is a deeper, an internal simplification of the whole of one's personality, stilled, tranquil, in childlike trust listening ever to Eternity's whisper, walking with a smile into the dark."

His lines about a life lived in accordance with a divine center, that takes no time, but yet all our time, are quoted in many Quaker books of Faith & Practice. If you are even a little bit religious, it is wildly inspiring to read Thomas Kelly’s words about the need and desire to give ourselves fully to God, to live a life of uncompromising devotion.

But teenagers don’t have enough knowledge or experience of life to know that Kelly can’t possibly mean it, that nobody really lives like that, that his kind of passion is excessive.

That made me ask myself how much I have let myself think that the world doesn’t really work that way, that nobody really lives like that, that he can’t really mean it.

And then I wondered how much trouble would I be in? How would I be held accountable for the life that I do lead if the young people in my life caught on to that thrilling vision?

Maybe we should encourage more young people to read Thomas Kelly.

December 26, 2011 08:56 PM

This last August was the sixth anniversary of this blog. That milestone went by in a haze of work and travel.

My baking has also suffered somewhat with the new job, but not completely. I still like to bake when I'm stressed, and I've had lots of opportunities in the last year. But I'm more back to basics now, fewer ingredients, fewer steps whenever I can. God bless Betty Crocker.

However, my most frequently used pie crust is still a variation on Marilyn M. Moore's Foolproof Pie Dough from The Wooden Spoon Dessert Cookbook. And I'm teaching my older son how to make pie so he can keep it up when I'm really too busy.

My most frequently used pie crust (for a two crust pie):

Pour a tall glass of water, add one or two ice cubes, don't drink out of it yet.

Mix 1/2 teaspoon salt with 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour.
Cut 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter into small cubes, then add to the flour and cut with pastry blender or two knives until the largest lumps are half the size of peas.

Add 5-6 tablespoons water from the glass, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork after each addition, a little longer than you think you should have to. After the last addition, keep stirring until it all comes together into a dough. It always seems like forever, but it will come together.

Mold the dough quickly into a ball with your hands. Place it on a floured cutting board (or wherever you're going to roll it out later) and cut it in half. Mold each half into a ball, then press each half flat in the middle, keeping the edges round with your floured hands. It will look like a cheese wheel, or a car's tire.

Wrap each half separately in plastic or waxed paper and refrigerate while you make the filling. You can even make the crust ahead and keep it in the refrigerator for up to two days.

Now drink the rest of the water before you make the filling. You'll feel better. I always do.

If you want to get a little fancier, here is my old-fashioned pie crust recipe. You can also look through the archives under pie for more recipes for pie fillings, and a few other things.

December 15, 2011 05:17 AM

Drought over North America with a 2.5°C increase. Almost no one lives today in areas that will become wetter. Analysts at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, found, [M]odels showed that the normal state for much of the continental United States and Mexico in the mid- to [...]

December 11, 2011 06:33 PM

O come, O come, Emmanuel!
And ransom captive Israel...

This morning in meeting for worship I was thinking about this hymn.

Partly I was wishing that my new meeting had hymnals handy in the benches. I have got to learn the rest of this song by heart this year.

But mostly  I was pondering how fully I am captive to the ways of the world.

In my work.
In my family life.
In my finances.
In my approach to holidays.

I pray that the power of God will liberate me, but I know that it will be in God's time, not my time; with God's strength, not my strength.



A few years ago (I can't believe it's been 4 years already!) I wrote another post about this same hymn (with all the lyrics handy): Skills You Can't Put on Your Resume

December 11, 2011 05:00 PM

What to do about Christmas? Kids love the excitement, the presents, the candy… we’re still wrestling with this one, but here are a few things that we’ve decided already.

First, our kids get only two presents. One is from mom and dad, and the other is smaller and comes in the stocking, from Santa. And of course, grandparents and other family get them things as well.

Second, the gift from mom and dad is something that we put a lot of thought into. We don’t walk into the toy store determined to get something, anything, just get it over with and get a gift, any gift. We mindfully consider what our children like, are good at, and would cherish.

Also, we always buy gifts for them with a thought about how much it will be used. For example, our daughter is active and rambunctious, but she will sit for long periods of time drawing and coloring at a table we’ve set up for her that we call her “work table.” It has art supplies and enough space for her to work comfortably. So for Christmas this year, she’s getting a Spirograph set, the old kind. I went onto eBay and looked specifically for the old set, because from what I saw of and read about the new sets, they aren’t nearly as nice. We thought for weeks about what to get her. When you’re getting only one present, you can devote more time to choosing it.

