Goodbye, 2017

Whew, that crap of a year is over. Goodbye, 2017!

okay, so it wasn't all bad. Highlights in pictures:

I helped organized the St. Louis Women's March. It was an incredible learning experience, and so amazing to see how many people turned out for this, and for marches across the world. It also pushed me into more direct activism in my community, and for that I am thankful! #ResitTrump #ResistRacism #Resist!

I adopted a new cat! Anya is a beautiful and sweet calico. She has yet to realize she is food secure, so no man's plate is safe while she is on the loose, but she is a sweetheart when she's not hunting.

My first trip to the beach. Me and 4 fabulous friends visited Puerto Rico. A trip of many firsts - first real beach vacation, first time paddle boarding, and first trip the a rain forest. It was wonderful.  Sadly, a few months later the catastrophic Hurricane Maria hit.  Half of Puerto Rico is still without power.

Fun times at the farm with the family. Cooper was in heaven :)

Hiking! This fall was unmatched for it's beautiful colors. It was gorgeous.

adventures in sewing: picnic blanket!

Today I decided to make a picnic blanket.  I've noticed several blankets with vinyl (or other water proof materials) on the bottom, and a cute print on the top. What a great idea, I thought!  So I headed to the fabric store.

I paired a neutral vinyl with a fun flannel pattern, and set to work. Pretty quickly, things took a turn.  Firstly, it is really hard to work with this much fabric. I had 2 1/2 yards of the vinyl, 5 yards of the flannel (because of width issues) and a table that was too small to accommodate it all. Also: vinyl sucks. Like seriously sucks.

But, all was not lost! I decided to try out using bias tape, as it would make super pretty edging and save me from having to fold over the vinyl multiple times, which my sewing machine (and I) would not have tolerated.

So, after a few bumps, the project turned out to be pretty painless.  I just sewed the two fabrics together (wrong sides together) and used bias tape to cover my pesky raw edges. Here is a really great tutorial I found on bias tape.  I also found that paper clips and clothespins worked much better than pins for this project. Binder clips would probably work, too!


The cherry on top: I have just enough umbrella fabric to make two small pillows, thereby turning my picnic blanket into a star-gazing blanket! :)

the year of the tick

That is what this year is shaping up to be, at least in Missouri.  After a camping trip wherein I recieved 4 tick bits, I decided to re-evaluate my position on Deet before my sister and I headed out on our hiking trip Sunday. I've gotten to the point where I am now more worried about lyme disease than I am about having 3 headed babies. So, covered in head-to toe clothing, tucked into my socks, I sprayed (me and the cloths) with bug-spray containing deet. Spray was reapplied during the hike and my sister and I conducted tick-checks every 20 minutes or so. Although I have no tick bites, I did have 4 ticks on me, one of which I found after I got home. That little bugger was moments from sucking my blood and giving me lyme disease, I just know it!

Ugh. Ticks. I have a bit of a phobia regarding them, and I don't ever remember them being this bad. :(

life lesson: how trails work

If you ride your bike on a non-loop trail to the point of exhaustion, you are still only half way done.

Glacier Love

Glacier NP

end of summer

Near Billings, MT

take over

Klondike SP

beat the heat

It's been so hot in St. Louis lately, so I thought Cooper could use some time at a lake. He loves to swim. I just wish the lakes around my house were as inviting to me as they are to my dog.

true story

I finally got my hands on this picture. When Brandi, Kelly and I went on our hike up to to Holland Falls, this is the sign that greeted us:

as you wish

A few weeks ago I went camping with a few friends. We had a blast; my friends do car camping up right, and we played games, cards, boccie ball, and croquet. Yes, I said "croquet." Croquet is actually quite fun. I didn't believe it either, but it is true. I dare you not to have fun while playing croquet; I double dog dare you!

Ironically, this game of croquet came exactly one day after my dad told me he was giving our crochet set to good will. We've had a croquet set in our garage since my grandma died 7 years ago, and before that it sat in her storage room. I told my dad that I had never played and never would play croquet, so he should go ahead and give it away. Oh, how I was kicking myself the next day! You mean I had this game at my fingertips my whole life and never played it, only now (once it's been given away) to learn how wonderful it is? Luckily, when I arrived home from camping, I discovered that my dad had not yet made the trip to goodwill, so the croquet set is still safely stowed in our garage. YAY!

fun in glacier

Last week, Bird and I went camping in Glacier for a few days. Upon arrival, we set up camp and headed out for a hike. The hike was in Griz Country, so I was on alert. Fortunately, we did not come across any bears on the trail, although there was a tree stump that put a good scare in us. When we got back to camp, we noticed a bunch of people crowded around our campsite. They couldn't all be gathered for a deer, could they? No. Oh no. They were crowded around for a bear. Yep, that's right. A bear was milling around my tent and the tents of the people in the next site over. By the time Bird and I got to our site, the bear had moved off into the woods, away from all the people and commotion. I caught a glimpse of him, and he appeared big. Of course, any bear near your tent will appear big.

