Not-so-common sense

This article demonstrates how dangerously clueless the US general public is about water conservation: http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jun/28-everything-you-know-about-water-conservation-is-wrong/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C=
It's typical for the average American not to think beyond the bottom of his coffee cup about how much waste he produces. What kills me is how often people will throw away extra food or in this case, coffee, instead of, let's say, refrigerating it to make some iced coffee later! There's a better chance that this same person will go & buy an iced coffee at Starbucks later that afternoon.

It's scary to think of how many people actually leave the water running while they brush their teeth! And god forbid they should go so far as to resist washing their cars - 'cause a clean car is a necessity, after all. If we in this country still retain an ounce of what passed as "common sense" in the 1st half of the 20th century, we'd do wonders to slow the destruction of the planet. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Fill a glass with water & use that to brush your teeth. Hang-dry at least SOME of your clothes (it's summertime for god sakes!). Buy, cook and eat what's in season. DARE to take public transportation once in a while, or better yet, ride a bike. If you must, wash your car and use a bucket - you could probably use the exercise! Limit use of the A/C by closing window blinds during the day. Eat less meat and more vegetables. What about this is so difficult to understand??

Admittedly, living in Japan has influenced me greatly - most households hang-dry ALL of their clothes and use fluorescent lighting in their houses - chances are that the reason for this is largely due to expensive gas & electricity - good habits created by necessity. You think about all the silly travel shows on TV - not one of them focuses on how people in other (first-world) countries LIVE. I think that most people here would find it fascinating.

I saw an interesting article which argues that people should not do eco-tours. Fair enough. I am happy NOT to go to the Galapagos and thereby do my part to preserve those ecosystems. But the articles later advises against travel in general for environmental reasons. However, traveling to Japan, or even better, Sweden, would be a mind-blowing, eye-opening experience, through which Americans could learn how to use their own resources wisely. I'm curious to know whether there might be a market for that kind of tourism.

100% Fun!

I'm borrowing the title of this picture from one of my favorite albums (Matthew Sweet). Peter, Teddy and I went hiked the Cataract Trail on Mount Tamalpais. The trail was amazing - it starts at a reservoir, then goes up, up, up, following a stream with rocky pools and waterfalls, shaded by redwoods the whole way. Teddy was the most sure-footed of all of us - he's balancing here on a slimy fallen tree covered with algae.

Backyard project

Hardware stores are not my favorite places, but seeing Peter get so excited makes it worth it. We went to Marin to check out flagstone and picked out some samples for the back patio, then went to the hardware store for...I don't know - more stuff. ; ) Peter's hard at work in the backyard today, cutting the sprinkler pipe that was there to make room for it. I'm a little tired, so I'm making myself useful sorting pictures & blogging.

Post-Covelo Exhaustion

Poocher was wiped out after we got back from Covelo. I took him for a marathon walk yesterday, yielding the same result. Walked down to the Farmers Market, played at the dog park, back to the Farmers Market and then home. He didn't move for a few hours and I...burned a few extra calories, I guess!

Happy Birthday

We were up in Covelo for Mem. Day weekend, and Peter got a surprise birthday present that the whole family can enjoy.

Kauai

This was taken on an "easy" hike in Kauai - I think what was meant by "easy" is that it's relatively "easy" to stay on the trail, and in case you take a wrong step, there are plenty of trees to run into before tumbling hundreds of feet off steep cliffs into the ocean. However, we were rewarded with THE most incredible views I've ever experienced on a hike. It was at times steamy-muggy, very muddy and rocky, but no bugs!! Hawaii is great like that. Sand fleas are the only annoyance, and with all the tradewinds, that's hardly an issue. I would have loved to stay on this island for many more days & done some camping. Next time...

NEW CHAIRS

Patty brought down these gorgeous chairs - as luck would have it, they are too big for her dining room, so we are fortunate to be able to use them, instead!

Peter, Poocher & the Pacific

Jen & Poocher are enjoying daily treks on the hiking trails of Marin. He's with his daddy in this picture. The spring blossoms are disappearing & giving way to early summer. I'm loving the long days, too. We're off to Hawaii soon for our honeymoon - cannot WAIT.