We’re kind of stuck with our son, but he’s still very young–just started walking, actually–so his personality and preferences aren’t as clear. But we did pretty well with his birthday. He loves monkeys, so he got a stuffed one from us. He loves it and sleeps with it every night, giving it kisses and making the monkey sound. He also loves contraptions with moving parts and putting objects into other objects, so his sister got him a stacking tower where he puts a ball in the top and it rolls around and around inside, down to the ground. He’ll play with it for ages at a time, as we’d hoped. Both pretty simple toys, and both a big hit.

We also buy second-hand toys as much as possible (e.g., the Spirograph set) and try to avoid junk like the Disney Princess stuff. Our daughter has great fun dressing up in things we bought at a second-hand store and at yard sales.

What ideas do you have for making Christmas a more simple holiday?

November 27, 2011 10:45 PM

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will publish in February 2012 a special report, Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. The Summary for Policymakers is available now. The report itself, and the summary, consider a number of topics from reducing vulnerability and exposure to climate change, sharing risks, etc. [...]

November 21, 2011 10:58 PM

Especially at Christmas time, but throughout the year–whenever the opportunity arises–we try to involve the kids in charity events. This could be as small a gesture as putting some money into the Salvation Army bucket in front of the grocery store to buying and wrapping and delivering a toy or hat and mittens for a needy child.

When we take part in these activities, we take the opportunity to talk with our kids about why we’re doing it and why it’s important to think about others and be grateful for everything that our family has–a warm and dry home, toys to play with, food to eat, etc.

It’s not over our four-year-old’s head at all. She understands and volunteers to give away some of her toys sometimes. She is pretty emotionally mature, but she completely sympathizes with a kid who doesn’t have what she has and talks about it often. Small, repeated activities like this keep the topic in the forefront of her mind, I think.

And finally, whenever we bring a new toy into the house, we always try to give away a toy of similar size that they’ve outgrown. This helps keep their rooms (and our entire home) more orderly as well.

It also gets them thinking about what they need and don’t need. We talk about how yes, you might want to keep this toy, but you don’t really play with it, and some other child who doesn’t have much might really enjoy playing with it. She gets it and is always able to choose something nice to give away.

What are your ideas for involving your kids in charitable activities, especially during (but not limited to) the holidays?

November 20, 2011 11:52 PM

Ever since I left home at a fairly young age, I have been seeking a community of like-minded people. It’s a dream of mine to live among friends who think like I do, feel like I do, and make choices similar to mine. I’m still searching for that community, and until I find it, I’m quite happy to make do in the community where I find myself. Every place I’ve lived for the past several years, I’ve tried to integrate myself into the fabric of the place.

I’ve actually found this became much easier to do after I had kids. Having children–much like having a dog!–gives you entree into built-in social groups and networks. Your child attends day care or a preschool? You meet lots of other parents there, some of whom you’ll probably get along with quite well. You’re watching your child at the playground? Scores of other parents are there, many of whom would love a good chat to pass the time. You’re at the library in the children’s room, you’re at the baby supply store, you’re in the diaper aisle at the grocery store… all of these are opportunities to connect with people who have at least one thing in common with you. Plus, there’s a certain immediate but unspoken trust between two parents, unlike any other dynamic I’ve ever seen between strangers.

This is one way that the Quaker testimony of community has woven itself into my life and the life of my family. We try very hard to connect to the people living around us. That means our neighbors, our classmates, and the people who work in and around the places where we live our local lives.

My family is very lucky in that we live in a village, which means that we walk to school, the supermarket, the dentist, the bank, the coffee shop, even the local knitting store and second-hand store. As we walk, we see people we know and people we don’t know. Walking with my kids gives me the opportunity to talk with them about the people in our lives, the people all around us. They see me speaking amiably with strangers, greeting friends, and giving and receiving help as it’s needed. These connections with our community are a part of our everyday lives.

How can you connect more closely with your own community?

November 16, 2011 10:46 PM

The article Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Power in Japan in the August 2011 Friends Journal received a number of comments, including a request to explain why I used International Atomic Energy Agency’s numbers on Chernobyl and ignored a claim that 1 million have died already from Chernobyl. I addressed this (published as a Forum piece [...]

November 15, 2011 04:05 PM

It’s easy for me to think of several ways that I integrate the Quaker testimony of peace into our family’s daily life. First and foremost would be our vegetarianism.

My husband and I have been vegetarians for nearly 12 years now. Some people choose vegetarianism for medical reasons, and the health benefits of a meat-free diet are certainly significant. However, our reasons for being vegetarian are more ethically based.

Our motivations are twofold. We feel that:

• the production of meat causes pain and suffering for the animals involved, and
• we strive to have as little negative impact as possible on our natural environment.

Quakers may recognize these two points as being closely related to the testimonies of peace (or nonviolence) and stewardship. Every day, three times a day, I am brought into intimate communion with these moving testimonies and am mindful of the connections underlying my various meal choices.

We’ve chosen to raise both our children as vegetarians. People sometimes worry about their getting enough protein. However, most Americans get much, much more protein every single day than their bodies require.