The Forest Ranger came and shoo-ed him off. Apparently, the bear was a sub-adult black bear. He comes around this camp ground often, but has never gotten into people food/trash or bothered anyone. Surprisingly, I was not freaked out, and felt confident I would sleep through the night.

As I was cleaning up dinner, I told Bird that the ranger said to wash our dishes at our site, but to use the dump-sink for our drippings. I told her this as I was heating water in our chili bowl so I could better clean it. The bowl sat atop my trusty pocket-rocket stove, and as I'm saying "we just have to be sure not to spill any of our drippings," what do I do? Why I knock over the bowl of chili water all over the table and ground. Seriously. Now, for those of you who have witnessed my klutziness, this may come as no surprise. It did not seem to faze Bird. I, however, was freaking out that there was now chili all over the ground of our campsite. A campsite visited by a bear not 2 hours earlier! I thought about moving camp, but instead just removed any dirt that was anywhere near the spillage, and called it good. Needless to say, the bear did not come back to eat the chili or me.

The next day we saw another bear (on the side of the road on our way to a hike). Bears are awesome, but I'd rather they not be near my tent.

Holland Falls Hike

Pictures, I say! Pictures! Here are a few pictures from a hike I went on yesterday up to Holland Falls:

I met a new friend along the way. It always surprises me how non-pulsed these mule deers are at my presence; it's a good thing I don't have a hunting rifle.

This is a picture of Holland Lake. The mountains pictured are the Mission Mountains: the most magnificent mountains I've ever seen. I still remember the first time I laid eyes on them. I had gone home with a friend who lived on the Flathead Indian Reservation for Thanksgiving my freshman year. We drove in at night so I did not see the mountains upon my arrival, but I woke up in the morning and outside the huge bay window were this majestic mountains. It was breath-taking.

Here are the falls. Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the falls that doesn't also picture either me or Brandi.

This little guy is about 1 foot away from me and Brandi. He and a friend wanted a bit of our apples, and they would not leave us alone. They actually did come up by our feet, and they were fast little critters! People should not feed critters because THIS is what happens.

Several little things...

So, I went up to the farm this weekend with my dad and we brought back so much delicious, delicious sweet corn! Mom and I spent 5 hours canning it so it we will have the tasty goodness all year round. Three cheers for corn!

If you turn your eyes to the heavens, you may have noticed that we are currently under a new moon. This made for spectacular stargazing up at the farm. Last time I was there (also a new moon), my dad and I saw what appeared to be a falling meteorite. We watched it blaze across the dark sky for (I'm not exaggerating) over 3 minutes, but I digress... This past Sunday, so many stars were out and we actually saw the Milky Way. It was pretty awesome.

The power is back on at work! YAY! because the air conditioning is on and because I can get my stuff done before my vacation, but BOO! because I'd planned to leave work today at 11:30 to get errands done before my vacation. Now, I can't use the "it's so hot I might literally die if I stay here" excuse to leave and do my personal stuff.

I watched the Music Man for the first time last night. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before (I love musicals), but the fact remains: I hadn't. I loved it. Loved it. If you haven't seen it you should. I'm kind of on a musical kick right now, and I think tonight I'll watch Singin' in the Rain.

My friend Rachael gave me this CD by Eve Cassidy. I enjoy the whole CD, but I really love the first track, It Doesn't Matter Anymore. The song, written by Paul Anka and originally recorded by Buddy Holly is, is just beautifully sung by Eve Cassidy. I can't get it out of my head.

Backpacking

SP and I went backpacking this weekend at Hawn State Park and hiked the 10 mile loop trail. Supposedly easier than the trek we made last month, this trail kicked my ass. The views and cascading creeks made it all worthwhile, however, and this is a hike everyone should take. The trail takes you through pine forests, over boulders and through knee high water. It's pretty much totally awesome.

Our campsite was nestled at the V of two streams, so we were almost completely surrounded by the gurgling of the water as it flowed into a small swimming hole at the tip of the V. It was gorgeous! We saw lots of snakes (big! and fortunately not at our campsite), salamanders, and butterflys as we tromped along the path.

Beautiful! Gorgeous! Wish you were here!