Rite of passage

The Pooch got 'fixed' this past week and had to wear this oh-so-stylin' plastic cone for a week. You can see from the tears and cracks that he's had some trouble with spacial relationships, but we've tried to ease his pain by administering frequent ear scratches, which he loves.

Huge improvement

I wish I'd done a 'before-and-after' shot - even though the patio is not yet finished, this is a massive improvement over what it looked like before. Peter was hard at work all day today while I piddled around in the house. Next step is to lay flagstone and ground cover, then go obtain some outdoor furniture - maybe a hammock?? It stays pretty shady, which will be nice when the weather warms up.

Sunday drive

Peter and I took our good friends, Kevin and Zareen, sightseeing through Marin last weekend. We stopped on the side of the road for a photo.

Sweden's biofuel initiatives

Yesterday, I saw on the news that a chunk of Antarctica's shelf (7 times the size of Manhattan) has broken off, and I cried. I could not stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks as I looked at the satellite picture. What will it take for us to implement meaningful change??

I went to Scottsdale, Arizona for Easter weekend. Inside of 4 days, I saw at least 10 Hummers on the road, in an area of the country where natural resources like water are not exactly abundant. One of these monster trucks actually had a license plate that said, "GBLWRMR." ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? And we wonder why is it that we're not loved and admired by all throughout the world??

When I was in Japan, one of my good friends told me about a program that she watched on NHK one night (the "PBS" or "BBC" of Japan) on Sweden's initiative to combat global warming. I was stunned - cars that run on human waste - brilliant. Yes, the startup costs are high, and for a while it does cost more than regular gasoline, but eventually the investment pays for itself, and you're doing something small, but significant to help the environment.

WHY can't we flip on the tube and watch similar programming in the US??

I remember a few years ago when Uma Thurman was on Leno (or Letterman?), and said that cars could run on vegetable oil! Most of us were like, "huh??" The fact that she stunned so many people with this idea should have been enough to make us realize how ill-informed we were, thanks to our crappy, profit-driven media - whether it's outright lying, or lying by omission, they do this country a grave disservice. Now we know (years after Uma enlightens us on a late-night talk show!) that cars can run on corn, hydrogen and....HUMAN WASTE. ALCOHOL. Scrap from slaughterhouses, aka, TRASH. Thank god for National Geographic and the Guardian. More people should tune in: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070625-swedish-biogas.html

Hopefully, I am wrong about the majority of people in the US - that we do CARE, and if we hear the truth about what's going on in the world, we will act quickly to make positive change, for our own future generations and for the rest of the world with whom we are connected.

Back to reality

After many weeks on the road, life returns to normal. I took Teddy to the trail for his morning walk, and we went for a romp on the beach yesterday. Caught up with friends & family in Arizona over Easter - so great to go back there. Weather is unbelievably beautiful now, both there and here - the spring blossoms are just now starting to give way to green leaves. Time to catch up with spring cleaning and general household maintenance - ugh... at least I have great surroundings to escape to, and my trusty partner in crime!

gorgeous oysters

gorgeous oysters
Originally uploaded by js_hale

coco's kindergarten class

coco's kindergarten class
Originally uploaded by js_hale

Coco (Madoka's daughter) is the one in the hat.We went to pick her up today and I became the gaijin ゛toy.゛

whale meat

whale meat
Originally uploaded by js_hale

before you launch into a tirade, the answer is NO,I did not have any. but for those of you who are curious, this is whatwhalemeat sashimi looks like. the really dark meat is regular meat,then there is bacon,skin and tongue. one good thing is that none of the animal goes to waste but still, I cannot bring myself to eat it.

Sake competition

Sake competition
Originally uploaded by js_hale

This was very cool. Line a bunch of sake up,six to a table and do a blind tasting. the object is to match them to the labeled ones on the other side of the room.

08-03-15_12-10.jpg

08-03-15_12-10.jpg
Originally uploaded by js_hale

went to ｍａｓｕｍｉ brewery today and had shinshu soba for lunch,along with tasty sake,of course. masumi is a pretty well distributed sake in the US. really soft and drinkable.

baby seat

baby seat
Originally uploaded by js_hale

they need these inthe states

08-03-12_22-371.jpg

08-03-12_22-371.jpg
Originally uploaded by js_hale