Saving the World: Part 2, Social Distancing Style

I am writing this post in April of 2020.  We've been home from everything for almost three weeks and we are a little crazy.  One of the first things I realized when school closed was that we were still going to need to get out of the house every day or we weren't all going to survive, virus or no virus.  We started going for walks.  March is when the snow melts in Michigan and the freshly melted snow leaves behind six months worth of road side trash.  It can be downright impressive.  By the end of April nature has hidden it all away for another season but in March and early April it is there for all to see.

My husband likes to take long runs every day and as he runs he notices the trash.  This spot is about a mile from our house and seams to be a hot spot for trash.  So one day we put a couple of trash bags and gloves in our pockets and went for a walk.  It took almost no time to fill two large trash bags and a very old cooler as full as we could carry them.  One lady running by said Thank you. That was when we realized we hadn't worked out how we were going to get the trash back home.  We made like the trash Santa and carried the bags toward home until we came upon a dumpster and decided it would be ethical to put the bags in it.  (My apologies to the offices if it wasn't.  But, really, how much easier could it be to help save the world than donating a little dumpster space?)

After that we started putting a couple of (smaller) trash bags in our pockets every time we left the house.  The thing I have noticed most is that there is more trash than we can possibly pick up.  It seams to collect near roads and parking lots and, oddly enough, around trash cans.  The lady walking her dog was impressed: "Are you guys picking up trash?!?  I always think I should, but I never do."

West Michigan is a little shy on sunshine.  (I once had a doctor suggest that everyone living in West Michigan should take vitamin D supplements.)  So whenever the sun shows it's cold little face we drag the kids out for a walk.  We wear our coats, clean up trash, soak up whatever sun there is, get a little exercise, remember that there are other people in the world.  (They are all out trying to stay sane, too.  From six feet away, of course.)

It reminds me that I do, in fact, still belong to a community.  And I can still contribute to that community, even from a six foot distance.

The skunk cabbage was in bloom.  Did you know that skunk cabbage grows down into the ground instead of up into the air like most plants?  An old skunk cabbage is almost impossible to dig up because its stem goes so far down into the mud.  Crazy.

Saving the World: Part 1, Compost

Compost is about as un-sexy as anything comes, but my family makes a lot of fruit and vegetable scraps and my yard makes a lot of weeds so it seamed like a good place to start.
We have had a compost bin for years, but it needed some repairs and I thought we could do better with a little more information.

So I ordered a bunch of books from the library and tried to read them. The kid's books were easy to read but didn't give me any new information.  The adult books varied from easy to long but I still don't know what to do about the winter.  (Stuff doesn't compost when it's freezing outside.). We'll worry about that later.

One thing I have learned over the years is that most projects happen when you learn a little bit then just try it.  You try it for a while, learn a little bit more, try it a little differently, fail a little bit, succeed a little bit, learn a little more, tweak, try again.  Pretty much everything I know how to do is the result of that formula right there.

There appear to be about a thousand different ways to build a compost bin.  Many available commercially.  Many different styles to build.  They all have holes to allow air circulation and most are open on the bottom to encourage the little buggies to come hang out.


We used cedar fencing to build a three bin system.  One bin is where we put all those fruit and vegetable scraps and yard waste.  The center bin is full of leaves that can be layered with the fresh stuff.  The last bin is full of last year's half composted compost.  The idea of having the separate bins is that you have compost when you need it without having to sort out the not quite done bits.  If all goes well we will empty out last year's bin over the summer and switch to adding things there while this year's bin finishes up next spring.



Things a compost bin needs: air, water, green stuff and brown stuff, worms and bugs.
Air: The bin should not be air tight and the compost should get stirred up regularly to allow oxygen into the mix.  The more often you stir it the faster it turns to compost and the less it stinks.  Oxygen is our friend.
Water: The compost should be damp, not wet. If you live in a wet climate you'll need to protect from too much water, if you live in a dry climate you will need to water it occasionally.
Green Stuff: That's the fruit and veggie scraps from the kitchen, lawn clippings, garden waste, etc.
Brown Stuff: Dry leaves, mulch, etc.
Worms and Bugs: Millions of microscopic bacteria, fungi, earthworms, and lots of other bugs.  You don't have to go find these guys.  The compost is like a big old "Diner" sign.  If you build it they will come.

