Category: Everything Else

Actually, I enjoy the preaching too. I quite like weddings in general.

All the pomp and circumstance.

But also: the love.

The connectedness of everyone gathered;

a connection forged by mutual affection.

It is tangible.

You can pluck off a piece of it and put it in your pocket.

Have a good weekend!

This post begins with a seemingly irrelevant confession.

Once upon a time, I was given a video camera. I think for my birthday. Not content to merely videotape the mundane details and special occasions of my life, I felt the need for video editing software. And, what do you know, it was available bundled with Adobe Photoshop. Of course I needed Photoshop. I cheerfully dropped some 80 bucks on the bundle, installed it on my computer, and…

Never. Used. Ever. Again.

This is horrifying to me now. Eighty dollars! That’s almost a week of groceries!

So for months now, I’ve been saying that dang it, I am going to learn to use Photoshop. I am. And I am going to make lovely notecards and stationary on recycled paper printed with soy inks for my friends and family.

Now to part two of my story.

Last month I committed to Gift of Green‘s Clothes Line Challenge 2008; I pledged 100% Line Dry for the months of May, June, July. And I’ve been doing it, really I have, it hasn’t been a major hardship.

But I feel like I’m not being held accountable- for all you know, I’m gleefully running all my clothes through the dryer. On high. Twice.

I considered just snapping a photo daily and posting it, but do you really want to view my laundry every morning? I’m thinking no. The cute little girl clothes are only once a week; generally it’s construction worker jeans and gym sweats.

I thought about engineering a creative photo every day- pinning words, quotes, toys, etc to the line along with the laundry. This seemed like a lot of extra work.

So what I have done is actually opened up Photoshop. Actually imported photos. And as I play around and figure out how stuff works, I will alter a clothesline shot, upload it to Flickr, and it will appear in the sidebar as a slideshow. (I hope- can you see it now?)

Now you have evidence that I take my line drying very seriously, kind of, but you don’t have to eyeball my laundry if you don’t want to. And I won’t get all lazy about getting my money’s worth out of Photoshop, because I know someone will call me out on it. Maybe I will learn something useful.

Maybe some lucky ladies can look forward to some environmentally friendly, personalized stationary for Christmas.

For the record, all the photos in my posts are straight-out-of-camera. Previously, because I was too lazy to learn to use Photoshop. Forevermore, because I think the reality of nature is beauty enough- to alter it is to diffuse the wonder.

I know I just said I wasn’t going to inflict my laundry on you- but while digging through my scraps and stash, I found a pile of pretty hankies!

No more Kleenex for me!

• More than a quarter of the Western bee population has been lost.
• Some hives are seeing all the adult honeybees disappear for no overt reason, a syndrome dubbed “Colony Collapse Disorder”. The cause for CCD is unknown.
• Keeping in mind the important role bees play in food production- in this country, one in every three bites depends on the bee– this could have dire consequences on our food supply, as well as on the already worrying cost of food.

What can we do to Save the Bees?

1. Buy local. Support your local beekeepers and the knowledge they provide to those researching a solution. Local honey also allegedly helps with seasonal allergies, because it contains local pollen. (We’ve just started buying it, but I’ll let you know if we see any improvements.)
2. Plant wildflowers. Bees are particularly attracted to diversity, bright colors, sunny spots and native plants.
3. Support bee research. Donate directly to research programs like the one at Penn State University.
   Or, a tasty option: Buy Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream or other “bee dependent” flavors. Haagen-Dazs has created Vanilla Honey Bee, and a “help the honeybees” website, in an effort to raise awareness of the bee problem. They also are donating funds to research.
4. Don’t use pesticides. Remember pesticides don’t discriminate: they kill the good and the bad. And the effect they may have on our children makes me very nervous.
5. Spread the word. Always, always.

“Words are also actions, and actions are a kind of words.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Those who live in the Northern Delaware/ Chester County area; you have got to try Walt Broughton’s Swarmbustin’ Honey. You can find it at the co-op in Newark.

Oh man, is it sweet and delicious, especially spooned into homemade yogurt. I am trying to replace table sugar with Walt’s yummy honey whenever possible.

Doing my part to support local beekeepers! Not too much of a burden.

P.S. This comes from my Domino magazine:

Beautify your yard with a free packet of wildflower seeds from Haagen-Dazs- as a bonus, the nectar will feed endangered honeybees. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

HAAGEN-DAZS SAVE THE HONEY BEES PROGRAM/ DOMINO
50 FRANCISCO STREET, SUITE 400
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133

I imagine this falls under the heading “Limited Time Offer- While Supplies Last”.