My husband and I don’t collect many things, but our house is full of books. I love to read fiction, but I tend to collect more practical books, ones that I’ll look at hundreds of times – almanacs, reference books, plant-identification guides, cookbooks, and how-to guides. My husband’s into the decidedly unpractical – first edition…
The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little. ~Jon Kabat-Zinn Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction. ~E.F. Schumacher Maybe a person’s time would be as well spent raising food…
Last week my son and I spent a couple of nice, leisurely days at the Oregon Coast with my mom and sister, who were visiting from out of town. I’m always amazing by how recharging even a short time away from work, emails, phone calls, and social networking can be. In the last few months,…
Over the weekend I watched the documentary, No Impact Man. Have you heard of it? Writer Colin Beaven talked his wife Michelle Conlin and their two-year-old daughter into dedicating a year to trying to make zero impact on the planet. That meant turning off their electricity in their New York City apartment, eating only local…
It’s TV Turnoff Week, or as Adbusters calls it Digital Detox Week. You can learn more about it here. The idea is to take a break from the television, computers, and digital gadgets that have become such a huge part of most of our lives and see what we might be missing out on, like…
1. Visit a new neighborhood. Get on a random bus and see where you end up. Or bike to a neighborhood you’ve always wanted to explore. Once you’re there, just wander around. 2. Grab your camera and go for a walk. Decide beforehand what you want to snap photos of – flowers, tree branches against…