So all you have to do is layer the green stuff and the brown stuff, make sure it stays the right amount wet and stir it regularly.  Once or twice a week seams like the consensus. But apparently you can never stir it and still get compost. (That's what we've been doing so far.) It just takes a lot longer.

Next Big Problem: With the compost bin behind the garage the chances that anyone (even me) will run out there every evening to empty the day's scraps becomes very small.  So we added an intermediary step.  Not always a good idea but, we decided, worth trying.

The big bucket will live just outside the kitchen door.  It has a lid to keep out the critters and holes to let the air in and the juice out.  It will get emptied as part of the weekly lawn mowing.  (We are very optimistic.)









Here's the plan: We have a small bucket on the kitchen counter.  When you eat an apple you drop the core in the little bucket.  (See how optimistic we are?)

Every day someone (we are thinking positive here and imagine that it could be anyone living here) empties the little bucket into the big green bucket with a lid.

When someone (still thinking positive here) mows the lawn they will use the pitch fork to stir the compost, empty the grass clippings and the green bucket into the compost bin, throw a layer of dry leaves on top and voila it all happily composts until next time.

 So here's hoping we learned a little and will have a little better compost experience than we have in the past.  (And still thinking positive that we will do a good job getting those scraps off the counter, into the compost and stirred occasionally.)

Books I read for this project:
Kids Books:
Way to Grow! Gardening: Composting by Rebecca Pettiford
Published by Pogo, 2016 (Early Elementary)
Really Rotten Truth About Composting by Jodie Mangor
Published by Rourke (Late Elementary)

Books for Grown Ups:
Basic Composting by Eric Ebeling and friends
Published by Stackpole Books, 2003 (Short, with lots of pictures)
Compost City: Practical Composting Know-how for Small-space Living by Rebecca Louie
Published by Roost Books, 2015 (Long, with lots of information and a dry sense of humor.)

And a moment of real...

Remember this picture of my cute little compost bucket on my nice clean countertop?


















Well, if you zoom out just a little this is what you see.  Just didn't want anyone to feel bad.

10 Minutes

I was with several friends, waiting for our kids the other day and they agreed to help me make a list of things to do in 10 minutes or less that help me feel positive and don't include staring blankly at my phone. Ironic to post it here, but thought it would be fun to share.

Play a musical instrument (guitar, piano, etc.)

Play the kazoo (requires no talent or skill)

Call someone to check in (short conversation, "I had ten minutes and wanted to check in with you...")

Yoga

Empty the dishwasher

Sweep the floor

Read a scripture

Write a thank you

Read an Ensign article (or whatever magazine you have lying around)

Plan a date (with significant other or child)

Clean out your purse (you might find a treasure)

Knit/crochet

Listen to a podcast

Read a chapter from a book you want to read

Weed the garden

Purge old emails

Do push-ups, sit-ups, etc

Stretch

Draw a picture

Walk

Get a drink of water

Dead head flowers

Go for a bike ride

Make something that you bought the stuff for but never got around to yet (It's ok to stop half done and come back to it next...year, or whenever, you know, it's not going anywhere, but at least it will be started.)

Make a play list

Chop vegetables for dinner

Make a treat

Shovel/rake leaves for a neighbor

Decorate for a holiday (whatever holiday you want, who cares which one is coming up next)

Plan next year's garden (no pressure, it's just hypothetical)

Make a list (to do, to buy, fun things to do, favorite ice cream flavors...)

Write (personal history moment, journal, letter, thoughts, whatever)

Rearrange the furniture

Index

Family history

Any other ideas?

Lime cilantro fajitas

https://whatsgabycooking.com/beef-fajitas-with-a-cilantro-lime-marinade/

These fajitas are delicious.