Our family eats beans, tofu, lentils, pulses, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and nut butters, in addition to occasional processed foods like veggie burgers, seitan, tempeh. We also eat some organic (ethically farmed) eggs and dairy. We all intake adequate amounts of protein every day. Our kids are at or above average measurements for both weight and height and are very healthy and active.

Plus, we talk often as a family about vegetarianism, meat-based diets, and why we make the choices we do. These conversations provide an entree for us into child-friendly discussions of the testimonies of peace and stewardship as well.

What do you think about raising children on a vegetarian diet?

November 14, 2011 10:45 PM

A Friend recently posed a question: what are some ways we can incorporate Quakerism into family life?

When I think about it, the question seems at first a bit backwards to me. But this is probably because I came to Quakerism later in my life (in my late 20s), when I had already formed so many of my basic morals and character. So by the time I began attending meetings, my life was already reflecting many of the better-known Quaker testimonies.

For example, I was already a vegetarian, which is my mind now is a daily practice of the Quaker testimonies of peace and nonviolence.  I was also already trying very hard to live a life less filled with stuff and clutter and consumerism, an ideal which is reflected in the testimony of simplicity. It was actually such synchronicity between my own life, my own beliefs, my own practices, and Quakerism that led me to explore the Religious Society of Friends in the first place.

However, my Friend wants to know about integrating Quakerism with family life, specifically. What brought me to the Society as a childless 20-something is in essence different, but still closely related to, what leads me today to label myself and my children as “Friends.”

I did become a mother for the first time after finding the Quakers. My evolving spirituality does very much inform my character and behavior as a parent, and it does so in very specific ways. As with most aspects of my life, being a Quaker and attending Meeting are very different experiences now that my children are with me.

With this in mind, I’ll be posting in coming weeks a few thoughts on incorporating Quakerism into family life, based on my own (fairly limited!) experience as a mother and a practicing Friend.

I’ll deal specifically with the six main Quaker testimonies as considered by American Friends. These testimonies are often taught to young friends using the acronym SPICES.

• Simplicity,
• Peace,
• Integrity,
• Community,
• Equality, and
• Stewardship.

So… how do you incorporate your faith or spirituality into the everyday life of your family?

November 13, 2011 10:43 PM

In meeting this morning, we had a fire at the hearth. I love very few things on this earth more than a fire when the weather is chilly or cold. The hypnotizing sounds, smells, visions, and warmth all transport me to a calm and wonderful place.

My thoughts today have wandered to the many ways that we attempt to integrate the natural world into our homes and interior spaces. Fireplaces allow us to bring into our controlled and structured homes a little raw wildness. Sun rooms allow us to bask in natural warmth, even in the cold winter months. An open window gives us light and fresh air, not to mention a view of the outdoors. Wood or stone flooring allows us to surround ourselves with natural materials. These features in a home are often the most valuable, the most treasured spaces.

I strongly believe that a connection with the natural world nurtures and revives our spirits and that these connections should be fostered as much as possible.

November 06, 2011 09:42 PM

The first place I encountered Quakers as more than obscure historical figures was in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. I read it while looking for a college, and somehow wound up at a (culturally) Quaker college - which of course planted many more seeds that took me here.

The world Atwood describes is harsh, and Quakers play a role somewhat like their earlier Underground Railroad work - though with more severe penalties. A few excerpts illustrate her telling:

"Five members of the heretical sect of Quakers have been arrested," he says, smiling blandly, "and more arrests are anticipated."

Two of the Quakers appear onscreen, a man and a woman. They look terrified, but they're trying to preserve some dignity in front of the camera. The man has a large dark mark on his forehead; the woman's veil has been torn off, and her hair falls in strands over her face. Both of them are about fifty. (Section 14).

Why would Quakers be so dangerous? Well, they help people. The wrong people.

I also believe that they didn't catch him or catch up with him after all, that he made it... found his way to a nearby farmhouse, was allowed in, with suspicion at first, but then when they understood who he was, they were friendly, not the sort who would turn him in, perhaps they were Quakers, they will smuggle him inland... (Section 18)

And...

"I chose them because they were a married couple, and those were safer than anyone single and especially anyone gay. Also I remembered the designation beside their name. Q, it said, which meant Quaker. We had the religious denominations marked...

"So these people let me in right away.... as soon as I was inside the door, I took off the headgear and told them who I was. They could have phoned the police or whatever, I know I was taking a chance... Anyway, they didn't. They gave me some clothes, a dress of hers, and burned the Aunt's outfit and the pass in their furnace; they knew that had to be done right away. They didn't like having me there, that much was clear, it made them very nervous. They had two little kids, both under seven. I could see their point.

"... Then the woman made me a sandwich and a cup of coffee and the man said he'd take me to another house. They hadn't risked phoning.

