Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her,
still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.
Victor Hugo
We had a ginormous tree branch snap in half in the night.
I know that poor Jeff saw that mass of green outside our window and probably was depressed by the idea of getting that mess cleaned up. In the midst of a heat wave.
I saw that branch and was immeasurably happy. For three reasons:
The angle of the snap meant that the branch missed breaking through the roof of Cassidy’s bedroom… by inches.
It also missed the power line. That would have bit the big one.
The branch did fall squarely on our birdhouse, but Jeff saw the house wrens fledging last weekend. So they should all be safe, thank goodness.
Things happen and we have no control over them… but we have every bit of power over how we perceive them. When I look back on my life, there is a very definite sense of before, and after, and that line is drawn by the moment that I really took that statement to heart.
If a tree falls in your front yard and no one is there to be unhappy about it… is it really such a big deal?
Well.
Maybe.
If you’re the one trying to bring it down with a lasso.
Don’t be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. It is ready and ripe now, wherever you are.
You do not need a knife or a fork or a spoon or plate or napkin or tablecloth.
For there is no core or stem or rind or pit or seed or skin to throw away.
-Eve Merriam, “How to Eat a Poem”
Sugar plums are in season, for a few short glorious weeks. My favorite weeks of the year.
It’s blackberry-picking season at local farms:
The pricker canes I kept meaning to have Jeff yank out have yielded wild raspberries.
(Every year, I forget that’s what those are. Every year, we never get around to yanking them out anyway… thank goodness. There’s nothing more satisfying than sending the kids out foraging for fresh berries to top Belgian waffles with, with a little homemade whipped cream on the side…)
And oh boy oh boy,
I’m about to have cherry tomatoes coming outta my ears.
Delawareans can save energy and money and at the same time boost the state’s economy. DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara and Twitter can help.
Delaware’s #EnergizeDE Twitter Chat, hosted by DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara, will take place Wednesday July 13th from 7:00- 8:00pm. Secretary O’Mara will be tweeting from the @YourDNREC account (love the bio: Explore beyond the door with an adventure enthusiast and natural resource advocate at DNREC), answering questions and providing information about energy efficiency solutions offered through the state’s nonprofit Energize Delaware and the Delaware Energy Office.
How it works
To join the discussion, Delawareans just need to use their Twitter account & follow the discussion through the #EnergizeDE hashtag. (If you’re a complete newbie, you’ll need to open an account on Twitter and then enter #EnergizeDE into the search box, periodically refreshing the page for updates.)
Questions can be tweeted @YourDNREC before or during the one-hour online conversation.
To keep the conversation focused, the hour-long chat will be divided into three 20-minute segments devoted to common energy challenges:
First 20 minutes:How much is your monthly energy bill? Tweet your average monthly bill and let’s see what the range is and how it compares to the national average. The highest tweet (with verification) will receive a free energy audit.
Second 20 minutes: Share your most frustrating comfort issues. Tweet about thermostat fights. Tweet about hot and cold guest bedrooms above the garage. Why is one level so much hotter than the other and what can be done? Does your business use a lot of lighting, refrigeration, or other energy-intensive equipment? Possible solutions will be discussed.
Third 20 minutes: Have you had a home energy makeover? Share your experiences and advice and Secretary O’Mara will tweet links to useful resources.
I don’t live in Delaware anymore (although I’m literally in stone’s throw distance) but I’ll still keep an eye on the Twitter stream. Delaware takes government-supported energy efficiency and sustainability in general fairly seriously, and I’m interested to see not only what info gets put out there, but who shows up and what level of eco-responsibility they represent. Of course, when you’re talking Twitter you’re already out of the realm of “typical homeowner,” but frankly I have no clue how one would go about having this sort of real-time engaged conversation about local energy for the masses.
Anyway. Recap:
Wednesday July 13th from 7:00- 8:00pm, on Twitter, tweet your questions to @YourDNREC and follow with hashtag #EnergizeDE.