A Contrast and a Comparison (or, Life is Like a Band Rehearsal)

I love band.  I have since I was 12 years old and made my very first sound on a Euphonium.  

It is my first love, it is what got me through high school and it is what I studied at college.  

I have spent many, many hours in rehearsals.  I have had many different conductors.

I like band so much I make my friends and family play with me whenever possible.
This is a band put together for a church picnic made up of anyone who could hold an instrument.
That's me on the far right, my son on trombone next to me and my husband on tuba.

As a freshman in college I played under a conductor who was also brand new to the school.  He was young, friendly, and an amazing musician, but his rehearsals were unbearably tedious.  

Often we would be working on a new piece of music when he would notice that the flutes or clarinets (it was always the flutes or clarinets) were struggling with a difficult section where they had to play a lot of notes in a very short amount of time.  He would stop and ask them to play the section alone.  It would become obvious that it needed some work, so he would take some time to work on it, sometimes as much as 20 or even 30 minutes.  

Trombone players are not good at sitting and waiting.  

(They are a little bit like 2-year olds, only sneakier.)  

Trumpet players are also not very good at sitting and waiting.  

(They really like to be important.)  

Tuba players get comfortable and are soon snoring softly (or loudly). 

This conductor also had a tendency to stop whenever anything wasn't perfect, and well, we weren't very perfect.  This meant that we often found ourselves on stage preparing to play a song through from beginning to end for the very first time in front of an audience.  

Usually, it was fine.  

We were college musicians, after all.  

Sometimes it was not fine.  

We were, after all, just college musicians.*

In contrast, I currently find myself playing with the West Michigan New Horizons Music Ensembles Symphonic Band under the direction of Dr. Nancy Summers.

I have been playing with the New Horizons Band for about five years now

and I enjoy the rehearsals very much.  

Sometimes when we are learning a new piece of music Nancy will notice that the flutes or clarinets are struggling with a difficult section where they have to play a lot of notes in a very short amount to time.  She will stop and ask them to play the section alone.  It will become obvious that it needs some work so she will ask them to work on it at home over the coming week.  She may give them some pointers about how to practice it effectively and then we move on.  At the next rehearsal we will cover that spot again, perhaps another minute or two of help and some encouragement to keep working on it and just as the trombone players are wondering if they can get away with something 

we are all back in.

Nancy notices whenever something isn't perfect, and believe me, we are not perfect.  

(She is often jotting down notes for future rehearsals.)  

But we never find ourselves on stage preparing to play a song through for the first time.  She makes sure that we spend some of our time in rehearsal running our pieces 

from top to bottom, no matter what!  

This can get very interesting, but far more often it is surprisingly empowering.  

"Did you notice how we got it back together after that near train wreck?"

Sometimes our most moving musical experiences happen during rehearsal.  

It's a shame to miss the glorious musical moments just because they happen in a rehearsal.

Not only is this helpful when performance time comes, 

but it is amazing how satisfying it makes a rehearsal feel.  

Music is funny that way.  Try listening to the first half of a song and then go on with the rest of the day.  It leaves a strangely unsettled feeling, like stopping mid-sentence, or wearing one shoe.  

Now for the Comparison.  

I know you are on pins and needles to know how life is like a band rehearsal.  

Well, here it is: If we spend all our time focusing on one little issue that we find particularly difficult we will find ourselves unsatisfied and unhappy.  

Everyone has something that is hard.  

For flutes and clarinets it is those inevitable sixteenth-note runs.

For tubas it is not getting lost during those endless oom-pahs and then missing the interesting parts. 

 For me it is using my time effectively.

For you it may be something completely different.  

I know that I need to work on my faults.  This isn't permission to ignore them completely.  

There are certainly times when a full on Stop and Fix is in order.

However, it is permission to live the whole day, clear through, stopping only briefly, here and there to look at the difficult spots and plan how to work on them, then moving on.  

Don't quit every time something isn't perfect.  

Push through.  Make a plan. 

Come back to it, but don't dwell on it.