"The other house was Quakers too, and they were pay dirt, because they were a station on the Underground Femaleroad. After the first man left, they said they'd try to get me out of the country...." (Section 38)

Quakerism clearly isn't centered on smuggling people, and even as I watch various conflicts today I wouldn't claim this country resembles Atwood's Republic of Gilead.

Are we ready, though, to help those in need?

 

(Reading Atwood's The Year of the Flood, with a sort of Quaker-like group that sings Anglican-ish hymns, reminded me of her earlier Quaker discussion.)

November 01, 2011 05:33 PM

Mark Helpsmeet has a program Northern Spirit Radio with a number of interesting shows, check them out! And he interviewed me, asking good questions, Nuclear Sanity? Investigating Nuclear Power One comment so far is that my talk is a lot more understandable than my writing. Since I wear cochlear implants, it’s not for me, but [...]

October 31, 2011 12:18 AM

30.94 km 101509.09 feet 19.23 mi 11258.00 seconds 187.63 minutes 3.13 hours 6.15 mi/hr

Rode this with my wife Heather on our tandem for our 30th wedding anniversary vacation.

[Tags bicycling ]

October 29, 2011 04:53 AM

6.91 km 22685.02 feet 4.30 mi 2549.00 seconds 42.48 minutes 0.71 hours 6.07 mi/hr

Just a little ride on the Genesee Valley Greenway in the city of Rochester where it joins up with a former railbed. It sidles down the hill to a switchback, and also connects to a concrete plant up on the top of the hill.

[Tags bicycling ]

October 29, 2011 04:21 AM

61.81 km 202792.78 feet 38.41 mi 14480.00 seconds 241.33 minutes 4.02 hours 9.55 mi/hr

Rode the Lehigh Valley Trail North, and the Lehigh Valley Trail. They meet at Rochester Junction. Started towards the north end of the North segment. Rode north until the trail petered out. Funny that there were no signs directing you to the continuation of the trail to the north, which I rode back in September 2010. Rode back to the trailhead, then down to Rochester Junction to pick up the LVT. Headed east ... hopefully to the end of the trail. Didn't make it that far; I had other things I wanted to do as well. I'll have to get to Victor anyway, because they have tons and tons of trails, some of them railtrails. Rode west back to Rochester Junction and then to the Genesee River where it meets up with the Genesee Valley Greenway.

[Tags bicycling ]

October 29, 2011 04:21 AM

9.78 km 32076.06 feet 6.08 mi 2441.00 seconds 40.68 minutes 0.68 hours 8.96 mi/hr

Rode the railroad portion of the Pittsford Railroad Loop Trail. NOT very well marked! You can see that I had to wander around a while before I found the trailhead. Even then it's just a grass trail with no signage or improvements to speak of.

[Tags bicycling ]

October 29, 2011 04:20 AM

15.38 km 50459.00 feet 9.56 mi 3255.00 seconds 54.25 minutes 0.90 hours 10.57 mi/hr

Bicycled the Rochester, Syracuse & Eastern railtrail on my way to the Rochester Airport. It starts in a park in Egypt, NY. Dead ends on the north at the Erie Canal. I think it used to cross, but the trolley line might have continued north along the canal. I didn't notice one way or the other. It dead-ends at a road on the west end. No idea why it doesn't continue. Probably property ownership issues, with a hostile landowner. :( It's a nice trail otherwise; stone dust the whole way.

[Tags bicycling ]

October 29, 2011 04:20 AM

Moscow was hot in 2010, and there were boucoup forest fires. But was it climate change? Moscow in July A new study says a definite “could be”: We conclude that the 2010 Moscow heat record is, with 80% probability, due to the long-term climatic warming trend. It wasn’t just Moscow. According to an article in [...]

October 27, 2011 06:07 PM

I heard an interview with Mary Matalin years ago, where she was asked about the dire situation in politics. She sort of laughed and replied that unlike women, men have no appreciation of cycles. That thought has stuck with me for years.

I’ve been pondering this idea this morning as it relates to the occupy movement. Some people in my Quaker meeting today have expressed concern or reservations about the movement.

I see a lot of resemblance in the occupy movement to what little I know (since I wasn’t born yet or was just a child) about the various peace and civil rights movements in the 60s and 70s. Those were times of tremendous energy in our country.

I welcome that kind of energy in the form of the occupy movement. At the moment, it’s little more than a blossoming, a small but spreading fire, unorganized, scattered, hungry, and full of life. I’ll be following it closely and am quite interested in where this new movement will take us.

October 23, 2011 07:40 PM

World Health Organization has issued a new report on the health effects of particulates (the small unburned particles released when fossil fuels and biomass are burned). Map of air pollution levels in cities with population over 100,000 and capital cities larger image WHO says: • Indoor air pollution is estimated to cause approximately 2 million [...]

September 29, 2011 03:00 AM