Panda and went on a gorgeous hike in Illinois - Piney Creek Nature Reserve. This is the most beautiful mid-western hike I have ever been on. Although the trail head says the trail is difficult, I did not think it was too bad - it was quite nice. There was some elevation, but its a slow climb. The trail itself is pretty short, but there are several side trails that you can explore to make a day of it. The trail was extremely muddy, and during or after rain I am sure it is very slick so a walking stick would be a good idea.

Here are some pictures I took on our trek:

Piney Creek

View of the creek most of the hike follows. There was quite a bit of water, and many small cascades and waterfalls were visiable even with the relatively dry winter we've experienced. I can't wait to go back in the spring after some rain fall.

Prehistoric Petroglyphs and Pictographs
Early on in the hike, you can take a short side trail to see these prehistoric drawings. They are dated from AD500 - 1500 Unfortunately these drawings share the rock wall with graffite from later artists and passersby. Some is dated 1904, others are clearly more recent.

Leafy Pine Trees

After you hike along the creek for awhile (most of the hike), the trail leads you up through forest and views that allow you to see the snaking creek down below. Finally, you find yourself on a path through these leafy pine trees. It was beautiful.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Last week, the Senate passed a budget bill with a provision to drill in the Artic Wildlife Refuge. The vote was 52-47. This past week, the bill went to the House were moderate Republicans took a stand and refused to pass the bill with the provision tacked on! They also removed plans in the budget to allow states to authorize a lift on a drilling moratorium and allow oil and gas drilling in the Altantic and Pacific coasts. Go moderate GOPs!

So, what happens now? Well, the bill will have to be revamped, and hopefully the final bill will not include allowences to drill. This is not set in stone, however, becuase several conservative Repulicans say they will not pass the bill unless drilling is allowed. I think it is also important to note that the majority of the public is opposed to drilling in the artic refuge, according to a results released last Feburary from a poll on the matter: 53% said no to drilling, 38% said yes. Read about it here. If keeping the the Artic National Wildlife Refuge free from drilling is important to you, here is something you can do to help.

What (some) proponants to drilling say:

• solve the energy crisis/not dependent on foreign oil
• save money at the pump
• won't really hurt the environment
• won't effect any people

What (some) opponants say:

• Once drilling starts, it will be 10-15 years before we see oil and we'll have only 6month supply
• "It is expected that the price of ANWR coastal plain production might reduce world oil prices by as much as 30 to 50 cents per barrel... Assuming that world oil markets continue to work as they do today, the OPEC could countermand any potential price impact of ANWR coastal plain production by reducing its exports by an equal amount." -Energy Information Agency
• Go here to see how animals could be impacted. Go here to see what happend to Prudhoe Bay, a once pristine wilderness area that became a drill spot.
• Won't effect any people? Tell that to the Gwich'in People who depend on the at risk caribou for survival.

To learn more about this issue, go to:

• Artic National Wildlife Refuge. If you click here, you will see several great links.
• Save Artic Refuge - these pages are extremely informative from Defenders of Wildlife, a great organization.
• Alaska Wildlife League
• ANWR.org - find out what porponants say

This Blog has been brought to you by "Earth Friendly Fridays"

Children and Nature

When I was a sophomore in college, I had the opportunity to volunteer at Martin Luther King School in Berkely, CA in their Edible School Yard. If you clicked on the link, you read how cool it is and what a great way it is to teach kids about nutrition, the land, and the importance of the environment  It also fosters their creativity, lets them get their hands dirty, and gives them ownership of the project. While I was there, the kids made artichoke hearts in a bed shaped as a heart, created a pathway out of bricks, composted their own soil, and built a shaded outdoor seating area so they could have lessons with the gardener  Not only did they learn how to grow food, but they also were taken into the kitchen and taught how to prepare nutrition meals. I was so impressed by this program, so I thought I would share it. I started looking for something like that here in St. Louis. Because the midwest is a bit colder during the traditional school year than California, we do not have as much opportunity for programs such as this to be integrated into curricula, but there is some. The Green Center, for instance, has a vegetable garden project with six the U. City Schools. Between work and school I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, although I have volunteered with the Green Center for some of their other projects and they do a lot of cool stuff.

I also just recently started this extremely interesting book called, Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv. The book discusses the devastating trend of children being inside and being cut off from nature. He discusses some of the many advantages to being outside and experiencing green space -- In one chapter, he focuses on the making of tree houses and how much a child learns about physics, mechanics, and general common sense from the experience - things that shouldn't necessarily be, or possibly cannot be, learned in a classroom. Anyway, I'm not finished with the book, and I'm sure I will have more to say on the subject once I'm done. In the meantime, I encourage any one who has kids, or is planning to have kids, to check out this book. It would also be nice to discuss the book and see what you all think.

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he
finds it attached to the rest of the world." --John Muir