Glorious moments happen all around us, all the time, while we are just living our lives.

The "rehearsal" days of our lives can be fun, creative and satisfying.
Don't put off living for the "performance" days.

 *That particular professor did one amazing thing that I think very few professors actually do. He  read the student evaluations we were encouraged to complete every semester.  Over time his rehearsals became much more pleasant and our band improved dramatically.  (That is a good topic for another post some other day.)

Climb On!

This is me...rock climbing.

For a middle aged, slightly over weight, mother of six, I'm looking pretty good on that wall.  You might even be tempted to be impressed.  (And maybe the fact that I was willing to put on the harness at all is impressive, but all the kids were watching, I had no choice.)

There are a few things you should know before you get too impressed.

• There is a rope.  If you look closely you can see it.  There were moments when that rope did more than just keep me from falling.  Sometimes it gave me a little boost.
• There was a belayer.  In this case it happened to be my husband.  The rope isn't much good without the belayer.  Not only did he make sure I didn't fall, and give me a couple of boosts, he also gave me instructions about where to find handholds and a lot of encouragement.
• The person who took the photo (maybe it was my sister or maybe my son, I'm not sure) was kind enough to take it from the side, not the back.  I have some pretty awful photos of people's backsides while climbing.  It is not flattering.  Thank you for making me look good.
• The bottom of the photo is about 2 feet above the ground.  That was as far as I got.  I'm not much of a rock climber yet.  I may never be.  My husband and some of my kids love it and I am happy to support them in that hobby.  I'll even put on the harness and try an occasional climb.  If nothing else it makes everyone else feel better about their own attempts.

It is so easy to look at a snapshot of someone else's life and make assumptions that may not be true.  You may not see all of the help they have received from family and friends.  You may not realize that you are only seeing the carefully orchestrated photo shoot.  Taken from a different angle it may be a whole different picture.  

It is ok to have a harness, a rope, a helmet, and a belayer in your life.  In fact, we'd really struggle to get anywhere without them.  And even if you feel like you can only get a few feet off the ground, don't discount the value of the attempt, and the example to those who are watching.

Climb On!

Habitat for Humanity

I have always wanted to work on a Habitat for Humanity house.  It just always seemed really cool.
But I'm busy and I didn't really know how to sign up and don't you have to go as a group and... so I never did.  You know how it is.  Good thing there are people our there who do stuff anyway, like my daughter's National Honor Society advisor.  She set up a day for the 12th grade Honor Society students to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.  And she needed adults to come along.  She emailed me personally and asked if I would be willing.  I rearranged my schedule.

My group spent the day painting the inside of a house.  (We were really glad we got that assignment because it was about 10 degrees that day.  Some of the other groups spent the day working outside.  Brrr.)  The lady from Habitat was so nice and so helpful.  She explained everything so clearly.  (Several of the kids had never painted anything.)  And she explained Habitat's mission in a way that made so much sense.  (Did you know that the owners are required to put in a lot of hours helping build the house?  There are two reasons for this, one, it gives them a sense of ownership of the house, and two, it teaches them the skills they need to maintain the house.  They know how to put up a shelf, paint a wall, fix a hole, replace a light fixture, etc.  Brilliant.)  The kids and I worked hard and we painted the whole house.  We felt like we accomplished something and we had a good time.

I was impressed with this group of kids.  There were about 10 in my group.  They were pretty evenly split between African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Caucasian.  Several were children of immigrants and several were immigrants themselves.  They were all members of the National Honor Society which means that they have maintained a GPA of 3.6 or higher throughout high school and committed to providing service for their communities.  All of them are planning to attend college and major on a variety of fields from medicine to archeology to environmental science.  And some are still undecided.  That's ok, too.  (Nearly everyone changes their major at least once anyway.)  None are wealthy, all have had to work hard and make sacrifices.  They are smart and kind and they really don't care what country you come from, what color your skin is, or whether you speak with an accent.  They care about how hard you are willing to work and how you choose to treat other people.  

I'm looking forward to another day with Habitat and meeting some more amazing service minded people.